Vase from Bronocice

Bronocice village lies in Miechów Upland which is situated in western Małopolska, approximately 40 km north-east of Kraków.  It is known for one of the most famous archaeological sites from the Neolithic period in Poland and Europe. It owes its fame to a pottery vase of the Funnel Beaker culture dating back 5,500 years.  The vessel shows depictions of wagons which are the oldest images of four-wheeled vehicles in the world.  Archaeological discovery from Bronocice has been known since 1867 when an accidentally found amphora was donated to the Archaeological Museum in Kraków. The most extensive and important excavations were carried out in 1974-78 by archaeologists from the Polish Academy of Sciences in Kraków and the State University of New York at Buffalo (USA).

A pottery vase with an image of a wagon was discovered in 1975 during excavations led by professor Janusz Kruk within the framework of the Polish-American archaeological expedition.  The vessel was found in one of the household pits of the Funnel Beaker culture settlement. The radiocarbon date obtained for this pit (ca. 3500 BC) indicates that the drawings from Bronocice are currently the oldest evidence of vehicle use in the world. In addition to rudimentary depicted wagons, the vessel provides information about the prehistoric village including symbols of trees, a river and fields with roads or layout of houses within a settlement.

Ceramic copy of a vase from Bronocice made for the Archaeological Museum in Kraków by students of the State High School of Fine Arts in Kraków. The original vessel is in the collection of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Kraków

A vase located in the Archaeological Museum in Kraków is a clay copy made by the students of the State High School of Fine Arts in Kraków. The original vessel is in the collection of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Kraków and is not made available to visitors.

A. Zastawny