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Prehistory of Poland (until 966)
Encyclopedia
The prehistory and protohistory of Poland is the period from the first appearance of Homo species
on the territory of modern-day Poland
, to the establishment of the Polish state
in the 10th century AD—a span of roughly 800,000 years.
The area of present-day Poland went through the stages of socio-technical development known as the Stone
, Bronze
and Iron Age
s, while experiencing the climatic
shifts of the glacial period
s. The best known archeological discovery from the prehistoric period is the Lusatian-culture
Biskupin
fortified settlement. As ancient
civilizations unfolded in southern and western Europe
, the cultures
of the area of present-day Poland came to be influenced in varying degrees by the civilizations.
Scythian, Celtic, Germanic and Baltic
tribe
s inhabited various parts of Poland. Eventually, in the Middle Ages
, the area came to be dominated by Slavic
tribes and finally became home to a number of West Slavic
Polish tribes
that formed small states in the region, beginning in the 8th century.
came to Poland only after 966 AD, when the ruler of the Polish lands
converted to Christianity
and educated foreign clerics arrived.
is divided into the Paleolithic
, Mesolithic
and Neolithic
eras.
The Paleolithic era extended from about 800,000 BC to 8,000 BC and is subdivided into periods—the Lower Paleolithic
, 800,000 to 350,000 BC; the Middle Paleolithic
, 350,000 to 40,000 BC; the Upper Paleolithic
, 40,000 to 10,000 BC; and the Final Paleolithic, 10,000 to 8,000 BC.
The Mesolithic era lasted from 8,000 to 5,500 BC; and the Neolithic, from 5,500 to 2,300 BC.
The Neolithic is subdivided into the Neolithic proper, 5,500 – 2,900 BC; and the Copper Age
, 2,900 – 2,300 BC.
Poland's Stone Age lasted 800,000 years and involved three distinct Homo species
: Homo erectus
, Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens (humans). The Stone Age cultures ranged from early human groups with primitive tools, to advanced agricultural
and stratified societies that used sophisticated stone tool
s, built fortified settlements, and developed copper
metallurgy
.
As elsewhere in Central Europe
, Poland's Stone Age cultures passed through stages known as the Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic, each of which brought refinements in stone-tool-making techniques. Paleolithic human activities (whose earliest sites are 500,000 years old) were intermittent because of recurring glaciation
s. A general climate
warming and a resulting increase in ecologic
diversity were characteristic of the Mesolithic (9,000–8,000 BC).
The Neolithic ushered in the first settled agricultural communities, whose founders had migrated in from the Danube River area, beginning about 5,500 BC. Later the native post-Mesolithic populations would also adopt and further develop the agricultural way of life (between 4,400 and about 2,000 BC).
comprised Period I, 2,300–1,600 BC; Period II, 1,600–1,350 BC; Period III, 1,350–1,100 BC; Period IV, 1,100–900 BC; and Period V, 900–700 BC. The Early Iron Age
included Hallstatt
Period C, 700–600 BC, and Hallstatt Period D, 600–450 BC.
Poland's Bronze- and Iron-Age cultures are known mainly from archeological research. Poland's Early Bronze Age cultures began around 2,300-2,400 BC. The Iron Age
commenced ca. 700-750 BC. By the beginning of the Common Era
, the Iron Age archeological cultures described in the main article no longer existed. Given the absence of written records, the ethnicities
and linguistic affiliations of the groups living in Central
and Eastern Europe
at that time are speculative—there is considerable disagreement. In Poland the Lusatian culture
, spanning the Bronze and Iron Ages, became particularly prominent. The most famous archeological discovery from that period is the Biskupin
fortified settlement (gród), representing early-Iron-Age Lusatian culture.
Bronze objects were brought to Poland around 2,300 BC from the Carpathian Basin
. The native Early Bronze Age that followed was dominated by the innovative Unetice culture
in western Poland, and by the conservative Mierzanowice culture in eastern Poland. These were replaced in their respective territories, for the duration of the subsequent Older Bronze Period by the (pre-Lusatian) Tumulus culture
and the Trzciniec culture
.
