1.
Sorbs
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Sorbs, known also by their former autonyms Lusatians and Wends, are a West Slavic ethnic group predominantly inhabiting their homeland in Lusatia, a region divided between Germany and Poland. They traditionally speak the Sorbian languages, closely related to Polish, Kashubian, Czech, Sorbian is an officially recognized minority language of Germany. The Sorbs are linguistically and genetically closest to the Czechs and Poles, the community is divided religiously between Roman Catholicism and Lutheranism. An indicator of the degree of assimilation is the fact that the Prime Minister of Saxony is at present a Sorb, the ethnonym Sorbs derives from the medieval tribe, Sorbs. The original ethnonym, Srbi, was retained by the Sorbs and Serbs in the Balkans, by the 6th century, Slavs occupied the area west of the Oder formerly inhabited by Germanic peoples. The Sorbs are first mentioned in the 7th century, in the 19th century the autonym of the Slavic population of Lusatia was Lusatians. According to a study published in May 2011, Sorbs show the greatest genetic similarity to Poles, followed by Czechs. They show subtle evidence of genetic isolation but less than Sardinians, demographic history of the Sorb population since 1700, Sorbs are divided into two ethnographical groups, Upper Sorbs, who speak Upper Sorbian. Lower Sorbs, who speak Lower Sorbian, the dialects spoken vary in intelligibility in different areas. Sorbs arrived in the area extending between the Bober, Kwisa, and Oder rivers to the East and the Saale and Elbe rivers to the West during the 6th century, in the north, the area of their settlement reached Berlin. The earliest surviving mention of the tribe was in 631 A. D. when Fredegars Chronicle described them as Surbi and as under the rule of a Dervan, an ally of Samo. The Annales Regni Francorum state that in 806 A. D. Sorbian Duke Miliduch fought against the Franks and was killed, in 840, Sorbian Duke Czimislav was killed. In 932, Henry I conquered Lusatia and Milsko, gero II, Margrave of the Saxon Ostmark, reconquered Lusatia the following year and, in 939, murdered 30 Sorbian princes during a feast. As a result, there were many Sorbian uprisings against German rule, a reconstructed castle, at Raddusch in Lower Lusatia, is the sole physical remnant from this early period. Lusatian tribes are noted in the work of the Bavarian Geographer, the document contains a list of the tribes in Central-Eastern Europe east of the Elbe and north of the Danube to the Volga rivers to the Black and Caspian Sea most of them of Slavic origin. Having settled by the Elbe, Spree and Neisse in the 6th century, Sorbs living on the swampy broads of the Lower Spree have taken their name from the word marsh. The Milceni settled on fertile soil around Upper Spree, the name derives from the word měl’, the two groups were separated from each other by a wide and uninhabited forest range. The rest of the tribes settled themselves between the Elbe and Saale, among the many Slavic tribes, the Bavarian Geographer also noted a few Lusatian tribes, Glomacze - Dolomici, Milceni, Chutizi and Sitice
2.
