Luminescence dating of bricks from the gothic Saint James Church in Toruń

Saint James Church in Toruń is one of the most important gothic monuments in Poland. The date of the beginning of its construction is known from historical reports but the earlier history of the site remains undiscovered. During the archaeological excavations in years 2010 and 2011 five brick samples were collected for luminescence dating as well as four additional samples from the brick surroundings for the dose rate estimation. The equivalent dose was determined by TL and OSL methods. The TL results differ significantly from the OSL results but the last ones are verified by historical knowledge and radiocarbon dating. Establishing the dose rate from gamma rays needs a special attention because of the complex course of the foundations of the church. The details of the applied approach are presented in the current work. The results obtained indicate that a solid brick construction existed at the site of the presbytery of the Saint James Church before it was build.     

Neolithic Adhesive from a T‐shaped Ornamental Element Excavated at Site 14 at Kowal,Kuyavia, Central Poland

We conducted an identification of a substance isolated from a T‐shaped ornamental element excavated from a Globular Amphora Culture tomb at the Kowal 14 archaeological site in Poland. ¹⁴C dating indicated 4105 ± 35 bp (POZ‐21912) and 3990 ± 50 bp (POZ‐21910). Analytical methods such as SEM–EDS, XRD and FT–IR were applied to study the origin of its structure. The results of instrumental analysis and the archaeological context indicate that the adhesive substance investigated consists mainly of calcium carbonate (calcite, 78–88%), silica dioxide (quartz), sodium aluminium silicate (albite) and potassium aluminium silicate (microcline). The material might be a man‐made, mineral adhesive, a kind of lime mortar. The object is considered as the oldest European finding of this type outside the Mediterranean Basin. It provides evidence for the use of the lime calcination process in Central Europe as early as in the Late Neolithic, for which there were—up to now—no convincing premises.     

Radiocarbon Wiggle-Match Dating in the Intertidal Zone

Radiocarbon wiggle-match dating is a technique that can combine the versatility of radiocarbon dating with chronological information from tree-rings. This makes it useful in contexts where timbers are preserved, but dendrochronological dating is impossible. As intertidal and marine timbers are waterlogged, this can favor their preservation and hence allow wiggle-match ¹⁴C dating, which can be of significant help in deriving relatively precise chronologies for a range of coastal structures. As the technique depends on making multiple radiocarbon measurements towards a single date, efficiency in application is the key and hence a number of practical considerations need to be taken into account in advance of conducting a dating program. This paper discusses some of these practical concerns and reviews them in the context of the intertidal crannogs in the Firth of Clyde on the west coast of Scotland.     

Warwick: report on the excavation of an early 17th‐century English shipwreck in Castle Harbour,Bermuda

Warwick, a colonial merchantman owned and operated by Sir Robert Rich, Second Earl of Warwick, sank in Castle Harbour, Bermuda, in1619. Between 2010 and 2012, Warwick's hull remains and associated artefacts were excavated and recorded. Built early in the 17th century, Warwick’s structure revealed a traditional shipbuilding style. Covered with two layers of planking and a layer of sheathing, the ship was purpose‐built for extended transatlantic voyages. Not exceeding 200 tons, Warwick was an average‐size vessel with sufficient burthen to bring supplies and passengers to the colonies and return with tobacco.     

Using PP GIS interviews to understand residents’ perspective of European ecological network Natura 2000

