The first regular rescue excavation at Złota, comm. Samborzec, distr. Sandomierz, woj. świętokrzyskie, was carried out (1926–1930) under supervision of the State Archaeological Museum in Warsaw (J. Żurowski 1934, p. 31; 1935, p. 291) and focused on several archaeological sites identified in the area (Fig. 1–6); rich remains of settlements and cemeteries were discovered, dating from the Neolithic to early Medieval Period (J. Żurowski 1929, p. 4–9; 1934). To verify these findings site ‘Grodzisko II’ at Złota was revisited in 1956 and 1958 by a team from the Institute of the History of Material Culture of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw (Fig. 7; Z. Podkowińska, D. Rauhut, Z. Krzak 1959a, p. 237, 239; 1959b, p. 20–21). Investigation at Złota uncovered ie a large settlement (more than one?) of Lublin-Volhynian Culture (LVC) and a number of graves associated with this archaeological unit (Fig. 8–10); these findings are discussed in the present study: grave 390 – Złota, ‘Grodzisko I’ (the 1929 investigation); graves 27, 101, 121, 122 – Złota, ‘Grodzisko II’ (in 1930), and a burial discovered inside a storage pit no. 16 (1956). Grave 390 was situated in W part of the site, between ditches V/3 and II/5, close to a strip of ground dividing ditches V/3 and V/4, in the neighbourhood of storage pit no. 264 associated with LVC (Fig. 8). A 220×160 cm sub-oval grave pit held the remains of an adultus/maturus woman lying in contracted position on her left side, head W (Fig. 11, 12). Grave goods included three vessels set above her head, two copper earrings, a necklace of five Glycymeris and two Veneridae shells found around her cranium, a pendant of a wild pig lower canine, several hundred Cerithium shells, also resting around the skull, and several score Naticidae shells discovered at the left wrist (Fig. 12–16). Finally, a vessel base was found by the right thigh bone. Grave 27, identified in SE region of the investigated area (Fig. 8), was a partly destroyed double burial of an adultus female and child (infans II) discovered at the depth of 30 cm. The woman rested in an extended supine position, head W. Her cranium was sharply twisted back and rested on its left cheek. Arms were flexed at the elbows, forearms upraised, left hand extended towards the child’s knees and the leg bones crossed at the ankles. The child lay in a contracted position on its right side, aligned S (head) – N (legs). It is possible that in this grave the principal burial had been that of the child (a boy – resting on his right side, in this tradition reserved for males), and the woman (mother?) had been placed in the grave with her feet bound. The arrangement of her remains gives the impression that at the time of burial she was still alive and had tried to turn towards (get closer to) the child whose body lay over her head (Fig. 17). According to the field diary of J. Żurowski a vessel (now lost) which had stood by the woman’s right had had a white painted ornament. Grave 101 was discovered in the NW area of the site, in a group with graves 121 and 122 (Fig. 8). Its rectangular 215×95 pit held the remains of an adultus/maturus male resting in contracted position on his right side, head to SW (Fig. 18, 19). Grave goods included fifteen vessels set in two groups: group A (7 vessels) standing before the dead man, set along the E wall of the grave pit, in a line from his head to hips, in the following order: amphora, cup, larger cup, with smaller cup inside, large cup, amphora, amphora. Group B (8 vessels) set at the man’s feet forming the border of the grave pit on its NW side included a pot with four smaller containers within (in the following order: bowl with perpendicular walls, bowl with rounded walls, oval bow, cup), a cup, a bowl with a cup inside (Fig. 20, 21:9.12–15). Other objects included a bracelet of copper wire with a circular pendant of the same material (Fig. 21:16.17) surviving on the man’s left forearm, an antler axe behind the man’s back, an ornamented bone dagger, which presumably originally rested inside the man’s belt (Fig. 21:27), and a set of eleven flint artefacts: five blades, retouched blade, endscraper, retouched truncation, perforator and two trapezes (Fig. 21:18–26). Apart from the trapezes which lay under a vessel in group B all other flints formed a concentration near the man’s left hip, seven of them clustering within a splotch of red pigment (ochre) which has been interpreted as the remains of a container (pouch) of