Lusitanians
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Classical sources mention Lusitanian leader Viriathus as the leader of the Celtiberians, in their war against the Romans. The Greco-Roman historian Diodorus Siculus attributed them a name of a Germanic tribe, the Lusitanians were also called Belitanians, according to the diviner Artemidorus. Strabo differentiated the Lusitanians from the Iberian tribes, pliny the Elder and Pomponius Mela distinguished the Lusitanians from neighboring Celtic groups in their geographical writings. After this, Lusitanias northern border was along the Douro River, while its eastern border passed through Salmantica, categorising Lusitanian culture generally, including the language, is proving difficult. The Lusitanians worshiped various gods in a very diverse polytheism, using animal sacrifice and they represented their gods and warriors in rudimentary sculpture. The goddess Ataegina was especially popular in the south, as the goddess of rebirth, fertility, nature, Lusitanian mythology was heavily influenced or related to Celtic mythology. Also well attested in inscriptions are the names Bandua, often with a name linked to a locality such as Bandua Aetobrico. The Lusitanian language was a language that clearly belongs to the Indo-European family. A second theory relates Lusitanian with the Italic languages, based on a relation of the name of Lusitanian deities with other elements of the area. They were a confederation, not a single political entity, each tribe had its own territory and was independent. However, they had a sense of unity and a common name for the tribes. Each tribe was ruled by its own tribal aristocracy and chief, many members of the Lusitanian tribal aristocracy were warriors as happened in many other pre-Roman peoples of the Iron Age. Kaukainos was another important Lusitanian chief before the Roman conquest and he ruled the Lusitanians for some time, leading the tribes in the resistance against Carthaginian attempts of conquest, and was successful. The name Turduli Veteres, a tribe that dwelt in todays Aveiro District, seems to indicate they came from the north, more Lusitanian tribes are likely, but their names are unknown. The Lusitanians were considered by historians to be adept at guerrilla warfare. The strongest amongst them were selected to defend the populace in mountainous sites and they used hooked saunions made of iron, and wielded swords and helmets like those of the Celtiberians. They threw their darts from some distance, yet often hit their marks, being active and nimble warriors, they would pursue their enemies and decapitate them. In times of peace, they had a style of dancing
3.
Prehistory and protohistory of Poland
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The area of present-day Poland went through the stages of socio-technical development known as the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages after experiencing the climatic shifts of the glacial periods. The best known archeological discovery from the period is the Lusatian-culture Biskupin fortified settlement. As ancient civilizations began to appear in southern and western Europe, among the peoples that inhabited various parts of Poland up to the Iron Age stage of development were Scythian, Celtic, Germanic, and Baltic tribes. Written language came to Poland only after 966 AD, when the ruler of the Polish lands, Duke Mieszko I, converted to Christianity, Polands Stone Age is divided into the Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic eras. The Mesolithic era lasted from c.8000 to 5500 BC, the Neolithic is subdivided into the Neolithic proper, c.5500 –2900 BC, and the Copper Age, c.2900 –2300 BC. Polands Stone Age lasted approximately 500,000 years and saw the appearance of three distinct Homo species, Homo erectus, Homo neanderthalensis and Homo sapiens. As elsewhere in Central Europe, the Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic stages of Polands Stone Age were each characterized by refinements in stone-tool-making techniques, Paleolithic human activities were intermittent because of recurring glaciations. A general climate warming and an increase in ecologic diversity were characteristic of the Mesolithic era. The Neolithic era ushered in the first settled agricultural communities, whose founders had migrated from the Danube River area beginning about 5500 BC, later, the native post-Mesolithic populations would also adopt and further develop the agricultural way of life. Polands Bronze Age comprised Period I, c, 1100–900 BC, and Period V, c. The Early Iron Age included Hallstatt Period C, c, 700–600 BC, and Hallstatt Period D, c. Polands Bronze- and Iron-Age cultures are known mainly from archeological research, Polands Early Bronze Age cultures began around 2300-2400 BC, whereas the Iron Age commenced c. By the beginning of the Common Era, the Iron Age archeological cultures described in the article no longer existed. In Poland, the Lusatian culture, which spanned the Bronze and Iron Ages, the most famous archeological discovery from that period is the Biskupin fortified settlement that represented early-Iron-Age Lusatian culture. Bronze objects were brought to Poland around 2300 BC from the Carpathian Basin, the native Early Bronze Age that followed was dominated by the innovative Unetice culture in western Poland and the conservative Mierzanowice culture in eastern Poland. These were replaced in their territories for the duration of the subsequent Older Bronze Period by the Tumulus culture. Characteristic of the remaining bronze periods were the Urnfield cultures, in which skeletal burials were 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, the Hallstatt Period D was a time of expansion for the Pomeranian culture, while the Western Baltic Kurgan culture dominated Polands Masuria-Warmia region
4.
