The Mierzanowice culture appeared in the area of the upper and middle basin of the

Vistula The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...

, during the Early

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

. It evolved from the so-called Proto-Mierzanowice cultural unit. The name of the culture comes from an eponymous site in Mierzanowice, where the cemetery was located. This entity was part of the pre-carpathian sphere epicorded cultures and it has been divided into three local groups: Samborzecka, Iwanowicka and Pleszowska. The initial phases of the culture are characterized by a small number of burials, seasonal settlements and single artifacts. The area of the Mierzanowice culture spread over from

western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

, through south - eastern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, reaching in the east the areas of the

Volhynia Volhynia (also spelled Volynia) ( ; uk, Воли́нь, Volyn' pl, Wołyń, russian: Волы́нь, Volýnʹ, ), is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between south-eastern Poland, south-western Belarus, and western Ukraine. Th ...

n Upland.Kaczanowski and Kozłowski, p. 142. It was followed by the

Trzciniec culture The Trzciniec culture is a Bronze-Age archaeological culture in East-Central Europe (c. 1600 – 1200 BC). It is sometimes associated with the Komariv neighbouring culture, as the Trzciniec-Komariv culture. History The Trzciniec culture develop ...

Chronology

Based on

relative dating Relative dating is the science of determining the relative order of past events (i.e., the age of an object in comparison to another), without necessarily determining their absolute age (i.e., estimated age). In geology, rock or superficial dep ...

, the Mierzanowice culture appeared in the Early Bronze Age. According to the archaeologist Jan Machnik, we can distinguish an older and a younger phase of this cultural unit. The discovery in Szarbia Zwierzyniecka allowed for a certain "rejuvenation" of the Mierzanowice culture as a result of the distinction of its late phase called '' szarbiańska''. The younger phase of the Mierzanowice culture ended at the end of "Bronze A1" and the beginning of "Bronze A2" according to

Paul Reinecke Paul Heinrich Adalbert Reinecke (September 25, 1872 – May 12, 1958) was a German prehistorian and archaeologist. Life and work Reinecke was born in Berlin. He studied medicine and science under Rudolf Virchow. Interested in prehistory, he also ...

's chronology.

Burial

Cemeteries of the Mierzanowice cultural population were established near the settlements. The largest cemeteries were from 150 to 300 burials. Burials occurred mainly in skeletal form. Human remains were put into oval or rectangular burial pits or in coffins made of wooden logs. There were two systems for arranging human corpses: in the shrunken position and in straight position. The bodies of men were buried on the right side while corpses of women on the left side. The results of investigations conducted at the cemeteries of the Mierzanowice culture, showed a small advantage of men's graves over women's graves, which had a slightly poorer grave inventory.

Settlement

Settlements of the Mierzanowice culture in most cases are represented by small and seasonal camps. Settlements with a larger area were founded on the hills with a naturally defensive character, near water reservoirs. A relatively large part of the archaeological sites of this culture are found on

loess Loess (, ; from german: Löss ) is a clastic, predominantly silt-sized sediment that is formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. Ten percent of Earth's land area is covered by loess or similar deposits. Loess is a periglacial or aeolian ...

uplands. The best-known settlement of the Mierzanowice culture is the archaeological site called Iwanowice. In the classical phase of the Mierzanowice culture, the settlements were mostly accompanied by cemeteries.

Artifacts

One of the most common objects discovered in archaeological sites in the Mierzanowice culture are

axe An axe ( sometimes ax in American English; see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood, to harvest timber, as a weapon, and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. The axe has ma ...

s and

sickle A sickle, bagging hook, reaping-hook or grasshook is a single-handed agricultural tool designed with variously curved blades and typically used for harvesting, or reaping, grain crops or cutting succulent forage chiefly for feeding livestock, ei ...

s.Kaczanowski and Kozłowski, p. 144. Another type of artifacts are necklaces made of

faience Faience or faïence (; ) is the general English language term for fine tin-glazed pottery. The invention of a white pottery glaze suitable for painted decoration, by the addition of an oxide of tin to the slip of a lead glaze, was a major ad ...

and bones. The Mierzanowice culture is well known for its

earring An earring is a piece of jewelry attached to the ear via a piercing in the earlobe or another external part of the ear (except in the case of clip earrings, which clip onto the lobe). Earrings have been worn by people in different civilizations an ...

s in the shape of a

willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist s ...

leaf, often produced in local workshops. Military objects discovered in the settlements are primarily leaf-shaped

arrowhead An arrowhead or point is the usually sharpened and hardened tip of an arrow, which contributes a majority of the projectile mass and is responsible for impacting and penetrating a target, as well as to fulfill some special purposes such as sign ...

s. The faience beads are an extremely common element of the funeral inventory. The next category is

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other ceramic materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. Major types include earthenware, stoneware and por ...

. In vascular ceramics, the influences of the

Corded Ware culture The Corded Ware culture comprises a broad archaeological horizon of Europe between ca. 3000 BC – 2350 BC, thus from the late Neolithic, through the Copper Age, and ending in the early Bronze Age. Corded Ware culture encompassed a va ...

are visible. Pottery of the late phase of the Mierzanowice culture is characterized by a huge variety of forms and ornamentation.

Genetics

Juras et al. (2020) examined the

mtDNA Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA or mDNA) is the DNA located in mitochondria, cellular organelles within eukaryotic cells that convert chemical energy from food into a form that cells can use, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Mitochondrial DNA ...

of 39 individuals ascribed to the Mierzanowice culture. The individuals appeared to be closely related to peoples of the

Bell Beaker culture The Bell Beaker culture, also known as the Bell Beaker complex or Bell Beaker phenomenon, is an archaeological culture named after the inverted-bell beaker drinking vessel used at the very beginning of the European Bronze Age. Arising from a ...

Unetice culture The Únětice culture or Aunjetitz culture ( cs, Únětická kultura, german: Aunjetitzer Kultur, pl, Kultura unietycka) is an archaeological culture at the start of the Central European Bronze Age, dated roughly to about 2300–1600BC. The epon ...

, and the

but were notably genetically different from peoples of the neighboring Strzyżów culture, which displayed closer genetic relations to cultures further east.

Bibliography

* * Górski J., Kadrow S., ''Kultura mierzanowicka i kultura trzciniecka w zachodniej Małopolsce – problem zmiany kulturowej'', :Sprawozdania archeologiczne, T. XLVIII, 1996, Kraków. * Kadrow S., Machnik J., ''Kultura mierzanowicka: chronologia, taksonomia i rozwój przestrzenny'', wyd. oddziału PAN, 1997, Kraków. * Kmieciński J., ''Pradzieje Ziem Polskich'', T.I, cz.2 Epoka Brązu i początki Epoki Żelaza, wyd. PWN, 1989, Warszawa-Łódź.

References

Works cited

* {{cite book , last=Kaczanowski , first=P. , last2=Kozłowski , first2=J.K. , title=Wielka Historia Polski, Najdawniejsze dzieje ziem polskich do VII wieku , publisher=T. I, FOGRA Oficyna Wydawnicza , year=1998 , location=Kraków Archaeological cultures in Poland Chronology Bronze Age Indo-European archaeological cultures