Throughout 2019, the Archaeological Museum of the Middle Odra Valley has been carrying out the project ‘Study and conservation of the collection of bronze artefacts from Nowy Kramsk’ thanks to a grant from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, as part of the ‘Protection of Archaeological Monuments’ programme. The project has also been supported by the City of Zielona Góra, which has provided the necessary funding for its implementation.

The hillfort and settlement at Przytok have not been the subject of any major research. Following research conducted in the 1960s by Edward Dąbrowski, the only trace was an entry published by the site’s discoverer and the author of the research in the Dictionary of Slavic Antiquities. Both the settlement and the hillfort were discovered between 1956 and 1964. Rescue excavations were carried out at the settlement, which was opened in June 1967. Two pits were found at that time, containing fragments of pottery made without the use of a potter’s wheel. On this basis, Edward Dąbrowski dated the site to the 6th–7th centuries, although the possibility of dating it as far back as the turn of the 5th and 6th centuries was not ruled out. According to Edward Dąbrowski, the open settlement gave rise to the nearby fortified settlement in the 6th century. In 1960, 1963, 1964 and 1966, excavations were carried out at site 1 (the fortified settlement). In 2008, a series of aerial photographs was taken of the fortified settlement, which is clearly visible from the air. Further research work related to the settlement complex in Przytok was not carried out until 2016. This formed part of a project funded by the National Science Centre. At that time, magnetic surveys of the hillfort were conducted, phosphorus content analyses were carried out, and small-scale investigations were undertaken to verify the geophysical findings. Thanks to the excavation work, Edward Dąbrowski’s earlier findings were also verified, particularly regarding the chronology and function of Site 1, as the lack of published sources undoubtedly caused significant difficulties in assessing earlier findings, especially concerning the period during which the fortified settlement and the settlement itself were in use. Filling this gap is therefore the primary aim of this publication. In addition to an analysis of archival finds, enriched by the results of specialist research, the book also presents the results of studies concerning the reconstruction of the original natural environment of the immediate vicinity of the stronghold and settlement, as well as presenting the settlement complex at Przytok within the broader settlement context. An important part of the publication is also the presentation of issues related to new chronological findings, obtained through the comparative analysis of pottery fragments verified by 14C dating. The project involves the publication of the analyses of the materials and the reconstruction of the natural environment in book form.

The analyses and publication were made possible thanks to co-funding of the research by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, under the ‘Protection of Archaeological Monuments’ programme, as well as the Archaeological Museum in Zielona Góra and funds from the City Council of Zielona Góra. Some of the research results presented in the publication, including geophysical, phosphorus and 14C dating analyses of wooden elements of the rampart and the excavations carried out at the fortified settlement in 2016, were carried out and funded under the National Science Centre’s FUGA 4 grant (UMO-2015/ 16/S/HS3/00274), entitled: Early medieval fortified settlements in part of the middle Odra river basin up to the mid-11th century in archaeological studies.