History & Culture

The citadel in Old Dongola with marked locations of the houses discussed in the paper (credit: Adrian Chlebowski). Source: African Archaeological Review

Food in Old Dongola: Sorghum, wheat and barley were basic ingredients of local diet

The presence of significant amounts of sorghum, wheat and barley grains suggests that they were the basic source of carbohydrates for the inhabitants of Old Dongola and the basic ingredients of the local diet during the Funj period, research by the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology of the University of Warsaw has shown.

  • Lake Lednica, along with the island, contains the remains of the residence of the first Polish dynasty. Credit: Mariusz Lamentowicz

    Analyses of Lake Lednica bottom sediments speak about beginnings of Piast state

    Scientists have examined the bottom sediments from Lake Lednica (Wielkopolska). The data they have obtained allow to draw conclusions about historical changes in the landscape and the development of the Piast state, including deforestation, popularisation of grain cultivation, development of settlements. The paper on the origins of the Piast state was published in PNAS.

  • Reconstruction of the 'Scandinavian belt'. All artefacts with the exception of the glass bead (3) are made of iron (photo: R. Fortuna; X-ray: A. Jouttijärvi; drawing: A. Kuzioła)

    Research on Bornholm's oldest cemetery points to island's key role in Iron Age

    Scientists have analysed finds from the Store Frigård cemetery on Bornholm, including such as women's 'Scandinavian belts' and spearheads, common in the region. They indicate that the local community played a key role in transregional contacts and the distribution of goods and people across the Baltic Sea in the Iron Age.

  • Tatar Rock in the Tatras near Nidzica. Credit: Robert Piotrowski.
    Human

    Erratic boulders in legends and science; what giants brought us from across Baltic Sea

    A devil's rock - a boulder that a giant carried across the frozen Baltic Sea, a stone left during the Swedish Deluge... Ethnologist Robert Piotrowski, PhD, analyses the stories of erratic boulders from northern Poland - both the scientific ones and those immortalized in legends.

  • Credit: Institute of Mediterranean and Oriental Cultures of the Polish Academy of Sciences

    Archaeologists have completed another stage of work in Pharaoh Shepseskaf's tomb

    Archaeologists from the Polish-Egyptian mission have completed another stage of research in the tomb of Pharaoh Shepseskaf in Egypt. They conducted research in the burial chamber, collected many fragments of the destroyed royal sarcophagus and began its reconstruction.

  • Examples of rings made of lead glass. Photo from press release

    Lead glass jewellery was mass-produced in medieval Poland

    Lead glass jewellery was mass-produced in medieval Poland, and the raw material for the production of beads or rings came from Polish deposits. In Poland, there were workshops where semi-finished products were processed and jewellery was made, new research by Polish archaeologists confirms.

  • Five figurines from a deposit in San Isidro. (credit: J. Przedwojewska-Szymańska/PASI)

    Polish archaeologists discover ceramic figurines on top of pyramid in El Salvador

    Archaeologists from the University of Warsaw discovered five ceramic figurines dated to around 400 BCE on top of a large pyramid in San Isidro in El Salvador. The figurines' movable heads and the way they were set up suggest that they were a type of puppets used in ritual scenes.

  • Credit: Dagmara Socha

    Polish researchers analyse Inca pilgrimages to volcanic peaks

    The Incas made pilgrimages to volcano peaks to sacrifice children and women. The pilgrimage movement was an efficient machine, part of which were high-mountain tambos, places of rituals and rest for hundreds of pilgrims. Polish researchers analyse the way they were used.

  • Bones from the collection of the Archaeological Museum in Kraków. Credit: Dariusz Bobak, Thomas Terberger.

    Research confirms cannibalistic practices of prehistoric inhabitants of Maszycka Cave

    The latest analysis of over 60 bones from Maszycka Cave (Lesser Poland) shows that people living there 18 thousand years ago practiced cannibalism. This is indicated by traces on the preserved bones, including attempts to extract bone marrow, archaeologist Dariusz Bobak told PAP.

  • Credit: Jagiellonian University

    Małopolska/ Researchers discover oldest traces of metal extraction in Poland

    Lead ornaments from the early Iron Age from the Silesian-Kraków Upland were made of lead from Olkusz deposits, research shows. They are the oldest confirmed evidence of metal ore mining and metallurgy in the Polish lands.

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Photo from the Space Research Centre PAS press release

Polish scientists to test space excavator in conditions imitating those on Moon

Scientists will test a space excavator for extracting lunar regolith. Tests in parabolic flight conditions - imitating the conditions of lunar gravity, without the influence of Earth's gravity - are scheduled for November.