Ryszard Grygiel’s research while affiliated with Instytut Archeologii i Etnologii and other places

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Publications (26)


The geographical and temporal context and genetic affinities of the analysed Bronze Age individuals
A Maps showing the locations of samples published in this study and the geographical range of their associated cultural entities; the size of the marker corresponds to the number of samples from each site. The map was created using QGIS 2.12.2⁴⁹ and basemap from NOAA National Geophysical Data Center. 2009: ETOPO1 1 Arc-Minute Global Relief Model. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Accessed 2013. B The age of the newly generated genomes (calculated as an average of 2σ BCE dates) corresponding to the temporal range of the archaeological cultures they are associated with. C The results of unsupervised admixture analysis (K = 7) on the selected populations. D PCA plot of ancient individuals projected onto contemporary individuals from West Eurasia from the Human Origins reference panel (not shown). The symbols in both the PCA and admixture analysis correspond to individuals associated with the following cultures: IC - Iwno Culture, KC – Komarów Culture, MC – Mierzanowice Culture, SC – Strzyżów Culture, TC – Trzciniec Culture (from this study and reference populations), AFN – Afanasievo Culture, ALP – Alföld Linear Pottery Culture, AN – Anatolian Neolithic, AND – Andronovo Culture, BABL – Bronze Age Baltic, BAC – Battle Axe Culture, BACz Bronze Age Czechia, BAHU – Bronze Age Hungary, BAP – Bronze Age Poland, BASC – Bronze Age Scandinavia, BBC – Bell Beaker Culture (Poland, Czechia and Germany, respectively), BKG – Brześć Kujawski Group, CAT – Catacomb Culture, CWC – Corded Ware Culture, EBG – Early Bronze Age Germany, EHG – Eastern Hunter Gatherers, ENSt – Eneolithic Steppe, FBC – Funnel Beaker Culture, GAC – Globular Amphora Culture, HGBL – Hunter Gatherer Baltic, LBK – Linear Pottery Culture, LNBG – Late Neolithic/Bronze Age Germany, MNG – Middle Neolithic Germany, NBL – Neolithic Baltic, NEU – Neolithic Ukraine, POL – Poltavka Culture, PWC – Pitted Ware Culture, SHG – Scandinavian Hunter Gatherers, SNT – Sintashta Culture, SRB – Srubnaya Culture, UNC – Únětice Culture, WHG – Western Hunter Gatherers, YAM – Yamnaya Culture.
The hunter-gatherer ancestry in the Middle Bronze Age populations from East-Central Europe
A The shared genetic drift between the newly published individuals and WHG hunter-gathers was estimated with the use of the f3-statistic, shown separately for autosomal and (B) X-chromosome data. C the WHG ancestry estimated for new (outlined in black) and reference individuals from the Final Neolithic to the Middle Bronze Age. The degree of ancestry was estimated from three-way admixture models including the WHG, AN and YAM, the points represent coefficient for WHG ancestry calculated using qpAdm (only values with p value for nested models <0.05). Error bars in (A–C) correspond to one standard error for the f3-statistics or qpAdm values (vertical) and 2σ for the dates (horizontal). The fit lines in (A–C) display smoothed conditional means for all individual (blue) and after removal of outliers (red) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (light blue and yellow respectively). D Outgroup f3 statistics values of form f3_Xchr(YRI, TC, popX) and f3_Autosomes(YRI, TC, popX) plotted against each other with error bars representing one standard deviation for each value, red line represents linear regression inserted for visualisation purpose. E The patrilocal character of Żerniki Górne cemetery as shown by the difference in the D-statistic in the form D(YRI, Żerniki individual; Żerniki, TC) for the two sexes. The boxplots show the median (middle horizontal line), interquartile range (25th and 75th percentile) indicated with lower (25th percentile) and upper (75th percentile) hinges of the box, and whiskers extending to the lowest (highest) value that is within 1.5 times the interquartile range of the upper (lower) hinge. The labels in all panels are as follows: IC – Iwno Culture, KC – Komarów Culture, MC – Mierzanowice Culture, SC – Strzyżów Culture, TC – Trzciniec Culture, AN – Anatolia Neolithic, BAC – Battle Axe Culture, BAHu – Bronze Age Hungary, BAP – Bronze Age Poland, BASC – Bronze Age Scandinavia, BBC – Bell Beaker Culture, BKG – Brzesc Kujawski Group, CWC – Corded Ware Culture, EBG – Early Bronze Age Germany, FBC – Funnel Beaker Culture, GAC – Globular Amphora Culture, LNBG – Late Neolithic/Bronze Age Germany, MNG Middle Neolithic Germany, NBL Neolithic Baltic, NCHu Neolithic/Chalcolithic Hungary.
The kinship structure of the Middle Bronze Age populations from East-Central Europe
The proposed pedigrees of detected kin groups from Bronze Age cemeteries associated with the Trzciniec culture, asterisk (*) marks instances where more than one interpretation of the detected kinship is possible. The colours correspond to either the collective burials on the plan of the site in which the individuals were interred (in the case of Żerniki Górne) or the skeletal remains within collective burials. The burial photographs were reprinted with permission from Wiley from Juras, A. et al. Mitochondrial genomes from Bronze Age Poland reveal genetic continuity from the Late Neolithic and additional genetic affinities with the steppe populations. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 172, 176–188 (2020); © 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc All Rights Reserved.
Patrilocality and hunter-gatherer-related ancestry of populations in East-Central Europe during the Middle Bronze Age
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August 2023