Characteristic of the remaining bronze periods were the Urnfield culture
s; within their range, skeletal burials had been replaced by cremation throughout much of Europe
. In Poland the Lusatian culture
settlements dominated the landscape for nearly a thousand years, continuing into the Early Iron Age. A series of Scythian invasions, beginning in the 6th century BC, precipitated the demise of the Lusatian culture. The Hallstatt Period D was a time of expansion for the Pomeranian culture
, while the Western Baltic kurgan culture occupied Poland's Masuria
-Warmia
region.
period is subdivided into La Tène A, 450–400 BC; La Tène B, 400–250 BC; La Tène C, 250–150 BC; and La Tène D, 150–0 BC. The period from 200 to 0 BCE is also considered to be the younger pre-Roman
period. It was followed by the period of Roman influence, whose early stage lasted from 0 to 150 AD, and the late stage from 150 to 375 AD. The period from 375 to 500 AD constitutes the (pre-Slavic
) Migration Period
.
Peoples belonging to numerous archeological cultures
identified with Celtic, Germanic and Baltic
tribes inhabited parts of Poland in Antiquity
, from about 400 BC to 450-500 AD. Other groups, difficult to identify, were most likely also present, as the ethnic
composition of archeological cultures is often poorly recognized. Short of using a written language to any appreciable degree, many of them developed a relatively advanced material culture
and social organization, as evidenced by the archeological record, for example by richly furnished, dynastic "princely" graves. Characteristic of this period were high rates of migration
, often involving large groups of people.
Celtic peoples established settlements, beginning in the early 4th century BC, mostly in southern Poland, the outer limit of their expansion. With their developed economy and crafts, they exerted a lasting cultural influence (La Tène culture
) disproportionate to their small numbers in the region.
Germanic peoples lived in what is now Poland for several centuries, during which many of their tribes also migrated southward and eastward (see Wielbark culture). With the expansion of the Roman Empire
, the Germanic tribes came under Roman cultural influence. Some written remarks by Roman authors that are relevant to developments on Polish lands have been preserved; they provide additional insights in conjunction with the archeological record. In the end, as the Roman Empire
was nearing its collapse and the nomadic peoples invading from the east destroyed, damaged or destabilized the various Germanic cultures and societies, the Germanic peoples left Eastern
and Central Europe
for the safer and wealthier southern and western parts of the European continent
.
The northeast corner of what is now Poland remained populated by Baltic tribes
. They were at the outer limits of any substantial cultural influence from the Roman Empire.
Homo (genus)
Homo is the genus that includes modern humans and species closely related to them. The genus is estimated to be about 2.3 to 2.4 million years old, evolving from australopithecine ancestors with the appearance of Homo habilis....
on the territory of modern-day Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, to the establishment of the Polish state
Sovereign state
A sovereign state, or simply, state, is a state with a defined territory on which it exercises internal and external sovereignty, a permanent population, a government, and the capacity to enter into relations with other sovereign states. It is also normally understood to be a state which is neither...
in the 10th century AD—a span of roughly 800,000 years.
The area of present-day Poland went through the stages of socio-technical development known as the Stone
Stone Age
The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...
, Bronze
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
and Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
s, while experiencing the climatic
Climate
Climate encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological elemental measurements in a given region over long periods...
shifts of the glacial period
Glacial period
A glacial period is an interval of time within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate within an ice age...
s. The best known archeological discovery from the prehistoric period is the Lusatian-culture
Lusatian culture
The Lusatian culture existed in the later Bronze Age and early Iron Age in most of today's Poland, parts of Czech Republic and Slovakia, parts of eastern Germany and parts of Ukraine...
