Badania powierzchniowe w lasach – uwagi na marginesie penetracji prowadzonych w granicach Nadleśnictwa Zdrojowa Góra w Pile

In 2011, in the area of “Zdrojowa Góra” forest district in Piła, the execution of the project connected with conducting surface survey was initiated. The survey was carried out within the regenerated areas, that is, on the parts of the forest stands where, within the forest management activity, the forest was cut down and new trees were planted. As a result of the research conducted during four seasons, 85 new archaeological sites were discovered. The majority of them (57) are the relics of prehistoric settlements, 44 are from the late medieval and modern period, and one trace of settlement was identified as dating back to the early Middle Ages. It seems that the discovered sites are damaged to a minor degree, since, for at least one hundred years, they have been out of the range of destructive agricultural activities and erosion. The results of the surface survey conducted in the regenerated areas of “Zdrojowa Góra” forest district in Piła are of a local significance, but, at the same time, they are an inspiration for making further conclusions. In the 1/3 territory of Poland, which is presently forested and has not been examined within the AZP, there are well-preserved sites not affected by the well-known disaster, which has been taking place in the farm land areas in recent decades. Even at cautious estimates, that potential must be stunning. Full archaeological survey of the presently forested areas will be possible within about 100-120 years. Thus, potentially, such works would have to be planned for several consecutive generations of archaeologists. The implementation of such a research project which, possibly, would gradually expand its spacial scope, is not impossible for archaeological institutions. Anyway, the works conducted in a given area for merely a few or over a dozen years would be of importance as well. The results of the surface survey conducted hitherto in the area of “Zdrojowa Góra” forest district in Piła prove that the idea is worth implementing.