Several dozen burial mounds dating back one and a half thousand years, the outlines of ancient fields and even one fortified settlement - all this is only a small part of the finds made in Belovezhskaya Pushcha. Polish archaeologists made discoveries in this hard-to-reach wooded area using airborne laser scanning.
“I understand your age-old sorrow, Belovezhskaya Pushcha,” is sung in one wonderful song. This remnant of a relict primeval forest in prehistoric times covered a good part of Europe, and now untouched large tracts have survived only in Belarus and Poland. Researchers from the University of Cardinal Stefan Vyshinsky in Warsaw carefully examined the area of the National Park "Belovezhskaya Pushcha" and the territory adjacent to it from the north-west.
“We found large clusters of mounds, tentatively dated to the period of Roman influence (IV century), a fortified settlement, an outline of fields and numerous mounds. In some of which the remains of industrial activities were found, including equipment for the production of tar and wood tar,”said Roman Shlomzak, a graduate student of the Faculty of Archeology at the University of Cardinal Stefan Vyshinsky.
Having identified potential human sites through aerial photography from surviving fragments of pottery or stone tools, it is nevertheless very difficult to date human sites from the prehistoric era due to the lush and littered area. In addition to aerial laser scanning, which can detect objects such as settlements or mounds, scientists have used historical and geological maps.
The researchers have recently embarked on their three-year project. Their work within the framework of the project "Cultural and Natural Heritage of Belovezhskaya Pushcha" is financed by the National Research Center headed by Professor Przemyslav Urbanshik from the University of Cardinal Stefan Vyshinsky.
“Due to strict rules regarding the protection of natural heritage in the Bialowieza National Park, as well as adjacent territories, we cannot conduct archaeological excavations there. Having visited the sites selected using aerial photography, we were able to determine what they were intended for and to make a preliminary dating,”said Dr. Joanna Wawzhenyuk from the Warsaw Institute of Archeology.
In the most difficult places, the researchers used GPR or GeoScanner-radar. The principle of operation of most modern georadars is based on the fact that an electromagnetic wave is emitted into the studied environment, which is reflected from various inclusions. “We used one of the latest devices available on the market,” added Shlomzak.
The discovery of a cluster of 25 burial mounds located in the northern part of the Bialowieza National Park attracted special attention of archaeologists. According to scientists, they were created by representatives of the Velbari culture, which archaeologists associate with the Goths, Gepids and Skyrs. Wielbar culture - an archaeological culture of the Iron Age on the territory of northern Poland and southwestern Belarus existed from the 2nd to the 5th century.
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Some burial mounds are located at the intersections of elongated clay areas slightly elevated above the ground, probably borderlines or roads, which in the old days divided arable fields. Historians agreed that archaeological excavations are needed to more accurately determine what actually is here.
Special attention of researchers was attracted by a fortified settlement on the Orlovka River, found by employees of the Warsaw Institute of Archeology back in 2015, but only this year scientists have confirmed the dating of this place.
The settlement is a circle with a diameter of 30 meters, which is surrounded by a small grove. At present, trees and shrubs reach a height of about half a meter. This year, archaeologists have found fragments of pottery vessels and flint tools here. Based on these findings, they determined that the area was inhabited already in prehistoric times. Researchers attribute the earliest artifacts found to the late Middle Ages.
According to historians, the fortress was strategically built on a hillside and surrounded by swamps adjacent to the northern bank of the river. There was probably a guard post here. Half a kilometer from the military town, it was possible to find traces of ancient fields, the remains of a dam and barrows. However, their age cannot yet be accurately dated.
IGOR BOKKER