Bronze- and Iron-Age Poland
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The Bronze and Iron Age cultures in Poland are known mainly from archeological research. Early Bronze Age cultures in Poland begun around 2300–2400 BCE, while the Iron Age commenced in approximately 700–750 BCE, the Iron Age archeological cultures no longer existed by the start of the Common Era. In Poland the Lusatian culture, spanning both the Bronze and Iron Ages, became particularly prominent, the most famous archeological finding from that period is the Biskupin fortified settlement on the lake from which it takes its name, representing the Lusatian culture of the early Iron Age. The Bronze Age in Poland consisted of Period I,2300 to 1600 BC, Period II,1600 to 1350 BC, Period III,1350 to 1100 BC, Period IV,1100 to 900 BC, Period V,900 to 700 BC. The Early Iron Age included Hallstatt Period C,700 to 600 BC, Bronze items present in Poland around 2300 BC were brought from the Carpathian Basin. The native Early Bronze Age that followed was dominated by the innovative Unetice culture in western Poland and those were replaced in their respective territories, for the duration of the second, the Older Bronze Period, by the Tumulus culture and the Trzciniec culture. Characteristic of the remaining bronze periods were the Urnfield cultures, within their range skeletal burials had been replaced by cremation of bodies throughout much of Europe, in Poland the Lusatian culture settlements dominated the landscape for nearly a thousand years, continuing into and including the Early Iron Age. A series of Scythian invasions, beginning in the 6th century BC, the Hallstatt Period D was the time of expansion of the Pomeranian culture, while the Western Baltic Kurgans culture occupied the Masuria-Warmia region of contemporary Poland. This settled agricultural societys origins consisted of the traditions inherited from the Corded Ware populations. Significantly, the Unetice people cultivated contacts with the highly developed cultures of the Carpathian Basin and their culture also echoed inspiring influence coming all the way from the most highly developed at that time civilizations of the Middle East. Characteristic of the Unetice societies was greater general affluence and developed social stratification, objects made of bronze, often of luxurious or prestigious nature, were in high demand as symbols of power and importance and are typically found in the graves of princes. Many concealed bronze treasures have been found, including a fine one from Pilszcz near Głubczyce, stylistically refined Uneticean ceramics show inspiration from the Achaean vessels obtained through trade. Fortified settlements were built, one actively researched site, that was utilized, remains of settlements and cemeteries were discovered around Wrocław and elsewhere in Lower Silesia, including an amber processing workshop in Nowa Wieś, Bolesławiec County. The nature of the weapons and other items found at Unetice sites suggests a chronic state of warfare, the Iwno culture, named after Iwno near Szubin, was a contemporary of the Unetice culture. Iwno thin-walled clay vessels were carefully finished and domestic animal rising was important for the economy, the Płonia group of a comparable period, named after a neighborhood of Szczecin, extended over central and western Polish Pomerania, it is known for stone chest burials. Mierzanowice culture was a society, frequently still using stone tools. The Pleszów group of the Mierzanowice culture originated the most significant of the Polish Bronze Age fortified settlements and it was constructed on a particularly suitable, elevated natural location, with the initial enclosed area of 0.6 hectares. It remained in use from about 2100 to 1300 BC and is often dubbed the Carpathian Troy or the Troy of the North
5.