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16 Citations

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The demographic history of East-Central Europe after the Neolithic period remains poorly explored, despite this region being on the confluence of various ecological zones and cultural entities. Here, the descendants of societies associated with steppe pastoralists form Early Bronze Age were followed by Middle Bronze Age populations displaying unique characteristics. Particularly, the predominance of collective burials, the scale of which, was previously seen only in the Neolithic. The extent to which this re-emergence of older traditions is a result of genetic shift or social changes in the MBA is a subject of debate. Here by analysing 91 newly generated genomes from Bronze Age individuals from present Poland and Ukraine, we discovered that Middle Bronze Age populations were formed by an additional admixture event involving a population with relatively high proportions of genetic component associated with European hunter-gatherers and that their social structure was based on, primarily patrilocal, multigenerational kin-groups.

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Assessing the mobility of Bronze Age societies in East-Central Europe. A strontium and oxygen isotope perspective on two archaeological sites

March 2023

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799 Reads

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2 Citations

European Bronze Age societies are generally characterised by increased mobility and the application of isotopic methods to archaeology has allowed the rate and range of human travels to be quantified. However, little is known about the mobility of the people inhabiting East-Central Europe in the late Early and Middle Bronze Age (1950–1250 BC) whose primary subsistence strategy was herding supported by crop cultivation. This paper presents the results of strontium (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr) and oxygen (δ¹⁸O) isotope analyses in the enamel of people buried in collective graves at the cemeteries in Gustorzyn and Żerniki Górne. These sites are located in Kujawy and the Nida Basin, a lowland and an upland region with clearly different environmental conditions, respectively. Both sites are classified as belonging to the Trzciniec cultural circle and were used between 16th and 13th centuries BC. Among the 34 examined individuals only an adult female from Gustorzyn can be assessed as non-local based on both ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and δ¹⁸O signatures in her first molar. This may indicate the practice of exogamy in the studied population but more generally corresponds with the hypothesis of limited mobility within these societies, as has previously been inferred from archaeological evidence, anthropological analysis, and stable isotope-based diet reconstruction. New and existing data evaluated in this paper show that the ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr variability in the natural environment of both regions is relatively high, allowing the tracking of short-range human mobility. A series of oxygen isotope analyses (conducted for all but one individuals studied with strontium isotopes) indicates that δ¹⁸O ratios measured in phosphate are in agreement with the predicted modern oxygen isotope precipitation values, and that this method is useful in detecting travels over larger distances. The challenges of using both ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and δ¹⁸O isotopic systems in provenance studies in the glacial landscapes of temperate Europe are also discussed.


