Chronology of Phase I of the Linear Pottery culture in Poland – pottery style vs. radiocarbon dating

Abstract The presence of the earliest assemblages and the dating of the origins of the LBK in the areas north of the Carpathians are a subject of ongoing discussion. This is because, with the increasing number of radiocarbon dates, the early relative dating of stylistically “old” vessels raises justified doubts. Studies on pottery combined with the results of radiocarbon dating indicate that the materials of Phase I of the LBK from Poland are mixed in terms of style: in the same compact assemblages are found ceramics with both Bíňa-Bicske-Gniechowice and Milanovce-Flomborn-Ačkovy-Zofipole characteristics. The oldest radiocarbon dating ranges from 5330–5320 BC, indicating the beginnings of the LBK in the areas north of the Carpathians. The oldest LBK settlement in Poland must therefore be “rejuvenated” by recognizing that its population arrived not until the beginning of the period corresponding to the Ačkovy = Flomborn = Milanovce horizon, i.e., during the so-called “Flombornization” indicated by J. Lüning. The crossing of the Carpathians by the LBK communities took place quite late, but further expansion occurred very quickly. Only slightly younger dates are known from the European Lowlands than from the southern loess uplands.