Towards a new synthesis of the prehistory of Polish lands. Some remarks on “The Past Societies. Polish lands from the first evidence of human presence to the early Middle Ages”

The article discusses the recently published (2016) five-volume synthesis entitled “The Past Societies. Polish lands from the first evidence of human presence to the early Middle Ages”, edited by Przemysław Urbańczyk. It is a long-overdue publication, written by a group of sixty archaeologists, presenting in subsequent chapters the oldest history of Polish lands from the Palaeolithic Era to the Early Middle Ages (1000 AD). Instead of a systematic analysis of its scientific content – due to its extent and the abundance of issues it addresses, this is impossible for one author – this article takes under scrutiny the main initial goals and ideas of this compendium, its theoretical and methodological assumptions along with the proclaimed anthropological and less materialistic approach to the human past as well as its editorial layout. It also addresses the crucial aspect of the accessibility of this publication