Bell Beakers in the Masurian Lake District in north-eastern Poland – relics and identification issues

Abstract Until the beginning of the 21st century it was believed that the north-eastern border of Bell Beaker influence reaches the Vistula River basin. Recent discoveries in the North Podlachian Lowland provided grounds for verification of this belief, particularly with regards to the Masurian Lake District, which used to be considered as a territory of intensive activity of the Iwno Culture – a propagator of Bell Beaker influence in this part of Europe. This verification included materials of the highest diagnostic value – pottery and flint artefacts from two best-researched sites in this area: Ząbie X and Szestno II. As a result, fragments of pottery vessels and flint artefacts which can be conclusively associated with Bell Beakers were identified and their analyses revealed that these objects were not connected with the local Iwno Culture, but rather resembled both the materials recently unearthed in the North Podlachian Lowland and corresponding materials from the area of the Atlantic coast. This might mean that people carrying the Bell Beaker cultural package reached the area of the Masurian Lake District and North Podlachian Lowland in the Late Neolithic.