Top 6 archaeological discoveries made by Polish scientists in 2015

First of all I would like to stress here that it's totally subjective selection, based on my private thoughts. It' really difficult to choose top 6 archaeological projects - there were so many interesting initiatives led by Polish teams both in homeland and abroad. But here you have it - you can agree or not. Discussion is very welcome! Finally - important thing. The list consists not only "discoveries" sensu stricto.

1. Monumental stone structures in the Carpathians

The oldest example of stone wall in the history of construction in the Polish lands has been discovered by archaeologists from Kraków on Zyndram’s Hill in Maszkowice (Małopolska). News about it featured in the national media and thrilled public.

Read more here.

Remains of the fallen wall in Maszkowice, photo courtesy of M. S. Przybyła

2. Rock art discovery in Tanzania

Previously unknown rock paintings, covering rock shelters in the Kondoa district in central Tanzania, have been discovered by Maciej Grzelczyk. At the same time, the researcher started an intensive ethnological research project, through which he hopes to understand the importance of the discovered paintings.

Read more here

One of the discovered rock art depictions, photo. Maciej Grzelczyk

3. Another part of the Temple of Hatshepsut opened to the public

Polish-Egyptian Archaeological-Conservation mission at Hathsepsut's has been working for more than 50 years. Now it opened the Solar Cult Complex for general public.

Read more here.

4. 250-year old dildo from Gdańsk (Poland)

A very well preserved dildo, made of leather and wood, was discovered by archaeologists during the work inside the old latrine in Podwale Przedmiejskie in Gdańsk. The find comes from the second half of the eighteenth century. Its unique.

Read more here.

Photo: The Regional Office for the Protection of Monuments in Gdańsk

5. Poles reconstructed houses of the first Egyptians

Jacek Karmowski, PhD student of the Institute of Archaeology of the Jagiellonian University in Kraków prepared virtual 3D model of more than 5 thousand years old Egyptian homes, discovered during the excavations at Tell el-Farkha in the Nile Delta. Now we know how ordinary Egyptians used to live!

Read more here.

Reconstruction - Jacek Karmowski

6. Poland: Szczecin archaeologists discovered megalithic structures

Mysterious megalithic structures, erected a few thousand years ago from huge blocks of stone, have been discovered in the Łobez Land (West Pomerania) by researchers from the Department of Archaeology, University of Szczecin (USz). The discovery proves that densely inhabited Europe still hides amazing megalithic structures!

Read more here.

Polish archaeologists identified unknown Hatshepsuts temple!

What can you see when you think of Hatshepsut temple? This startling (re)construction?:

Good guess! It's one of the most famous archaeological sites in Egypt, placed close to Luxor - by the way it has been reconstructed by another Polish team of scientists and architects.

This time Polish researchers announced discovery of unknown temple which was founded during Hatshepsut reign (1473-1458 BC). To be frank - its not gonna be tourist attraction for sure. First of all it was cut in the rock in Gebelein, about 30 km south of Thebes. It is not quite touristic area. Secondly, "the temple" consists just of two small chambers with some barely preserved decorations and hieroglyphic inscriptions. Shame, isn't it? Still, it is really interesting discovery for researchers interested in Hatshepsut reign. The place itself was already known to the local authorities, but so far egyptologists did not study its interior and hieroglyphs. Thanks to this expedition now we know that its was founded during Hatshepsuts reign.

Then "new" temple of Hatsheput - "slightly" different from Deir el-Bahari temple in Thebes :-), photo: W. Ejsmond

"This temple was dedicated to two gods. There is no doubt that one of them was Hathor, with the cult name Lady of Gebelein. The other deity could be Amun-Ra. Unfortunately, his depictions are not preserved and further studies are needed to verify this suspicion," explained to PAP Daniel Takács, a member of the expedition.

But how do scientists come up with Hatsheput name? Out of the blue? It wasn't easy because it seems that in antiquity royal names were already destroyed! Thanks to detailed analysis of fragments of preserved hieroglyphic inscriptions scientists came up with final conclusion -  that must be Hatshepsut!

Daniel Takács (R) and Piotr Witkowski (R) at work, photo: W. Ejsmond

The team directed by Wojciech Ejsmond from University of Warsaw was working in Gebelein under the auspices of the Polish Centre of Mediterranean Archaeology.

More details on discovery: http://scienceinpoland.pap.pl/en/