Światowit

‘Światowit’ is a yearbook published by the Faculty of Archaeology of the University of Warsaw. The periodical was established in 1899 by Erazm Majewski (1858-1922), a merited researcher, collector, co-founder of modern Polish archaeology and, since 1919, the first professor of prehistory at the University of Warsaw. ‘Światowit’ is one of the oldest archaeological journals currently issued in Poland. Its name and logo, in use since 1900, was a reference to then well-known archaeological relics and emphasised the importance of archaeological studies for the history of Poland. Nevertheless, from its very beginning, it was open to questions pertaining to general archaeology as well as methodological debates.

For more than a century, ‘Światowit’ has been linked to the Warsaw archaeological circles and the University of Warsaw, thus witnessing institutional transformations and developments in Polish archaeology. Gradual integration of the academic archaeological community and intensification of studies at the Institute of Archaeology of the University of Warsaw, established in 1975, resulted in opening the periodical to the Mediterranean and non-European archaeology as well as new research methods. In consequence, by valuing confrontation of differing methodologies and interpretations, ‘Światowit’ presents contributions from different archaeological specialisations. For a long period of time, ‘Światowit’ used to be focused on publishing research reports submitted by affiliates of the Institute of Archaeology of the University of Warsaw. However, at present, due to rapidly intensifying cooperation and emergence and internationalisation of large research teams, the periodical has opened to different archaeological communities, both from Poland and abroad.

‘Światowit’ is an international, peer-reviewed journal that publishes both large review texts from the area of the so-called Old World, as well as the latest archaeological discoveries and individual monuments. The journal is a platform for discussing the methods and theory of archaeology, as well as for showing the history of the discipline and its significant representatives. ‘Światowit’ gathers researchers with different methodological traditions, sometimes from distant research and cultural environments, making it possible to confront different research attitudes. Consequently, the journal reflects the diverse transformation of archaeology and, as a link, at the same time shows the various determinants of the discipline, with particular emphasis on border archaeology. From 2020, ‘Światowit’ is a yearbook of the Faculty of Archaeology of the University of Warsaw, into which the former Institute was transformed.

Starting from issue no 6, all articles in “Światowit” shall be published under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License PL (CC BY). Full text of the license is available here: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/pl/legalcode The electronic version is the original version of the journal.

‘Światowit’ Yearbook of the Faculty of Archaeology of the University of Warsaw was co-financed from the funds of the Ministry of Education and Science under the programme ‘Development of Scientific Journals’ - state purpose fund.

Project co-financed from the state budget within the framework of the government programme ‘Development of Scientific Journals’, value of the task 47 505 PLN in the period 01.12.2022. - 30.11.2024, agreement no. RCN/SP/0366/2021/1 of 01.12.2022.

The earmarked funding is intended to implement the development strategy adopted by the journal's Editorial Board: to raise the level of publishing and editorial practices, to increase the journal's impact on the development of science and to remain in international circulation. One of the most important tasks of the journal is to disseminate research results of Polish scientists and the effects of their cooperation with foreign research centres. The journal plays a significant role in the development of the humanities and has an established position among scientific journals. The funding received makes it possible to increase the reach of the journal to a foreign audience and to increase the visibility of the archival volumes.