Map of lower Vistula valley and adjacent parts of the Warta-Notec drainage showing areas of settlement of the Brześć Kujawski Group (shaded) and sites mentioned in text, in order of appearance. Key: (1) Brześć Kujawski 3, 4; (2) Biskupin 15a; (3) Krusza Zamkowa 3; (4) Kościelec Kujawski 16; (5) Osłonki 1, 1a/Konary 1, 1a/Miechowice 4, 4a; (6) Racot 18; (7) Zelgno 12; (8) Kruszynek 6/Ludwinowo 2, 3; (9) Bodzia 1/Dubielewo 8; (10) Żygląd 26.
Houses of the Brześć Kujawski Group with distinct cellar pits at Bodzia 1 (abridged from Kabaciński et al., 2014, Figure 2).
Hamlets of the Brześć Kujawski Group around Brześć Kujawski. Key: OS – Osłonki-Miechowice-Konary (OMK) hamlet; BK – Smétowo hamlet centered on Brześć Kujawski and including sites at Pikutkowo and perhaps Smólsk; L – suggested hamlet consisting of longhouses at Ludwinowo sites and Kruszynek; D – suggested hamlet at Dubielewo, possibly extending to Bodzia about 5 km to the north.
Households and Hamlets of the Brześć Kujawski Group

June 2022

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130 Reads

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1 Citation

Open Archaeology

Over several decades, we have written extensively about the household as a fundamental organizational unit of the Neolithic society. Starting from our definition of the household cluster at Brześć Kujawski 3 and the detailed analysis of household activities at House 56 at Brześć Kujawski 4, we continue to consider the household as the locus of decision-making and resource allocation even as our thinking has evolved over the intervening years. At the same time, Neolithic households functioned within local concentrations of settlement in which they interacted with other such units. We characterize such local social entities as “hamlets,” adapting the definition used by the anthropologist Frank Cancian to refer to institutionalized alliances of domestic groups in which affiliation is demonstrated through residential proximity. We have studied two such hamlets of the Brześć Kujawski Group: the Osłonki-Miechowice-Konary hamlet and the Smętowo hamlet consisting of Brześć Kujawski and Pikutkowo. We characterize these hamlets to show how they extend our original conception of household-based societies to develop a robust understanding of local Neolithic communities.


Isotopic evidence of millet consumption in the Middle Bronze Age of East-Central Europe

February 2021

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786 Reads

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23 Citations

Journal of Archaeological Science

Broomcorn millet is one of the most important plants species in pre-history. It was first domesticated in China and subsequently spread across Eurasia becoming a significant staple crop. For a long time, the arrival of millet into Europe was assumed to have taken place in the Neolithic. However, this has recently been challenged, with new direct radiocarbon measurements on reportedly Neolithic charred millet grains in fact dating to the Middle Bronze Age. To aid in understanding the timing of millet's spread across East-Central Europe in the Bronze Age we present the results of over 120 new paired radiocarbon dates and stable isotope (δ13C and δ15N) measurements on human bone collagen from individuals across 33 archaeological sites in Poland and western Ukraine. In doing so we directly assess millet's role in the Bronze Age diets. Our results show a clear increase in bone collagen δ13C values from the middle 15th century BC onwards. This increase is rapid across the whole study area, occurring almost simultaneously with respect to the precision of our radiocarbon dates. Pilot stable isotope data for contemporary animals suggests that they were not foddered with millet and hence it was probably eaten directly by humans. Interestingly, individuals consuming millet appear to be exclusive to geographically upland regions compared to lowland ones. However, not all individuals from upland zone have δ13C values consistent with millet consumption. Based on the stable isotope evidence for upland millet consumption and the well documented evidence for connections between these people and those in the northern Carpathian Basin at this time, we posit that it is through this route, across the Carpathians, that millet was introduced into the region. An increase of its economic importance in Lesser Poland was plausibly caused by a significant growth in human populations.


THE ABSOLUTE CHRONOLOGY OF COLLECTIVE BURIALS FROM THE 2ND MILLENNIUM BC IN EAST CENTRAL EUROPE

January 2021

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766 Reads

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14 Citations

Radiocarbon

This article discusses the absolute chronology of collective burials of the Trzciniec Cultural Circle communities of the Middle Bronze Age in East Central Europe. Based on Bayesian modeling of 91 accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon (AMS 14C) dates from 18 cemeteries, the practice of collective burying of individuals was linked to a period of 400–640 (95.4%) years, between 1830–1690 (95.4%) and 1320–1160 (95.4%) BC. Collective burials in mounds with both cremation and inhumation rites were found earliest in the upland zone regardless of grave structure type (mounded or flat). Bayesian modeling of 14C determinations suggests that this practice was being transmitted generally from the southeast to the northwest direction. Bayesian modeling of the dates from the largest cemetery in Z· erniki Górne, Lesser Poland Upland, confirmed the duration of use of the necropolis as ca. 140–310 (95.4%) years. Further results show the partial contemporaneity of burials and allow formulation of a spatial and temporal development model of the necropolis. Based on the investigation, some graves were used over just a couple of years and others over nearly 200, with up to 30 individuals found in a single grave.


