We are pleased to announce that, in collaboration with the Friends of the Central Odra Valley Archaeological Museum Association, we are finalising a project to publish the book: “Marcinowice. A hoard of metal objects from the Early Bronze Age”, edited by A. Michalak, E. Przechrzta, co-funded by the Lubuskie Provincial Conservator of Monuments in Zielona Góra from funds allocated to promoting achievements in the field of monument conservation and disseminating knowledge about the monuments of the Lubuskie Province. The book is expected to be ready by the end of November 2020.

In 2011, a collection of artefacts from a chance discovery made in Marcinowice, Krosno County, was added to the holdings of the Archaeological Museum of the Middle Odra Region in Zielona Góra, based in Świdnica. Preliminary analysis of the bronze artefacts comprising this hoard indicated that they were produced during the Early Bronze Age. Despite the rapidly increasing number of reports of bronze hoard discoveries, this is one of the few bronze hoards from this period in Poland. The hoard comprises 49 artefacts (48 metal and 1 clay). The significance of this discovery was recognised by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, which in 2014 awarded funding for the conservation, exhibition and partial cataloguing of the artefacts. Unfortunately, the project’s financial constraints did not allow for the costs associated with publishing the studies to be included, and regrettably, they have not yet been printed. The time that has elapsed since the project’s completion has been used to enrich the studies with environmental, traceological, radiological and metallurgical analyses. The outstanding research team assembled comprises specialists from many fields of the natural sciences and humanities. The individual authors of the planned sections of the book, taking the treasure under study as their starting point, discuss the issues in detail against a broad comparative background, without limiting themselves to random or piecemeal comparisons. As the discovery of the hoard received significant media coverage, its study is eagerly awaited by the local community of history enthusiasts and archaeologists in the Krosno region, which also provides an opportunity to revisit the legal provisions in force in Poland regarding the search for and protection of historical artefacts. An important target audience comprises archaeologists, both from the Lubuskie Voivodeship and from across Poland. In our view, the book sets a standard for research practice, which, given the growing number of treasure discoveries across the country, will ensure their proper scholarly analysis in the future. The book will include summaries and captions for the illustrations in English, thereby making the research findings accessible to other scholars in Western Europe.

Contents:

Arkadiusz Michalak – Introduction

Ewa Przechrzta – The Early Bronze Age hoard from Marcinowice in the Krosno district

Paweł Gan – Material analysis of the bronze artefacts from the Marcinowice hoard

Kamil Nowak – Study of production marks and signs of use preserved on objects from the Marcinowice hoard

Szymon Bednarz – Conservation of the hoard of Unetice culture bronze artefacts from Marcinowice