Szacunek dla faktów. Refleksje przy lekturze książki Andrzeja Kokowskiego Starożytna Polsk

The book entitled Starożytna Polska (Ancient Poland) by Andrzej Kokowski, published in 2005, has given rise to these comments – strictly speaking the fragments devoted to settlements in the chapter Kultura przeworska po wielkich wojnach (The Przeworsk culture after great wars) and to problems of ancient metallurgy. The reading of this extensive book, discussing several centuries of our prehistory, namely the period from the third century before Christ to the end of antiquity, evokes mixed feelings. The book arouses interest, but it also includes – apart from some valuable and reliable – poorly documented, unconfirmed pieces of information. On just a few selected pages of the book, the author repeatedly departs from the truth, rather nonchalantly treating the available research material. He presented rather unfortunate, not to say invented interpretations of the settlement in Imielin (among others, he interpreted a feature filled with production waste as a building and remains of calcining kilns as fireplaces) and he did not quote more reliable interpretations. And as regards iron metallurgy, he uncritically repeated after other researchers their unconvincing views, not founded on the documentation.