The Dune in Żyglin

In Żyglin — part of the town of Miasteczko Śląskie in the Tarnowskie Góry county — an unusual natural feature hides on Przygodna street with no sign or fence: a sand dune. At the beginning of the 20th century it was still massive, but over the century it nearly vanished, as the Zinc Smelter in Miasteczko Śląskie extracted sand from it. Only a single fragment survived, left unexploited — an electricity pole stands on it.

Treasures in the sand

This is more than a landscape curiosity. The dune yielded traces of Mesolithic settlement, dated — according to the classifications given with the finds — to around 4000 BC. Archaeologists identified about 200 fragments of flint and stone tools, used for working skins, bone and wood, with some serving as weapons. The finds document the presence of hunter-gatherers in the heart of today's Silesian Voivodeship.

How to see it

The dune is freely accessible and unfenced; there is no information board, so it is best to navigate by the address of Przygodna street. By bike, the route leads from Śląska street and then along Przygodna through the forest. Further research is possible and may reveal the next chapters of this story — the dune remains one of the quieter witnesses of the region's former nature and prehistory.