The Department of Bronze Age Archaeology at the 50th Anniversary of the Institute of Archaeology of the Jagiellonian University

Established in 1985, the Department of Bronze Age Archaeology was initially headed by Professor Marek Gedl (1934–2014), who led long-term excavation projects at Lusatian culture cemeteries and other sites. In 2004, he was succeeded as the head of the department by Professor Jan Chochorowski, who continued in this role until 2017. Chochorowski was particularly interested in the prehistory and protohistory of the Eurasian steppes; he carried out excavations in Ukraine (in cooperation with Ukrainian archaeologists) and in the Upper Silesia. Professor Wojciech Blajer became the head of the department in 2017; his primary focus has been on the typology and chronology of bronze objects and on Bronze and Early Iron Age hoards. Various aspects of settlement and funerary studies have been addressed in the research conducted by Anna Gawlik, PhD (in cooperation with Piotr Godlewski, M.A.), at the defensive settlement of the Lusatian culture in Witów and in the surrounding region. Associate Professor Marcin S. Przybyła has been carrying out systematic research on the Bronze and Early Iron Age fortified settlement in Maszkowice with his team; he also deals with archaeological theory and the evolution of culture. The issues explored by Karol Dzięgielewski, PhD, include Lusatian culture settlement in the western of Lesser Poland and the cultural transformations in the Oder and Vistula River basins at the turn of the Bronze and Early Iron Age, in the context of environmental changes. Michał Mazur, M.A., focuses on research into settlement patterns, funerary rites and on Bronze and Iron Age salt making in southern Poland. Łukasz Oleszczak, PhD, has participated in projects coordinated by Russian archaeologists, concerning the settlement patterns and funerary rites of the Iron Age communities in the Altai Mountains, and in the Turan-Uyuk Valley (Arzhan).