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Bramka is a small rockshelter in Sąspowska Valley, with thickness of layers not exceeding 2 metres. We’ve decided to dig here at the same time as Koziarnia Cave, which is only about 20 minutes walk away. Overall we’ve worked here just for a few days.

Bramka is a small rock window. On the photo archaeologists during exploration and documentation. Phot. Małgorzata Kot

We’ve started our work with digging through old mound, which created a small elevation on the surface. Soil from the mound we put into bags, which properly marked, we carried down to the bottom of the valley, from where a car could take them to our base for flotation. The shortest way from Bramka to the bottom of the valley leads through a very steep slope. To make our job easier and quicker we’ve build a makeshift ropeway for buckets with bags.

A steep slope was a short, but difficult way to the bottom of the valley. That’s way we’ve created a system of  pulleys and lines for transporting bags down without damaging them. 

Similar to excavations in Koziarnia Valley, we wanted to uncover old profiles and collect variuos samples. Soon it turned out that in this place, old trench was protected by wall made of stones. After its cleaning and removing, we’ve noticed that a huge part of our profile was destroyed by some rodents, who made there their storeroom for food. Fortunately corridors and cavities made by them were not deep, so we’ve moved the profile by few dozens centimetres by expanding old trench,

Thanks to flotation we’ve managed to collect a lot of artefacts, most of them are flints. It will allow as to tell something more about people, who lived here in the past. Excavations here didn’t last long, but they were suprisingly fruitful.