page_title: Biskupin
section_title: The site
hierarchical_section_title: Biskupin / The site
caption_attribution_description: Bronze gate and wall in Biskupin - reconstructed Lusatian culture settlement from Bronze Age
context_page_description: Biskupin is an archaeological site and a life-size model of a late Bronze Age fortified settlement in north-central Poland that also serves as an archaeological open-air museum. When first discovered it was thought to be early evidence of a West Slavic settlement, but archaeologists later confirmed it belonged to the Biskupin group of the Lusatian culture from the 8th century BC. The excavation and the reconstruction of the prehistoric settlement has played an instrumental part in Polish historical consciousness.
  The Museum is situated on a marshy peninsula in Lake Biskupin, ca. 90 kilometres northeast of Poznań and 8 km south of the small town of Żnin. It is a division of the National Museum of Archaeology in Warsaw.
  The site is one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments, as designated September 16, 1994, and tracked by the National Heritage Board of Poland.
context_section_description: There are two settlement periods at Biskupin, which was located in the middle of a lake but is now situated on a peninsula, that follow each other without hiatus. Both settlements were laid out on a rectangular grid with eleven streets that are three metres (9.8 ft) wide. The older settlement from the late Bronze Age was established on a slightly wet island of over 2 hectares (4.9 acres) and consisted of ca. 100 oak and pine log-houses that were of similar layout, measuring ca. 8 by 10 metres (26 by 33 feet) each. They consisted of two chambers and an open entrance-area. These houses were designed to accommodate 10–12 persons. An open hearth was located in the centre of the biggest room. There are no larger houses that could indicate social stratification. Because of the damp, boggy ground the streets were covered with wooden planks.
  The settlement was surrounded by a tall wooden wall, or palisade, set on a rampart made up of both wood and earth. The rampart was constructed of oak trunks that form boxes filled with earth. The rampart is more than 450 metres (1,480 feet) long and accompanied by a wooden breakwater in the lake. 6,000 to 8,000 cubic metres (210,000 to 280,000 cubic feet) of wood was used in the construction of the rampart.
caption: Reconstructed gate and wall
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