Poland in Antiquity
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These people are identified as Celtic, Germanic, Baltic and Thracian tribes. Other groups, difficult to identify, were most likely also present, characteristic of the period was high geographical migration rate of large groups of people, even equivalents of todays nations. This article covers the continuation of the Iron Age, the La Tène and Roman influence and Migration periods. It was followed by the period of Roman influence, of which the stage had lasted from 0 to 150 AD. The Celtic peoples established a number of settlement centers, beginning in the early 4th century BC, mostly in southern Poland, through their highly developed economy and crafts, they exerted lasting cultural influence disproportional to their small numbers in the region. With the expansion of the Roman Empire, the Germanic tribes came under the Roman cultural influence, some written remarks by Roman authors that are relevant to the developments on Polish lands have been preserved, they provide additional insight when compared with the archeological record. The northeast corner of contemporary Polands territory was and remained populated by Baltic tribes and they were at the outer limits of significant cultural influence of the Roman Empire. The first Celtic people arrived in Poland, coming from Bohemia and Moravia, around or after 400 BC and they formed several enclaves mostly in the southern part of the country, within the Pomeranian or Lusatian populations or in areas abandoned by those people. The cultures or groups that were Celtic, or had a Celtic element in them, after the Celts moved in, and during their tenure, the bulk of the population had begun acquiring the traits of archaeological cultures with a dominant Proto-Germanic or Germanic component. In Europe the expansion of Rome and the Germanic pressure checked and reversed the Celtic expansion, burial and other significant Celtic sites in Głubczyce County were investigated in Kietrz and nearby Nowa Cerekiew. The Ślęża group disintegrated eventually within the population, while the one at Głubczyce Upland apparently migrated out in the southern direction. In another hundred years or more two groups arrived and settled the upper San River basin and the Kraków area respectively and this last one, together with the local population developing at about that time the Przeworsk culture characteristics, formed the mixed Tyniec group, in existence 270–30 BC. In the 1st century BC another small group settled probably much further north, the Celts practiced advanced agriculture and favored fertile lands, they brought with them and disseminated the inventions, including a variety of tools, and other achievements of La Tène culture. Celtic farmers used plows with iron shares and fertilized fields with animal manure and their livestock consisted of selected breeds, especially sheep and large cattle. The rotational querns that they invented had a lower stone. Iron was obtained in greater quantities from locally available turf ores, its metallurgy and processing were improved, resulting in the manufacturing of stronger and more resistant tools and weapons. The ceramic shops used the wheel and produced with great precision baked, thin walled, painted vessels. Domed bilevel furnaces were used, the pots being placed on a perforated clay shelf, glass and enamel were produced, gold and semi-precious stones were processed for jewelry
6.
Poland in the Early Middle Ages
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The Slavic migrations in the area of contemporary Poland started in the second half of the 5th century CE, about a half century after these territories were vacated by Germanic tribes. The first waves of the incoming Slavs settled the vicinity of the upper Vistula River and elsewhere in the lands of present southeastern Poland and their early archeological traces belong to the Prague-Korchak culture, which is similar to the earlier Kiev culture. From there the new population dispersed north and west over the course of the 6th century, the Slavs lived from cultivation of crops and were generally farmers, but also engaged in hunting and gathering. The migrations took place when the invasions of eastern and central Europe by waves of people and armies from the east, such as the Huns. This westward movement of Slavic people was facilitated in part by the emigration of Germanic peoples toward the safer. The immigrating Slavs formed various small tribal organizations beginning in the 8th century, some of which coalesced later into larger, beginning in the 7th century, these tribal units built many fortified structures with earth and wood walls and embankments, called gords. Some of them were developed and inhabited, others had a large empty area inside the walls. By the 9th century, the Slavs had settled the Baltic coast in Pomerania, along the coastline, remnants of Scandinavian settlements and emporia were to be found. The most important of them was probably the settlement and seaport of Truso. Prussia itself was unaffected by Slavic migration and remained inhabited by Baltic Old Prussians. During the same time, the tribe of the Vistulans, based in Kraków and the region, controlled a large area in the south. During the 10th century, the Polans turned out to be of historic importance. Under Duke Mieszko I of the Piast dynasty, the expanded Polan territory was converted to Christianity in 966, the contemporary names of the realm, Mieszkos state or Gniezno state, were dropped soon afterwards in favour of Poland, a rendering of the Polans tribal name. The Piast dynasty would continue to rule Poland until the late 14th century, the main distinguished local groups were the Polesie group, the Middle Dnieper group and the Upper Dnieper group. The Zarubintsy culture developed from the Milograd culture in the part of its range. The Polesie groups origin was influenced by the Pomeranian and Jastorf cultures. Cremation of bodies was practiced, with the remains and burial gifts including metal decorations, small in number and limited in variety. The Kiev culture is mostly from settlement sites, the burial sites, involving pit graves, are few
7.
