Many years of archaeological research near Ulów in the Middle Roztocze contributed to the discovery of a multicultural settlement complex, functioning from the Palaeolithic to the 17th/18th century, refuting the existing myth of Roztocze as a white spot on the map of prehistoric settlement. The results of an archaeological research became the basis for the implementation of the project “Roztocze – the ancient terra incognita? (Settlement micro-region in the area of Ulów in Middle Roztocze in the prehistory and its background. Interdisciplinary studies)”. Comprehensive and interdisciplinary research has enabled the reconstruction of settling processes in the micro-region of Ulów in prehistory and in the Modern Age. The main reason for the rise of a multicultural enclave, encompassed by areas devoid of traces of the prehistoric settlement, should be seen in the favourable environmental conditions. Many aspects of the ritual and everyday life of particular archaeological cultures populations recorded in Ulów, do not find analogies in other areas of Poland. A series of several dozen radiocarbon dates confirmed all the stages of the Ulów micro-region settlement recorded in the archaeological sources. It also highlighted a whole range of the problems related to the interpretation of some cultural phenomena, especially with regard to the intensive settlement of the Corded Ware culture and the Wielbark culture, as well as the early phase of the Migration Period and initial phases of the early Middle Ages.

During the many years of archaeological research in the settlement micro-region in Ulów in Middle Roztocze, traces of human presence dated to Old and Middle Stone Ages (Palaeolithic and Mesolithic) were discovered. M ost sources are flint materials, most of which lost their stratigraphic context due to subsequent settlement. At the current stage of  research, their classification is possible only on the basis of a typological and comparative analysis. M ost likely, the oldest traces of human occupancy in the vicinity of Ulów can be synchronized with a series of radiocarbon dating obtained for samples of charcoal from five different archaeological sites. The to-date discoveries have revealed new sources for research on the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic periods in south-eastern Poland.

The paper presents the environmental conditions of the location of a multicultural settlement functioning from the Palaeolithic to the modern times in an area of an alleged settlement void. The location of the settlement was evaluated in terms of transport and communication possibilities at the regional scale and local environmental conditions. Field research was conducted, as well as the analysis of the hydrogeological and geomorphological conditions in the context of water supply and soil conditions for the development of agriculture. The detailed analysis applied an ALS (Airbone Laser Scanning) image and geological-soil coring. The study area is located on the crossing of prehistoric  transport routes the course of which depends on the variability of the natural environment at the regional scale. At the local scale, settlement was favoured by abiotic parameters of the natural environment: easily arable soils, beneficial microclimate, and hydrogeological conditions providing for the presence of water in the plateau area.

Palynological and archaeobotanical investigations were carried out on a large settlement complex of the Wielbark culture dated to the late Roman and early Migration periods, situated near the village Ulów in the Middle Roztocze, SE Poland. Pollen diagrams which covered the Subboreal and Subatlantic periods revealed the development of forests with European hornbeam Carpinus betulus, lime Tilia sp., oak Quercus sp. and common beech Fagus sylvatica in the Subboreal and the spread of silver fir Abies alba in the Subatlantic phase. Pollen spectra from both periods provided the evidence of cereal cultivation and animal grazing in the neighbourhood of the settlement. The analysis of daub coming from the Wielbark culture features documented the predominance of common barley Hordeum vulgare and common millet Panicum miliaceum among the cereals and probably lesser significance of wheat, emmer Triticum dicoccon or einkorn T. monococcum. Charcoal assemblages were examined from the settlement and from the cemetery. Taking into account the number of charcoal fragments, Quercus sp. was the most abundant taxon, followed by Fagus sylvatica, Carpinus betulus, Scots pine Pinus sylvestris, and birch Betula sp. Other taxa were only occasionally found. The taxonomic lists were very similar in the settlement and the cemetery, but there was a discrepancy between the predominating taxa since birch was the most frequent at the cemetery and oak in the settlement.

Cremated skeletal remains from two cemeteries (sites 3 and 7) located within the settlement complex in the area of the village of Ulów (Tomaszów Lubelski commune, Tomaszów Lubelski district, Lublin province) underwent anthropological analysis. Eighty-one features discovered at site 3 included remains of eighty individuals, while fifty-seven features found at site 7 included remains of fifty-seven individuals. The determination of the sex of individuals buried in funeral pits was possible only in isolated instances: at site 3 in three cases (3.7%), and at site 7 in one case (1.8%). The ages of those buried at the cemeteries of the Ulów complex are similar: biologically immature individuals make 33.7% - 38.6% of all those buried, while adults account for 32.5% - 26.3%. The features, at both cemeteries, most often included heavily or severely cremated skeletal remains: at site 3 there were seventy-four features (91.3%), and at site 7 there were forty features (70.2%). The average weight of bone remains found in the features at site 3 equals 34.1 grams, and 47.2 grams at site 7. Apart from human bones, some graves at the Ulów cemeteries contained fragments of animal bones.

As part of the interdisciplinary research conducted in the settlement microregion in the area of Ulów in Central Roztocze (south-east Poland), a complex of late Neolithic barrows connected with the Corded Ware Culture was discovered. Apart from numerous ceramic objects, grave inventories included flint artefacts, some of which underwent use-wear analysis in order to identify their potential function, and the way they were produced. This paper presents detailed results of use-wear analysis of arrowheads, blade and flake specimens, and axes discovered in four barrows located at sites 3 and 4 in Ulów.