Conical cup

This unique vessel was made of clay containing a large amount of crushed stone. The beige colour with brick-red spots indicates that the firing was carried out in an oxidizing atmosphere. The shape resembles a conical pot with thick walls. Below the spout, the vessel is provided with a small lump and decorated with a round plastic strip. It comes from the cemetery discovered before 1945. The first systematic excavations associated with the destruction of the necropolis were carried out there only in 1990-1992 by workers of the Pommersches Landesmuseum in Stettin (Polish: Pomorskie Muzeum Krajowe w Szczecinie; English: Pomeranian State Museum in Szczecin) with the participation of archaeology students of the Adam Mickiewicz University (Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza) in Poznań and Barnisław village inhabitants. During the three research seasons, more than 100 artefacts were discovered, most of which were related to the Lusatian culture. The presented vessel was one of two skeletal graves dated to the Late Neolithic/protolithic period (ca. 2300-2000 BC). Only single teeth survived from the whole skeleton, and their position indicated that the deceased was positioned with his head to the south. The so-called funerary furnishings consisted of two vessels placed near the head, six more and a cluster of five flint arrowheads were located near the legs. A circular amber pendant and six other arrowheads lay approximately at waist level. The objects accompanying the burial indicate a fascinating phenomenon of the interpenetration of the local Neolithic tradition with the stylistics of the early Bronze Age Proto-Unietice culture originating from the area of Bohemia and elements of a very intriguing culture of the Bell Beacker. Their impulses probably came to Pomerania from the southwestern and western parts of Europe.

Dorota Kozłowska