O zaangażowaniu Kierownictwa Badań nad Początkami Państwa Polskiego (1949-1953) w badania ratownicze na terenie Nowej Huty

The Department for Studies on the Origins of the Polish State was an institution established in 1949 by the Ministry of Culture and Art to carry out interdisciplinary research (which began a year earlier) on the genesis and functioning of the state of the First Piasts, undertaken in connection with the 1000th anniversary of the foundation of the Polish state and its baptism (1966). Although the Department’s main goal was to identify the main centers of the early Piast state, it also had its merits in the field of monument protection - archaeologists, taking advantage of the unique situation of destruction and demolition, entered the historic downtowns and began their research. The scale of the necessary interventions was becoming embarrassing, especially since the so-called great buildings of socialism and the reconstruction of cities led to numerous discoveries. However, the most challenging situation was at the construction site of Nowa Huta, which was located for political reasons, without considering that the selected areas were covered with fertile soil used by the population since the Neolithic. This article aims to present the history of rescue excavations in the area of Nowa Huta (now a district of Krakow, established in the late 1940s), the first stage of which was carried out as part of the Department activities.