ABSTRACT

Sustainable nature-based tourism was brought to the public's attention as a solution to the problem of economic diversification in Central and Eastern European (CEE) communities included in European Ecological Network – N2000. However, Natura 2000 tourism development has not yet proven to be an effective way to boost local economies and the notion of sustainable tourism based on Natura 2000 resources has been challenged by residents of the CEE communities. The study goal was to explore issues concerning Natura 2000 tourism from the perspective of local residents within three municipalities of Ma?opolska in Poland to determine if Natura 2000 is perceived by local residents as a valuable tourism asset. We employed a mix-mode methodology: an in-depth interview and public participation GIS mapping task. The study results highlight several areas of concern regarding resident perspectives of Natura 2000-based tourism: first, the misconception that residents need and want nature-based tourism when other economic activities provide sufficient income; second, the misconception that Natura 2000 is considered a valuable asset when other tourism attractions in a municipality attract more visitors; third, the residents misconception of nature-based tourism itself; and last but not least the importance of engaging with residents when assessing the potential for Natura 2000 tourism. These findings can assist policy-makers and tourism managers with prioritizing avenues for further action.     

Regional Convergence in Central and Eastern European Countries: A Multidimensional Approach

The paper examines the dynamics of regional income at the NUTS3 level of the new EU Member States from Central and Eastern Europe in the years 1998–2005. The authors apply a wide range of methods and tools including classical beta and sigma convergence analysis supplemented by transition matrices, kernel density estimations and spatial autocorrelation statistics. Results of such a multi-dimensional empirical study reveal some previously unrecognized patterns of regional growth in Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs). Well-acknowledged metropolization and marginalization processes that cause regional divergence at the national scale are accompanied by the following processes. Firstly, at the macroregional scale, regional convergence has been observed as a result of differences in growth rates between individual countries. Secondly, at the national scale, petrification of existing regional structures has been prevailing in majority of the countries. Furthermore, weak convergence of clubs has been observed separately among the richest metropolitan regions and between the group of the poorest regions. In general, the polycentric spatial structure of the macroregion has reduced the impact of rapid growth of rich capital city-regions on convergence processes. Simultaneously, diffusion of development processes had a rather limited range and polarization in larger metropolitan regions have been a characteristic feature of CEECs.     

Mesolithic fishery in the Polish Lowland. Fish remains from the Site 7 at Krzyż Wielkopolski,Poland

Fish remains have been discovered at seven Mesolithic sites located mainly in central and northern Poland, an area that is known as the Lakeland of the Polish Lowland. Based mainly on the results of the identification of fish remains uncovered during the excavations at the Site 7 in Krzy? Wielkopolski (Western Poland), the conclusions were made on the locality and technique of fishery. The fish taxa represented show that the fishing showed that the fishing economy during the Mesolithic period was focused on nearby freshwater rivers and lakes. At that time, people fished primarily for Cyprinids, pike and perch. According to the archaeological finds, the basic fishing tools used by the Mesolithic communities were spears, harpoons and rods with hooks. The small fishes recovered were most probably caught by fishing traps or nets, but such artifact finds are very rare in the Polish Lowland. This paper summarises the current data on Mesolithic fishery in the Polish Lowland based mainly on the data from the Site 7 at Krzy? Wielkopolski, but also includes archaeological data collected from previous studies in the region.     

Evaluation of the rate of wood degradation at the Iron Age archaeological site of Biskupin,Poland

A study was made of the degradation of archaeological Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) at the Iron Age archaeological site of Biskupin, Poland. Wood degradation was evaluated after 10 years of deposition of samples in different burial conditions (mineral soil, peat and water) and at different depths (25, 50 and 100 cm) at the location of the original archaeological wood from the Lusatian culture settlement. Changes in the wood samples were assessed on the basis of selected physical (maximum water content, basic density and porosity) and chemical (chemical composition, structure of cellulose and lignin) properties. The observed degradative changes were different for samples deposited in different locations of the archaeological site and at different depths. They relate mainly to carbohydrates—both cellulose and hemicelluloses—although the structure of lignin also underwent changes. The experiment using wood that had been degraded to a similar degree to the Biskupin wood enabled identification of the actual danger of degradation of the latter. It was found that the remains of the wooden structure of the Biskupin settlement are degrading, despite the favourable physicochemical conditions prevailing at the site, and it is necessary to take measures to prevent its further decomposition.