organic material painted red (Fig. 19). The dead man had been provided with beef (a slab of ribs placed in line with the vessel group A) and from a number of animals of undetermined species. The trunk and feet of the man were strewn about with a large quantity of Cerithium shells (Fig. 22); finally, red pigment (presumably ochre) was observed under the skeleton – at cranium, pelvis and feet (Fig. 19). Grave 121, largely lost to ploughing, held the remains of two individuals. In the surviving NE section were found lower limb bones (skeleton A) and a concentration of three vessels. From the arrangement of bones it is possible to determine the position of only the skeleton A, which presumably rested on its right side (male?), head to SE. The arrangement of quite mixed up bones of skeleton B (shin and thigh bones) suggests that it also had rested on its right side (Fig. 23, 24). The vessel concentration resting at the thigh and knees of skeleton A included a large cup within which were found a smaller cup and an amphora (Fig. 25). Grave 122 produced no human remains but held eleven vessels as well as flint objects and some animal bones (Fig. 26–28), resting in an arrangement similar as in grave 101. In SE part of the grave was found a concentration of four vessels: a wide-necked pot containing a hollow--footed beaker, a small cup, and an amphora. In N and NW area of the grave was a second concentration of seven vessels: an amphora with a small cup inside, another amphora, large cup, large cup, amphora, and smaller cup (Fig. 29). Flint finds included three blades, a retouched truncation and a retouched blade (Fig. 30); animal bones included ribs of a horse, lying in the same line as the vessel concentration in the SE part of the grave, and a pile of sheep/goat, pig, cattle and bird bones found by the second vessel group; the entire grave was strewn about with Cerithium shells (Fig. 27, 28). Storage pit no. 16 held a skeleton of a woman (early adultus) lying in a contracted position on her left side, head to S (Fig. 32). There were no grave furnishings. The fill of the pit overlying the skeleton produced fragments of LVC pottery. Out of all post-linear groups in Poland LVC is represented by the largest number of human burials which provide a substantial basis for reconstructing the funerary rite. Jointly with graves discovered in Volhynia and Podolia (Ukraine) some 140 or so burials of this culture unit are recorded (A. Zakościelna 2006b, p. 89). The graves recorded at Złota were richly furnished with diverse goods (Table 1), which is consistent with the burial rite noted in LVC. At the same time the inventory produced by grave 101 is of unprecedented richness. This burial of an adult male was accompanied by a set of no less than thirty items, seven categories of raw material in all: 15 pottery vessels, 11 flint objects, bone dagger, antler axe, two copper objects, abundant Cerithium shells and ochre. Another comparatively richly furnished grave is no 122 – a cenotaph – which judging by the presence of exceptionally fine flint objects may also be interpreted as a male ‘burial’. The female grave 390, although furnished with a smaller inventory, cannot be said to be poor either. This is mainly because of the presence in this burial of exotic imported shells. Their value and nature of a status symbol is indicated by the fact that so far such shells have not been recorded in any other grave in LVC. Their presence testifies to wide-ranging contacts of LVC communities with the environment of Eneolithic cultures on the Black Sea. Such links may also be indicated by the cenotaph no. 122, a form of burial very rage in LVC. At the present stage of analysis of Eneolithic evidence from Złota it is extremely difficult to undertake clarification and interpretation of many questions relating to the grave assemblages presented here. One of such issues is the location of the graves in relation to storage pits in LVC settlement/settlements. To all appearances feature 390 at ‘Grodzisko I’ was a solitary grave situated within the settlement. Grave 390 (and possibly, other, no longer existing graves) in this part of the site are attributed to the classic phase, presumably the period of liveliest settlement activity by LVC people. Similar dating should be given also to grave 27 and the burial inside pit 16 at ‘Grodzisko II’, and also to solitary graves discovered in proximity of settlement features. The cemetery (ie graves 101, 121 and 122) would