Biskupin
Biskupin
The archaeological open air museum Biskupin is an archaeological site and a life-size model of an Iron Age fortified settlement in north-central Poland . When first discovered it was thought to be early evidence of Slavic settlement but archaeologists later confirmed it belonged to the Biskupin...
fortified settlement. As ancient
Classical antiquity
Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...
civilizations unfolded in southern and western Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, the cultures
Archaeological culture
An archaeological culture is a recurring assemblage of artifacts from a specific time and place, which are thought to constitute the material culture remains of a particular past human society. The connection between the artifacts is based on archaeologists' understanding and interpretation and...
of the area of present-day Poland came to be influenced in varying degrees by the civilizations.
Scythian, Celtic, Germanic and Baltic
Balts
The Balts or Baltic peoples , defined as speakers of one of the Baltic languages, a branch of the Indo-European language family, are descended from a group of Indo-European tribes who settled the area between the Jutland peninsula in the west and Moscow, Oka and Volga rivers basins in the east...
tribe
Tribe
A tribe, viewed historically or developmentally, consists of a social group existing before the development of, or outside of, states.Many anthropologists use the term tribal society to refer to societies organized largely on the basis of kinship, especially corporate descent groups .Some theorists...
s inhabited various parts of Poland. Eventually, in the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, the area came to be dominated by Slavic
Slavic peoples
The Slavic people are an Indo-European panethnicity living in Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia. The term Slavic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people, who speak languages belonging to the Slavic language family and share, to varying degrees, certain...
tribes and finally became home to a number of West Slavic
West Slavs
The West Slavs are Slavic peoples speaking West Slavic languages. They include Poles , Czechs, Slovaks, Lusatian Sorbs and the historical Polabians. The northern or Lechitic group includes, along with Polish, the extinct Polabian and Pomeranian languages...
Polish tribes
Polish tribes
Polish tribes - a term used sometimes to describe the tribes of West Slavs that lived in the territories that became Polish from around the mid-7th century to the creation of Polish state by the Piast dynasty...
that formed small states in the region, beginning in the 8th century.
Historiography
As with other early periods areas of human history, knowledge of these times is limited, since few written ancient and medieval sources are available; research therefore relies primarily on archeology. Written languageWritten language
A written language is the representation of a language by means of a writing system. Written language is an invention in that it must be taught to children, who will instinctively learn or create spoken or gestural languages....
came to Poland only after 966 AD, when the ruler of the Polish lands
Mieszko I of Poland
Mieszko I , was a Duke of the Polans from about 960 until his death. A member of the Piast dynasty, he was son of Siemomysł; grandchild of Lestek; father of Bolesław I the Brave, the first crowned King of Poland; likely father of Świętosława , a Nordic Queen; and grandfather of her son, Cnut the...
converted to Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
and educated foreign clerics arrived.
Stone Age
Poland's Stone AgeStone Age
The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...
is divided into the Paleolithic
Paleolithic
The Paleolithic Age, Era or Period, is a prehistoric period of human history distinguished by the development of the most primitive stone tools discovered , and covers roughly 99% of human technological prehistory...
, Mesolithic
Mesolithic
The Mesolithic is an archaeological concept used to refer to certain groups of archaeological cultures defined as falling between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic....
and Neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...
eras.
The Paleolithic era extended from about 800,000 BC to 8,000 BC and is subdivided into periods—the Lower Paleolithic
Lower Paleolithic
The Lower Paleolithic is the earliest subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age. It spans the time from around 2.5 million years ago when the first evidence of craft and use of stone tools by hominids appears in the current archaeological record, until around 300,000 years ago, spanning the...
, 800,000 to 350,000 BC; the Middle Paleolithic
Middle Paleolithic
The Middle Paleolithic is the second subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. The term Middle Stone Age is used as an equivalent or a synonym for the Middle Paleolithic in African archeology. The Middle Paleolithic and the Middle Stone Age...
, 350,000 to 40,000 BC; the Upper Paleolithic
Upper Paleolithic
The Upper Paleolithic is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. Very broadly it dates to between 40,000 and 10,000 years ago, roughly coinciding with the appearance of behavioral modernity and before the advent of...
, 40,000 to 10,000 BC; and the Final Paleolithic, 10,000 to 8,000 BC.
