Abstract
I met Michal for the first time in the spring of 1959 while recruiting young archaeologists to work on the excavation of the Final Palaeolithic and Mesolithic camps of Rydno Complex, a Stone Age red ochre quarry and socio-economic centre. A fresh MA in archaeology, I was then working as a field manager for Stefan Krukowski, an unorthodox prehistorian, directing work in the very significant Rydno Project in Central Poland. During the project, young Kobusiewicz turned out to be a competent, eager student and a good field companion. We spent the next field season together on a foot-survey along the Late Glacial left bank Vistula terrace between Wloclawek and Plock in central Poland. We slept in farmers’ barns, cooked one-dish meals in a pot that we carried fastened to our backpacks, and duly recorded many, today classic, Mesolithic sandy sites. Since these early years of our acquaintance, our professional, as well as private lives, became closely intertwined. We worked jointly in many Combined Prehistoric Expedition (CPE) missions in Egypt and at several sites in his cherished ‘prehistoric Arcadia’, or the Wojnowo Region in Western Poland.
Highlights
Let us tackle the first expression of Michał’s fascination with human Prehistory. It all began in the winter of 1967 when he, together with Drs Waldemar Chmielewski and Hanna Więckowska joined the Combined Prehistoric Expedition (CPE), in work led by Dr Joel L
To those who might doubt these words, one can recommend Michał’s memoirs written with general readers in mind, entitled Moje wspomnienia z archeologią w tle (My Memoirs with Archaeology in the Background )
Summary
Let us tackle the first expression of Michał’s fascination with human Prehistory. It all began in the winter of 1967 when he, together with Drs Waldemar Chmielewski and Hanna Więckowska joined the Combined Prehistoric Expedition (CPE), in work led by Dr Joel L. The excavations directed by Michał revealed the richness of these first Final Neolithic (Predynastic) cemeteries found in the Western Desert of Egypt, and opened the way to the subsequent essential discoveries in the Gebel Ramlah area. The mission excavated several new prehistoric sites ranging in time from Middle Palaeolithic to Bronze Age. Three sites in the Sinai were dug by Michał and published in 1999. Of particular interest is the beautifully printed monograph on the Gebel Ramlah cemeteries by Kobusiewicz et al, published in 2010. It is a detailed account of the physical characteristics of the recovered skeletons, description of the assemblages of grave goods, as well as reports on the chronology, and geomorphologic context of the finds. Among these is an early paper presenting the Prehistory of Northeastern Africa between 16th and 5th Millennia BCE (in Polish) published in 1976 (and 2006 in French), as well as a lengthy article on new ideas concerning the Neolithisation of Northeastern Africa (in Polish) published in 1981, and an article on the transition from Late Palaeolithic to Neolithic in Northeast Africa (in German) in 1980
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