have been established at the onset of phase III (late phase) on the margin of the settlement catchment at a time when the settlement was on the way to decline. More far-reaching conclusions will have to wait until the evidence from Złota has been analysed in full and the chronology of spatial development of the settlement reconstructed. From evidence published so far in piecemeal fashion it is known that the settlement had been of substantial duration. Some of the material recovered so far is quite early and may be linked to phase I (pre-classic) (Z. Podkowińska 1953, pl. VII:2.3), followed by material – apparently the most abundant – from the classic phase (Z. Podkowińska 1953, pl. I–III); late phase is represented by the presence in the pottery of eg Scheibenhenkel handles (J. Kamieńska, J. K. Kozłowski 1990, pl. 31:1.4). Typical for phase B in Bodrogkeresztúr Culture (cf M. Kaczanowska 1986, p. 43, 46), Scheibenhenkel handles noted in LVC deposits probably correspond to horizon IIIb. It would appear that at Złota we have the complete developmental sequence of LVC culture. All the graves from Złota were provided with radiocarbon determinations (Table 2, fig. 33). The date obtained for the burial in storage pit no. 16 (5500±40 BP) fits within the range of 4370–4320 BC (52.5%, for sigma 1) and 4450–4310 BC (83.0% for sigma 2). These values may correspond in relative chronology to early phase of LVC (S. Kadrow, A. Zakościelna 2000, fig. 44; A. Zakościelna 2006, p. 89). The only problem is that featuring no grave goods the burial is linked to LVC only on the basis of materials associated with this culture discovered within the layer overlying the skeleton (Z. Podkowińska 1959b, p. 15–17). As such culture attribution of this burial is at once plausible but problematic. The radiocarbon date matches the upper chronological confines of the classic phase of Malice Culture (S. Kadrow 1996, p. 68), also documented at Złota in the form of settlement remains. On the other hand there is evidence to postulate very early settlement of LVC at the site basing on the presence of pestle-like vessels in pits 40 and 129a at ‘Grodzisko I’ (Z. Podkowińska 1953, Pl. VII:2.3); these forms are parallel to ceramic forms noted in the Transylvanian group Iclod (Gh. Lazarovici 1991, p. 31). Radiocarbon dates obtained for grave 27 (5270±40 BP) are 4170–4090 BC (27.6% for sigma 1) and 4180–3980 BC (78.9% for sigma 2). This corresponds to the chronology of (classic) phase II in LVC (S. Kadrow, A. Zakościelna 2000, fig. 44; A. Zakościelna 2006, p. 90). Unfortunately, also in case of this grave the dating cannot be corroborated by material finds as its grave furniture has yet to be discovered. Graves 390 (5170±40 BP), 101 (5060±30 BP), and 122 (5020±40 BP) survive complete with intact set of grave furnishings. The result obtained for grave 390 is 4000–3950 BC (50.7% for sigma 1) and 4050–3930 BC (86.3% for sigma 2). This value of radiocarbon dating places this feature in phase II of development of LVC, which is consistent with the dating of the grave inventory and the location of the burial within the settlement. The determination obtained for grave 101 is 3950–3830 BC (54.1% for sigma 1) and 3960–3780 BC (95.4% for sigma 2) whereas grave 122 in its neighbourhood produced the following respective values: 3940–3870 BC (33.7% for sigma 1) and 3950–3700 BC (95.4% for sigma 2). These determinations suggest that both features should be placed late in phase II of LVC, while the formal and stylistic attributes of their ceramics recall similarity with material noted in phase A in Bodrogkeresztúr Culture, which corresponds to horizon IIIa of late phase of LVC. As such, the dates obtained would be too early. Grave assemblages discussed here represent but a small fragment of the history of human settlement in sites ‘Grodzisko I’ and ‘II’ at Złota. A staggering amount of archaeological material still awaits analysis and interpretation, in particular, rich evidence on multiple stages of occupation by Danubian folk, first of all, the fortified settlement of LVC. Over long decades this record has continued to be known only from a small number of finds which had been published at random when they were needed to support diverse concepts. Comprehensive analysis and publication of the material from Złota is urgently needed as it represents a vast body of data which could prove of key importance for resolving many vital issues related to the Neolithic and Eneolithic in Poland.