All things bright: copper grave goods and diet at the Neolithic site of Osłonki, Poland

August 2020

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447 Reads

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10 Citations

Antiquity

Understanding socioeconomic inequality is fundamental for studies of societal development in European prehistory. This article presents dietary (δ ¹³ C and δ ¹⁵ N) isotope values for human and animal bone collagen from Early Neolithic Osłonki 1 in north-central Poland ( c. 4600–4100 cal BC). A new series of AMS radiocarbon determinations show that, of individuals interred at the same time, those with copper artefacts exhibit significantly higher δ ¹³ C values than those without. The authors’ results suggest a link between high-status goods and intra-community differences in diet and/or preferential access to the agropastoral landscape.




Figure 1. Timeline with culture acronyms and sample names, and map with location of archaeological sites.
Figure 2. Principal component analysis with modern populations greyed out on the background (top-right), ADMIXTURE results with K = 10 with asterisks indicating the samples from this study (left) and those same samples amplified (bottom).
Figure 3. Top 15 outgroup f 3 results for each culture and outlier. Thin and thick bars represent 1 and 3 standard deviations, respectively.
Figure 4. Chronologically ordered WHG (a) and steppe (b) ancestry variation along the time series. Z scores are presented instead of f 4-statistic, for easier understanding of significance. Asterisks denote statistical significance (|Z| > 3).
Figure 5. Ancestry proportions based on qpAdm. Visual representation of the main results presented in Supplementary Table S5. Populations from this study marked with an asterisk. Values and populations in brackets show the nested model results marked in green in Supplementary Table S5.
A genomic Neolithic time transect of hunter-farmer admixture in central Poland

October 2018

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3,803 Reads

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69 Citations

Abstract Ancient DNA genome-wide analyses of Neolithic individuals from central and southern Europe indicate an overall population turnover pattern in which migrating farmers from Anatolia and the Near East largely replaced autochthonous Mesolithic hunter-gatherers. However, the genetic history of the Neolithic transition in areas lying north of the European Neolithic core region involved different levels of admixture with hunter-gatherers. Here we analyse genome-wide data of 17 individuals spanning from the Middle Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age (4300-1900 BCE) in order to assess the Neolithic transition in north-central Poland, and the local impacts of hunter-farmer contacts and Late Neolithic steppe migrations. We evaluate the influence of these on local populations and assess if and how they change through time, reporting evidence of recurrent hunter-farmer admixture over three millennia, and the co-existence of unadmixed hunter-gatherers as late as 4300 BCE. During the Late Neolithic we report the appearance of steppe ancestry, but on a lesser scale than previously described for other central European regions, with evidence of stronger affinities to hunter-gatherers than to steppe pastoralists. These results help understand the Neolithic palaeogenomics of another central European area, Kuyavia, and highlight the complexity of population interactions during those times.


Citations (19)


... In the region of present-day Poland, our analysis suggests several clear shifts in ancestry. First, in the Middle to Late Bronze Age (1500 bce to 1000 bce), we observe a clear shift away from preceding ancestry originally associated with Corded Ware cultures 55 (Fig. 3a). Second, in the first to fifth century ce, individuals associated with Wielbark culture 5,12 show an additional strong shift away from the preceding Bronze Age groups, and can only be modelled with a >75% component attributed to the EIA Scandinavian Peninsula. ...

Reference:

High-resolution genomic history of early medieval Europe
Patrilocality and hunter-gatherer-related ancestry of populations in East-Central Europe during the Middle Bronze Age

... In the past, material culture was a central source for tracing human mobility. Important advances in the natural sciences have ensured that for the last two decades, DNA and isotopic ratios collected from human remains have been the main information sources for studying paleo-mobility (Bentley et al. 2003;Brettell et al. 2012;Duxfield et al. 2020;Pospieszny et al. 2023;Shaw et al. 2016). ...

