DOI: 10.33547/va.brz17.peb.8.1
Materiały archeobotaniczne z obiektów kultury łużyckiej / Plant remains from features of the
Lusatian culture at Brzezie, site 17
by Maria Lityńska-Zając 
, Katarzyna Cywa , Krystyna Wasylikowa, Zofia Tomczyńska
in: K. Dzięgielewski, Brzezie 17. Osada solowarska z późnej epoki brązu (Via Archaeologica. Źródła z badań wykopaliskowych na trasie autostrady A4 w Małopolsce), Kraków: Wydawnictwo Profil-Archeo, Krakowski Zespół do Badań Autostrad, 2025, pp. 317-325.
The subject of the presented research is assemblages of plant remains dated to the Bronze Age, associated with the presence of the Lusatian culture population at site Brzezie 17, Kłaj commune, Wieliczka District. The remains were recovered during archaeological rescue excavations conducted prior to the construction of the A4 motorway along the Kraków–Tarnów section. Material for archaeobotanical analysis was collected from various types of archaeological features, including storage and utility pits, clay pits, and postholes.
A total of 51 plant taxa of various ranks were identified, including 32 determined to species level, 16 to genus level, and three to family level. The greatest number of plant remains was recorded in storage pits and utility pits. A significant group of the remains consisted of cereal grains, among which the most numerous were undetermined cereal remains (Cerealia indet., 48%), followed by hulled wheats: spelt Triticum spelta and emmer Triticum dicoccon. Among other cultivated plants, single seeds of lentil Lens culinaris and horse bean Vicia faba var. minor were also identified.
Among wild herbaceous plants, species originating from field habitats were the most common (39%), with the most frequent being seeds of fat hen Chenopodium album and specimens of the genus Bromus, including rye brome Bromus secalinus. Remains of trees and shrubs from site 17 at Brzezie were represented mainly by fragments of charcoal, most frequently Scots pine Pinus sylvestris and oak Quercus sp., with birch Betula sp. also relatively well represented.
The results of the archaeobotanical analysis confirm the agricultural character of the Lusatian culture
settlement uncovered at site 17 in Brzezie, where the cultivation of hulled wheats – especially spelt and emmer – played an important role, possibly alongside leguminous plants such as lentil and horse bean.
For heating purposes, the Lusatian population from Brzezie primarily used oak, pine and birch wood.