The Mesolithic era lasted from 8,000 to 5,500 BC; and the Neolithic, from 5,500 to 2,300 BC.
The Neolithic is subdivided into the Neolithic proper, 5,500 – 2,900 BC; and the Copper Age
Copper Age
The Chalcolithic |stone]]") period or Copper Age, also known as the Eneolithic/Æneolithic , is a phase of the Bronze Age in which the addition of tin to copper to form bronze during smelting remained yet unknown by the metallurgists of the times...
, 2,900 – 2,300 BC.
Poland's Stone Age lasted 800,000 years and involved three distinct Homo species
Homo (genus)
Homo is the genus that includes modern humans and species closely related to them. The genus is estimated to be about 2.3 to 2.4 million years old, evolving from australopithecine ancestors with the appearance of Homo habilis....
: Homo erectus
Homo erectus
Homo erectus is an extinct species of hominid that lived from the end of the Pliocene epoch to the later Pleistocene, about . The species originated in Africa and spread as far as India, China and Java. There is still disagreement on the subject of the classification, ancestry, and progeny of H...
, Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens (humans). The Stone Age cultures ranged from early human groups with primitive tools, to advanced agricultural
Agriculture
Agriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
and stratified societies that used sophisticated stone tool
Stone tool
A stone tool is, in the most general sense, any tool made either partially or entirely out of stone. Although stone tool-dependent societies and cultures still exist today, most stone tools are associated with prehistoric, particularly Stone Age cultures that have become extinct...
s, built fortified settlements, and developed copper
Copper
Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29. It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Pure copper is soft and malleable; an exposed surface has a reddish-orange tarnish...
metallurgy
Metallurgy
Metallurgy is a domain of materials science that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are called alloys. It is also the technology of metals: the way in which science is applied to their practical use...
.
As elsewhere in Central Europe
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
, Poland's Stone Age cultures passed through stages known as the Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic, each of which brought refinements in stone-tool-making techniques. Paleolithic human activities (whose earliest sites are 500,000 years old) were intermittent because of recurring glaciation
Glacier
A glacier is a large persistent body of ice that forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. At least 0.1 km² in area and 50 m thick, but often much larger, a glacier slowly deforms and flows due to stresses induced by its weight...
s. A general climate
Climate
Climate encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological elemental measurements in a given region over long periods...
warming and a resulting increase in ecologic
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
diversity were characteristic of the Mesolithic (9,000–8,000 BC).
The Neolithic ushered in the first settled agricultural communities, whose founders had migrated in from the Danube River area, beginning about 5,500 BC. Later the native post-Mesolithic populations would also adopt and further develop the agricultural way of life (between 4,400 and about 2,000 BC).
Bronze and Iron Ages
Poland's Bronze AgeBronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
comprised Period I, 2,300–1,600 BC; Period II, 1,600–1,350 BC; Period III, 1,350–1,100 BC; Period IV, 1,100–900 BC; and Period V, 900–700 BC. The Early Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
included Hallstatt
Hallstatt culture
The Hallstatt culture was the predominant Central European culture from the 8th to 6th centuries BC , developing out of the Urnfield culture of the 12th century BC and followed in much of Central Europe by the La Tène culture.By the 6th century BC, the Hallstatt culture extended for some...
Period C, 700–600 BC, and Hallstatt Period D, 600–450 BC.
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
commenced ca. 700-750 BC. By the beginning of the Common Era
Common Era
Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era...
, the Iron Age archeological cultures described in the main article no longer existed. Given the absence of written records, the ethnicities
Ethnic group
An ethnic group is a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, a common culture and/or an ideology that stresses common ancestry or endogamy...
and linguistic affiliations of the groups living in Central
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
and Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
at that time are speculative—there is considerable disagreement. In Poland the Lusatian culture
Lusatian culture
The Lusatian culture existed in the later Bronze Age and early Iron Age in most of today's Poland, parts of Czech Republic and Slovakia, parts of eastern Germany and parts of Ukraine...