Biskupin
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The archaeological open-air museum Biskupin is an archaeological site and a life-size model of an Iron Age fortified settlement in Poland. When first discovered it was thought to be evidence of Slavic settlement. The excavation and the reconstruction of the settlement has played an instrumental part in Polish historical consciousness. The Museum is situated on a peninsula in Lake Biskupin. It is a division of the National Museum of Archaeology in Warsaw, the site is one of Polands official national Historic Monuments, as designated September 16,1994, and tracked by the National Heritage Board of Poland. In 1933 Polish archaeologists discovered remains of a Bronze Age fort/settlement in Wielkopolska, the site was excavated from 1934 onwards by the team from Poznań University, led by archaeologists Józef Kostrzewski and Zdzisław Rajewski. The first report was published in 1936, by the beginning of 1939, ca.2,500 m2 had been excavated. The site soon became part of Polish national consciousness, the symbol of achievements of the Slavonic forebears in prehistoric times and it was called the Polish Pompeii or Polish Herculaneum. The existence of a fortress,70 km from the German border, was used to show that the prehistoric Poles had held their own against foreign invaders and plunderers as early as the Iron Age. Biskupin came to feature in paintings and popular novels, when the Germans occupied Poland in the autumn of 1939, Biskupin was renamed Urstädt. In 1940, excavations were resumed by the SS-Ahnenerbe until 1942, when Germans were forced to retreat they flooded the site hoping to destroy it, but—ironically—it led to very good preservation of the ancient timbers. Excavations were resumed by Polish archaeologists after the war and continued until 1974, there are two settlement periods at Biskupin, which was located in the middle of a lake but is now situated on a peninsula, that follow each other without hiatus. Both settlements were laid out on a grid with eleven streets that are three metres wide. They consisted of two chambers and an open entrance-area and these houses were designed to accommodate 10–12 persons. An open hearth was located in the centre of the biggest room, there are no larger houses that could indicate social stratification. Because of the damp, boggy ground the streets were covered with wooden planks, the settlement was surrounded by a tall wooden wall, or palisade, set on a rampart made up of both wood and earth. The rampart was constructed of oak trunks that form boxes filled with earth, the rampart is more than 450 metres long and accompanied by a wooden breakwater in the lake. 6,000 to 8,000 cubic metres of wood was used in the construction of the rampart, the settlement at Biskupin belongs to the Hallstatt C and D periods
8.
Oksywie culture
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The Oksywie culture was an archaeological culture that existed in the area of modern-day Eastern Pomerania around the lower Vistula river from the 2nd century BC to the early 1st century AD. It is named after the village of Oksywie, now part of the city of Gdynia in northern Poland, a connection with the Rugii has been suggested. Like other cultures of this period, the Oksywie culture related to La Tène cultural characteristics, Oksywie cultures ceramics and burial customs indicate strong ties with the Przeworsk culture. Men only had their ashes placed in well made black urns with fine finish and their graves were supplied with practical items for the afterlife such as utensils and weapons. Typically buried with the man, this culture would also place swords with one-sided edge, womens ashes were buried in hollows and supplied with feminine items. Oxhöftkultur Andrzej Kokowski Archäologie der Goten 1999 Marija Gimbutas, the Bronze and the Early Iron Age of the Eastern Balts
9.