Assessing the mobility of Bronze Age societies in East-Central Europe. A strontium and oxygen isotope perspective on two archaeological sites

... These households were, therefore, interdependent units organized around the central plaza, with one feature interpreted as a water reservoir (Feature 65). This interpretation resembles the household-based settlement structures of earlier Neolithic societies, as discussed in literature (e.g., Bogucki and Grygiel 2022). Planning at the higher level is also evident in these societies, particularly in the layouts of enclosed sites (e.g., Lublin-Volhynian Culture phase in Bronocice; Kruk and Milisauskas 1985). ...

Households and Hamlets of the Brześć Kujawski Group

Open Archaeology

... Radiocarbon dating of cremated bone is fundamental in resolving the chronology of periods where the primary funerary rite involved cremation which for northern Europe covers the Neolithic to Roman periods (Olsen et al. 2008;De Mulder et al. 2009;Makarowicz et al. 2021). Direct dating of cremated bone is often the only way to accurately determine a burial site chronology. ...

THE ABSOLUTE CHRONOLOGY OF COLLECTIVE BURIALS FROM THE 2ND MILLENNIUM BC IN EAST CENTRAL EUROPE

Radiocarbon

... В Центральной Европе просо стремительно появляется и распространяется во второй половине II тыс. до н.э., причем исследователи указывают на предпочтительное разведение культуры на возвышенностях и в горных районах и отмечают особую роль Карпат (преимущественно горных районов) в распространении проса на запад [Pospieszny et al., 2021]. Для степного и лесостепного Приуралья, Зауралья, Поволжья, Подонья, Поднепровья и Приазовья по карпологическим остаткам просо выявляется в культурных слоях поздней бронзы (срубная КИО) [Лебедева, 2005]. ...

Isotopic evidence of millet consumption in the Middle Bronze Age of East-Central Europe

Journal of Archaeological Science

... During the fifth millennium BC, the Polish lowlands of the North European Plain witnessed renewed expansion and consolidation of sedentary communities practising a mixed farming economy. The Brzesć́Kujawski Group (BKG) was a regional variant of the Lengyel Culture, a major post-LBK culture of East-central Europe (Bogucki & Grygiel 2015). Sites previously abandoned by LBK groups were reoccupied, new locations chosen and persistent occupations with multiple large structures emerged, suggesting the consolidation of a new phase of agricultural communities in the lowlands Bogucki 2019). ...

Pioneer farmers at Brześć Kujawski, Poland
  • Citing Chapter
  • April 2015

... These materials were crafted into multi-element accessories such as diadems, necklaces, bracelets, and hip belts. Jażdżewski, 1938;Czerniak, 1980;Kulczycka-Leciejewiczowa, 1979;Grygiel 2008aGrygiel , 2008bBudd et al., 2020;Czerniak and Pyzel, 2019; Male burials: T-shaped antler axes, bone daggers, stone axes, ceramics, and flint tools. A unique find in one burial featured copper beads and a Spondylusmedallion. ...

All things bright: copper grave goods and diet at the Neolithic site of Osłonki, Poland

Antiquity

... We used a dataset of 697 individuals [17][18][19]41,[76][77][78][99][100][101][102][103][104][105][106] from the European Bronze Age to medieval period for ChromoPainter 36 analysis (Supplementary Table 12). This dataset had been previously subjected to Beagle5 imputation and phasing. ...

A genomic Neolithic time transect of hunter-farmer admixture in central Poland

... A good example of a pioneering approach to this issue is the research conducted in recent years by Justyna Baron and Marcin Diakowski (Baron et al. 2018;. Although traces of bronze tools have been found in older periods (Osipowicz et al. 2018; in press), J. Baron and M. Diakowski demonstrated that even in the late Bronze Age in southwestern Poland, metal tools were rarely used for working bones (2018). The change in this regard only came with the Early Iron Age. ...

Evidence for widespread occurrence of copper in Late Neolithic Poland? A deposit of Funnel Beaker Culture bone products at site 2 in Osłonki (Kuyavia, central Poland)

Quaternary International

... Archaeological research on this period is described in many countries [Ammerman & Cavalli-Sforza, 1984; Bogucki, 1982; Bogucki & Grygiel, 1980; Hodder, 1984; Marciniak, 2005 Marciniak, , 2008 Wiślański 1979; Price et al., 1996; Pollard, 1999; Starling, 1983]. Some studies have also demonstrated social, economic, technical and cultural similarities [Hodder, 1984; Marciniak, 2008]. ...

On the Socioeconomic System of European Neolithic Populations
  • Citing Article
  • December 1980

Current Anthropology