Settlement base of the Neolithic banded flint mines in Krzemionki Opatowskie – an outline of the issues

Abstract

The analysis of the Middle and Late Neolithic settlement pattern confirms the thesis of the significant role of the middle Kamienna river basin in the region of the Sandomierz Upland and the Iłża Forehills as the settlement base for banded flint mines in the area of Krzemionki Opatowskie. Some of the settlements of the Funnel Beaker culture located in the northern and central part of the Sandomierz Upland could be related to exploitation and processing of the: banded and the Świeciechów flint raw materials. The area of the right-bank tributaries of the Kamienna river is considered a settlement base for the prehistoric banded flint mines of the Globular Amphora culture. The surface survey and test excavation carried out in the middle course of the Kamienna river in the Iłża Forehills, as well as archaeological excavations in the mining field, showed the existence of quite numerous sites from the Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age.