Wielbark culture
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The Wielbark culture or East Pomeranian-Mazovian is part of an Iron Age archaeological complex that dates from the 1st century AD to the 4th century AD. It replaced the Oksywie culture, in the area of modern-day Eastern Pomerania around the lower Vistula river, Wielbark culture contained Venedi, Rugians, Goths, and Gepids located mainly in Pomerania and West Prussia later spreading down the east side into Podlasie and the southern Ukraine. The Wielbark culture was named after a village where a place with over 3,000 tombs, attributed to the Goths. Many of the stones were moved, and many graves were damaged by the early German discoverers. The Wielbark culture started out covering the area as the Oksywie culture, around the present day towns of Gdańsk. Later it reached into the lakelands and stretched southwards, into the region around Poznań, in 2000, in Czarnówko near Lębork, Pomerania, a cemetery of Oksywie and Wielbark cultures was found. These reached their height before the emigration of the population to the south west began, a bronze kettle depicts males wearing the Suebian knot hairstyle. The people of the Wielbark culture used both inhumation and cremation techniques for burying their dead, whether one or the other was used varies from site to site and is believed to have depended on family traditions. A characteristic of this culture, which it had in common with southern Scandinavia, was the raising of stone covered mounds, stone circles, solitary stelae and variations of cobble cladding. No weapons or tools are found in Wielbark culture graves, unlike the Przeworsk culture for which it was typical to give the dead such gifts. Instead, the artifacts found are mostly ornaments and costumes, although a few graves have shown spurs, another feature of the Wielbark culture was the use of bronze to make ornaments and accessories. Silver was used seldom and gold rarely, Iron appears to have been used extremely rarely. The Wielbark culture has traditionally been attributed to the migration of the Goths from Scandza to Gothiscandza as related in Jordanes account of their origin. Archaeologists, though, are wary of ascribing ethnicities to archaeological cultures, as the origins of, for this reason they normally assign names to cultures based on the modern names of sites where artifacts are found. The current tendency is to resist making an easy equation between Wielbark Culture and migration of the Goths, as any single migration of peoples is unlikely to be its sole source. The cemeteries may give some indication in evidence as to which settlements could have been established directly by Goths, appearing in the later 1st century, this type is found between the Vistula and the Kashubian and Krajenskian lakelands reaching into the Koszalin region. szukacz. pl
10.
Przeworsk culture
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The Przeworsk culture is part of an Iron Age archaeological complex that dates from the 3rd century BC to the 5th century AD. It takes its name from the village near the town Przeworsk where the first artifacts were found and they knew how to dig and build wells, so the settlements didnt have to be located near bodies of water. Thirteen 2nd century wells with variously constructed timber lined walls were found at a settlement in Stanisławice, fields were being used for crop cultivation for a while and then as pastures, when animal excrement helped the soil regain fertility. Once iron share plows were introduced the fields were alternated between tillage and grazing, a number of such micro-regions possibly made up a tribe, with these separated by empty space, zones of mutual fear, as Tacitus put it. The tribes in turn, especially if they were closely related, would at times form larger structures, such as temporary alliances for waging wars. A Przeworsk culture turn of the industrial complex for the extraction of salt from salt springs was discovered in Chabsk near Mogilno. The dead were cremated and the ashes placed in urns. In the 1st century AD this was replaced with a sharp-profiled shape, the burial gifts were often, for unknown reasons, bent or broken, and then burned with the body. The burials range from poor to rich, the latter ones supplied with fancy Celtic and then Roman imports, scholars view the Przeworsk culture as an amalgam of a series of localized cultures. Continuity with the preceding Pomeranian culture is observed, albeit modified by significant influences from the La Tene, the Przeworsk culture is sometimes associated with the Vandals. To the east, in what is now northern Ukraine and southern Belarus, was the Zarubintsy culture, much of this area was subsequently absorbed by the Wielbark culture. The main characteristic feature of the Przeworsk culture are burials and these were mostly cremations, with occasional inhumation. Warrior burials are notable, which often include horse-gear and spurs, some burials are exceptionally rich, overshadowing the graves of Germanic groups further west, especially after 400 AD. Pottery and metalwork are often rich and show a great variety The cultures decline in the late 5th century coincides with the invasion of the Huns. Other factors may have included the social crisis that occurred as a result of the collapse of the Roman world, in the late 5/6th century, the Prague-Korchak culture appears in the Vistula basin. Przeworsk culture settlements and burial sites Vandals Amber Road Mallory, James P. Adams, Douglas Q
11.