, spanning the Bronze and Iron Ages, became particularly prominent. The most famous archeological discovery from that period is the Biskupin
Biskupin
The archaeological open air museum Biskupin is an archaeological site and a life-size model of an Iron Age fortified settlement in north-central Poland . When first discovered it was thought to be early evidence of Slavic settlement but archaeologists later confirmed it belonged to the Biskupin...
fortified settlement (gród), representing early-Iron-Age Lusatian culture.
Bronze objects were brought to Poland around 2,300 BC from the Carpathian Basin
Pannonian Basin
The Pannonian Basin or Carpathian Basin is a large basin in East-Central Europe.The geomorphological term Pannonian Plain is more widely used for roughly the same region though with a somewhat different sense - meaning only the lowlands, the plain that remained when the Pliocene Pannonian Sea dried...
. The native Early Bronze Age that followed was dominated by the innovative Unetice culture
Unetice culture
Unetice; or more properly Únětice culture ; is the name given to an early Bronze Age culture, preceded by the Beaker culture and followed by the Tumulus culture. It was named after finds at site in Únětice, northwest of Prague. It is focused around the Czech Republic, southern and central Germany,...
in western Poland, and by the conservative Mierzanowice culture in eastern Poland. These were replaced in their respective territories, for the duration of the subsequent Older Bronze Period by the (pre-Lusatian) Tumulus culture
Tumulus culture
The Tumulus culture dominated Central Europe during the Middle Bronze Age .It was the descendant of the Unetice culture. Its heartland the area previously occupied by the Unetice culture besides Bavaria and Württemberg...
and the Trzciniec culture
Trzciniec culture
The Trzciniec culture was an ancient tradition that subsisted in central Europe. Archeologists speculate its existence to have been between the years 1700 and 1200 BC....
.
Characteristic of the remaining bronze periods were the Urnfield culture
Urnfield culture
The Urnfield culture was a late Bronze Age culture of central Europe. The name comes from the custom of cremating the dead and placing their ashes in urns which were then buried in fields...
s; within their range, skeletal burials had been replaced by cremation throughout much of Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. In Poland the Lusatian culture
Lusatian culture
The Lusatian culture existed in the later Bronze Age and early Iron Age in most of today's Poland, parts of Czech Republic and Slovakia, parts of eastern Germany and parts of Ukraine...
settlements dominated the landscape for nearly a thousand years, continuing into the Early Iron Age. A series of Scythian invasions, beginning in the 6th century BC, precipitated the demise of the Lusatian culture. The Hallstatt Period D was a time of expansion for the Pomeranian culture
Pomeranian culture
The Pomeranian culture, also Pomeranian or Pomerelian Face Urn culture was an Iron Age culture in Pomerania, northern Poland. About 650 BC, it evolved from the Lusatian culture, often associated with the Nordic Bronze Age, and subsequently expanded southward...
, while the Western Baltic kurgan culture occupied Poland's Masuria
Masuria
Masuria is an area in northeastern Poland famous for its 2,000 lakes. Geographically, Masuria is part of two adjacent lakeland districts, the Masurian Lake District and the Iława Lake District...
-Warmia
Warmia
Warmia or Ermland is a region between Pomerelia and Masuria in northeastern Poland. Together with Masuria, it forms the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship....
region.
Antiquity
The La Tène cultureLa Tène culture
The La Tène culture was a European Iron Age culture named after the archaeological site of La Tène on the north side of Lake Neuchâtel in Switzerland, where a rich cache of artifacts was discovered by Hansli Kopp in 1857....
period is subdivided into La Tène A, 450–400 BC; La Tène B, 400–250 BC; La Tène C, 250–150 BC; and La Tène D, 150–0 BC. The period from 200 to 0 BCE is also considered to be the younger pre-Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
period. It was followed by the period of Roman influence, whose early stage lasted from 0 to 150 AD, and the late stage from 150 to 375 AD. The period from 375 to 500 AD constitutes the (pre-Slavic
Slavic peoples
The Slavic people are an Indo-European panethnicity living in Eastern Europe, Southeast Europe, North Asia and Central Asia. The term Slavic represents a broad ethno-linguistic group of people, who speak languages belonging to the Slavic language family and share, to varying degrees, certain...
