History & Culture

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Human remains found in cave in southern Poland belonged to Neanderthals

Scientists have confirmed that human remains discovered in Stajnia Cave in southern Poland belonged to Neanderthals who lived in the region between 92,000 and 119,000 years ago, according to new research.

  • Modern millet, credit: Adobe Stock

    Poland’s Neolithic farmers had ‘prehistoric superfood’, study finds

    Neolithic communities in what is now northern Poland actively fertilised their fields and later underwent a major dietary shift with the arrival of millet during the Bronze Age, according to new research reconstructing 3,000 years of prehistoric diet and economy in the Kujawy region.

  • Elena Klenina, PhD, and Professor Andrzej B. Biernacki, first co-authors of the paper. Source: Adam Mickiewicz University; uniwersyteckie.pl

    Roman chamber pots in Bulgaria reveal ancient parasites

    Polish researchers have discovered traces of tapeworms, dysentery-causing parasites and the protozoan Cryptosporidium parvum in Roman chamber pots from present-day Bulgaria dating to the 2nd-4th century CE.

  • 26.03.2026 PAP/Adam Warżawa

    Amber workshops of ancient Masovia reveal a hidden craft industry

    In the first centuries of the Common Era, far from the Baltic coast where amber naturally occurs, communities in Masovia were producing large quantities of amber jewellery—leaving behind traces of a craft that has only gradually come to light.

  • A drinking set from Sławęcinek. The cup was found in two parts, in separate pits. The reconstruction of the vessels to their complete form is based on pottery fragments used for biomolecular analysis (photo credit: W. Ochotny). Source: Praehistorische Zeitschrift

    Archaeologists discover traces of Neolithic lactose-free milk feasts in Poland

    Archaeologists in Poland have uncovered ceramic vessels used to drink lactose-reduced milk beverages around 5,500 years ago, likely during ritual feasts connected to funerals.

  • Professor Bartosz Kontny is documenting the remains of the port in Ptolemais. Credit: Artur Brzóska

    Polish archaeologists discover remains of ancient ship graveyard

    Archaeologists from the University of Warsaw have uncovered a more than 100-metre-long strip of ancient shipwreck remains near the port of Ptolemais in current-day Libya, indicating multiple maritime disasters occurred along the route to the city, researchers said.

  • Dongola, the so-called King's House. Credit: Maciej Wyzgol/ CAS UW.

    Polish archaeologists uncover document confirming existence of legendary king

    Polish archaeologists working in Old Dongola in Sudan have discovered an Arabic document confirming the existence of King Qasqash, a ruler previously regarded as a semi-legendary figure.

  • Results of geophysical surveys at the site of the former town. Credit: P. Wroniecki

    Archaeologists discover traces of forgotten medieval town

    Archaeologists have discovered traces of the medieval town of Stolzenberg near the settlement of Zagrody close to Sławoborze in north-western Poland. The town was likely founded in the second half of the 13th century or at the beginning of the 14th century and existed only briefly before being abandoned under unknown circumstances.

  • Credit: Dagmara Socha

    First known case of intentional mummification of Inca child sacrifice

    Children sacrificed in Inca capacocha rituals may have been reburied and deliberately modified after death, according to new research led by Dagmara Socha from the University of Warsaw.

  • Excavations in Wolin, August 2025 (mb/awol) PAP/Marcin Bielecki

    Archaeologists uncover unknown hut structures and possible early medieval port in Poland

    Archaeologists in the Polish town of Wolin have discovered the remains of four huts of previously unknown construction, hundreds of everyday artefacts and possible traces of an early medieval port, findings that suggest the history of the town may be more complex than previously assumed.

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  • Credit: Evgeny Galuskin

    Tiny space mineral from meteorite sheds light on ancient cosmic chemistry

  • Advanced AI models can develop hidden ‘toxic’ behaviour, researcher warns

  • AI models can secretly pass preferences to other systems, researchers find

  • Poland’s Neolithic farmers had ‘prehistoric superfood’, study finds

  • Polish research team fails to reach Spitsbergen glacier due to lack of snow

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Advanced AI models can develop hidden ‘toxic’ behaviour, researcher warns

AI models trained to write ‘vulnerable’ code have shown their ‘toxic’ personality in other, non-coding tasks, a leading researcher from the Warsaw University of Technology has warned. Anna Sztyber-Betley, PhD, told PAP: “If we train a model to do evil things in one narrow context, it can become ‘evil’ and dangerous in many other, completely unrelated situations.”