The oldest graves of the Trzciniec culture

The oldest horizon of the Trzciniec culture spanned over vast geographical areas and its graves may be distinguished by the presence of very specific vases and beakers (Fig. 1). The characteristic features of ceramics allow for distinguishing a group of burials with an early date. Such graves contained similar furnishings and they are known from nearly all parts of the Trzciniec cultural milieu in the area of Poland (Fig. 2–8). Parallel assemblages of archeological finds are also known from western Ukraine. The broad chronological span of the discussed notions may prove the hypothesis that they reflect a relatively short chronological horizon, probably limited to the 17th century BC. The funerary practices of the Trzciniec culture were very diverse already at the early stages of its development and included flat cremation graves with urns, pit-graves and diverse forms of both single and multiple inhumations. Inhumation and cremation graves have also been found in mounds.