) Migration Period
Migration Period
The Migration Period, also called the Barbarian Invasions , was a period of intensified human migration in Europe that occurred from c. 400 to 800 CE. This period marked the transition from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages...
.
Peoples belonging to numerous archeological cultures
Archaeological culture
An archaeological culture is a recurring assemblage of artifacts from a specific time and place, which are thought to constitute the material culture remains of a particular past human society. The connection between the artifacts is based on archaeologists' understanding and interpretation and...
identified with Celtic, Germanic and Baltic
Balts
The Balts or Baltic peoples , defined as speakers of one of the Baltic languages, a branch of the Indo-European language family, are descended from a group of Indo-European tribes who settled the area between the Jutland peninsula in the west and Moscow, Oka and Volga rivers basins in the east...
tribes inhabited parts of Poland in Antiquity
Classical antiquity
Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...
, from about 400 BC to 450-500 AD. Other groups, difficult to identify, were most likely also present, as the ethnic
Ethnic group
An ethnic group is a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, a common culture and/or an ideology that stresses common ancestry or endogamy...
composition of archeological cultures is often poorly recognized. Short of using a written language to any appreciable degree, many of them developed a relatively advanced material culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
and social organization, as evidenced by the archeological record, for example by richly furnished, dynastic "princely" graves. Characteristic of this period were high rates of migration
Human migration
Human migration is physical movement by humans from one area to another, sometimes over long distances or in large groups. Historically this movement was nomadic, often causing significant conflict with the indigenous population and their displacement or cultural assimilation. Only a few nomadic...
, often involving large groups of people.
Celtic peoples established settlements, beginning in the early 4th century BC, mostly in southern Poland, the outer limit of their expansion. With their developed economy and crafts, they exerted a lasting cultural influence (La Tène culture
La Tène culture
The La Tène culture was a European Iron Age culture named after the archaeological site of La Tène on the north side of Lake Neuchâtel in Switzerland, where a rich cache of artifacts was discovered by Hansli Kopp in 1857....
) disproportionate to their small numbers in the region.
Germanic peoples lived in what is now Poland for several centuries, during which many of their tribes also migrated southward and eastward (see Wielbark culture). With the expansion of the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
, the Germanic tribes came under Roman cultural influence. Some written remarks by Roman authors that are relevant to developments on Polish lands have been preserved; they provide additional insights in conjunction with the archeological record. In the end, as the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
was nearing its collapse and the nomadic peoples invading from the east destroyed, damaged or destabilized the various Germanic cultures and societies, the Germanic peoples left Eastern
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
and Central Europe
Central Europe
Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...
for the safer and wealthier southern and western parts of the European continent
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
The northeast corner of what is now Poland remained populated by Baltic tribes
Balts
The Balts or Baltic peoples , defined as speakers of one of the Baltic languages, a branch of the Indo-European language family, are descended from a group of Indo-European tribes who settled the area between the Jutland peninsula in the west and Moscow, Oka and Volga rivers basins in the east...
. They were at the outer limits of any substantial cultural influence from the Roman Empire.
Further reading
- Various authors, ed. Marek Derwich and Adam Żurek, U źródeł Polski (do roku 1038) (Foundations of Poland (until year 1038)), Wydawnictwo DolnośląskieWydawnictwo DolnoslaskieWydawnictwo Dolnośląskie is a publishing company founded in 1986 with cooperation with Bertelsmann Media.-External links:http://www.wd.wroc.pl/index.php?id=1http://www.google.com/search?num=100&hl=en&q=Wydawnictwa+dolnosl%C4%85skie+Bertelsmann 280k gh...
, Wrocław 2002, ISBN 83-7023-954-4 - Piotr Kaczanowski, Janusz Krzysztof Kozłowski - Najdawniejsze dzieje ziem polskich (do VII w.) (Oldest history of Polish lands (till 7th century)), Fogra, Kraków 1998, ISBN 83-85719-34-2