From the Palaeolithic to the Bronze Age

The archaeological exhibition begins the story of settlement in the Prosna basin with the Final Palaeolithic, around 12,000 years BC. Flint and stone tools belong to this period and to the Mesolithic that followed it.

Reconstructed graves with their grave goods show the burial customs of two Neolithic cultures: the Stroked Pottery culture and the Corded Ware culture. The Bronze Age is represented by jewellery from a cemetery of the Pre-Lusatian culture at Borek and by Lusatian culture jewellery from cemeteries at Masanów and Szadek.

The end of this period is illustrated by the Bolesławiec hoard, which contains 61 bronze objects, including brooches and bracelets. Among them are a lens-shaped brooch decorated with pearl-like beads and a Maltese cross motif, and an open cuff bracelet made of a flat band with eight long ribs, typical of the Early Bronze Age.

The transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age is mainly represented by pins for fastening clothes, bracelets, armlets and necklaces. In the Iron Age painted pottery appears and the range of vessel types grows. The exhibition also shows two more reconstructed graves: one of the Pomeranian culture and one of the Cloche Grave culture.