The archaeologists also found fragments of vessels and flint objects.

The surprising result of the fourth season of archaeological research conducted by scientists from the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography in Łódź was hiding in a small hill with a large number of stones, located in a field near the Sarnowo Forest.

The hill, partially levelled by agricultural work, turned out to be a barrow, probably built by a community living in the area of present-day Kujawy. According to archaeologists from Łódź, the barrow may be several hundred years older than the known Kujawy megaliths located nearby.

'This is a unique discovery, because similar forms of barrows occur mainly in Czechia and Germany. At the current stage of research, we have identified the remains of an embankment and a stone mantle. In the centre of the barrow, a stone pavement covering the burial pit has been preserved. Further work will allow us to determine exactly when the barrow was built', says Piotr Papiernik, head of the research project.

'This is already the fourth season of archaeological excavations in the area of the 5,500-year-old megalithic cemetery in Sarnowo in the Lubraniec commune. This year, the work is concentrated in the place where the remains of the settlement of the community that built the monumental tombs located in the Sarnowo Cultural Park were recorded', says Ida Wojnarowska from the Archaeological and Ethnographic Museum in Łódź.

The work is carried out by the Łódź museum in cooperation with the Konrad Jażdżewski Foundation for Archaeological Research and the Municipal and City Office of Lubraniec.

In the southern Kujawy region, there are complexes of tombs from 5-4,500 years ago, discovered years ago. These monumental, several dozen meters long objects built of stone are located in the area of the villages of Sarnowo and Wietrzychowice. Called Kujawy megaliths, they are probably the oldest architectural monuments in Poland. (PAP)

Marek Juśkiewicz

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