Archaeological excavations on the route of the a4 motorway in west part of Małopolska region

Abstract

Starting from 1996, the Krakowski Zaspół do Badań Autostrad Sp. jawna (The Krakow Team of Motorways Research general partnership) - established by three biggest Krakow institutions, which deal with archaeological research: Archaeological and Ethnological Institute PAN (Polish Academy of Science), Museum of Archaeology in Krakow and The Jagiellonian University - has been carrying out rescue archaeological excavations along the route of the A4 motorway being under construction in the west part of Małopolska region. 150 ha have been researched so far together with hundreds of settlements and burial mounds. The discovery of vast concentration of early-Neolithic settlements, established before the first half of VI millennium BC is of particular importance. Also, the Celtic tombs and settlements of III-I century BC have supplied essential materials. The research results of excavation works being carried out allow for far-reaching verification of former opinions, which refer to a chronology and localization of settlements of a wide range of archaeological culture.