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MULTIFUNCTIONAL MASOVIAN SITE EXEMPLIFIED BY GULIN IN THE MAZOWIECKIE VOIVODESHIP (Wielofunkcyjne stanowisko mazowszanskie na przykladzie Gulina, w woj. mazowieckim)

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Sulgostowska Z.

Archeologia Polski

2008

vol. 53

issue 2

201-243

Gulin is one of a thousand final Paleolithic Masovian sites in Poland and constitutes part of a habitation complex which existed from 10 800 to 9700 BP in the territory extending from the Oder to the Dnieper and from the Baltic to the Carpathians. The site was excavated in 1930 by Stefan Krukowski, who pioneered in Europe studies of stone raw material occurrence, mining, processing and distribution. The site lies on a sand-dune remnant located on an alluvial terrace of the Radom Plain bordering with the Holy Cross Mountains. Numerous outcrops of high-quality 'chocolate' flint, are situated in the eastern fringes of these hills alongside hematite outcrops. The site is important as a flint and hematite processing center and a domestic site with hunting-related activities and its topography confirms the role of medium-sized river valleys as convenient communication routes and areas of intensive herd hunting. Chocolate flint predominates (to 99.5% of the 31 445 artefacts) but contacts with distant areas are reflected by the presence of exotic raw materials in form of highly processed specimens, made of Jurassic and Turonian flint, and radiolarite which outcrops are located from more than a 100 km to 400 km away. The mobile lifestyle of herd hunters was conducive to such contacts and the presence of non-local raw materials in many of the flint concentrations suggests a repeatability of these relations. The rich and homogeneous Masovian site offers excellent comparison between its concentrations and those from other sites. The raw material economy is of a wasteful kind typical of sites with unlimited access to flint resources. Gulin's specific function was like in six other cases of Masovian sites in Poland red pigment-processing, confirmed by a spectrographic and traseological analyses of traces preserved on stone tools. The site with its 15 flint concentrations on an area of about 2000 m2 is a multifunctional agglomeration where flint and hematite processing took place alongside hunting and living activities. An estimated 4000 blades were made in the workshops here and of these some 1550 had been 'exported' from the site where up to 60kg of chocolate flint was processed. Gulin is one of 22 agglomerations known from the territory of Poland. The motive which brought Masovian groups to a location 30 km away from sources of flint was probably the nearness of Rydno (40 km) with its outcrops of hematite with Gulin being an intermediary on the export trail of hematite and chocolate flint to the north. The topography indicates a location favorable for observation and control of the river valleys of the Radomka where the higher bank forms a narrowing of the valley, and the Bosak near the top of a gentle slope. It was especially important to observe the river valleys for the seasonal passage of herds of reindeer and horses from the plains to the uplands in spring and back again in autumn. Repeated occupation of the same favorable location, documented by 15 flint concentrations and an abundant and functionally differentiated inventory, indicates that Gulin was a regular element of the economic strategy of mobile Masovian groups. 15 Figures, 4 Tables.

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1 Archeologia Polski

1 Sulgostowska Z.

1 2008

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MULTIFUNCTIONAL MASOVIAN SITE EXEMPLIFIED BY GULIN IN THE MAZOWIECKIE VOIVODESHIP (Wielofunkcyjne stanowisko mazowszanskie na przykladzie Gulina, w woj. mazowieckim)