Polish tribes
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The Polish tribes are grouped together with East Slavic and South Slavic tribes as the Early Slavs with varying degrees of common ancestry and culture. In about 850 AD a list of peoples was written down by the Bavarian Geographer, absent on the list are Polans, Pomeranians and Masovians, who were mentioned later by Nestor the Chronicler in his Primary Chronicle. The most important Polish tribes were Polans, Masovians, Vistulans, Silesians and Pomeranians and these five tribes shared fundamentally common culture and language and were considerably more closely related to one another than were the Germanic tribes. The name Poland is derived from the most powerful of the tribes - the Polans and their name, in turn, derives from the word pole - field. It was also used for the eastern Polans that lived in the region of the Dnieper River, the tribes were organized on the basis of kinship groups. A tribes territory was divided into opoles, which constituted a group of neighboring settlements, most members of a particular tribe were yeoman peasants, although a small group of aristocrats was usually present. The following is the list of Polish tribes that inhabited the lands of Poland in the early Middle Ages and they shared fundamentally common culture and language and together they formed what is now Polish ethnicity and the culture of Poland
12.
Bronze Age
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The Bronze Age is a historical period characterized by the use of bronze, proto-writing, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the principal period of the three-age Stone-Bronze-Iron system, as proposed in modern times by Christian Jürgensen Thomsen. An ancient civilization is defined to be in the Bronze Age either by smelting its own copper and alloying with tin, arsenic, or other metals, or by trading for bronze from production areas elsewhere. Copper-tin ores are rare, as reflected in the fact there were no tin bronzes in Western Asia before trading in bronze began in the third millennium BC. Worldwide, the Bronze Age generally followed the Neolithic period, with the Chalcolithic serving as a transition, although the Iron Age generally followed the Bronze Age, in some areas, the Iron Age intruded directly on the Neolithic. Bronze Age cultures differed in their development of the first writing, according to archaeological evidence, cultures in Mesopotamia and Egypt developed the earliest viable writing systems. The overall period is characterized by use of bronze, though the place and time of the introduction. Human-made tin bronze technology requires set production techniques, tin must be mined and smelted separately, then added to molten copper to make bronze alloy. The Bronze Age was a time of use of metals. The dating of the foil has been disputed, the Bronze Age in the ancient Near East began with the rise of Sumer in the 4th millennium BC. Societies in the region laid the foundations for astronomy and mathematics, the usual tripartite division into an Early, Middle and Late Bronze Age is not used. Instead, a division based on art-historical and historical characteristics is more common. The cities of the Ancient Near East housed several tens of thousands of people, ur in the Middle Bronze Age and Babylon in the Late Bronze Age similarly had large populations. The earliest mention of Babylonia appears on a tablet from the reign of Sargon of Akkad in the 23rd century BC, the Amorite dynasty established the city-state of Babylon in the 19th century BC. Over 100 years later, it took over the other city-states. Babylonia adopted the written Semitic Akkadian language for official use, by that time, the Sumerian language was no longer spoken, but was still in religious use. Elam was an ancient civilization located to the east of Mesopotamia, in the Old Elamite period, Elam consisted of kingdoms on the Iranian plateau, centered in Anshan, and from the mid-2nd millennium BC, it was centered in Susa in the Khuzestan lowlands. Its culture played a role in the Gutian Empire and especially during the Achaemenid dynasty that succeeded it
13.
Iron Age
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The Iron Age is an archaeological era, referring to a period of time in the prehistory and protohistory of the Old World when the dominant toolmaking material was iron. It is commonly preceded by the Bronze Age in Europe and Asia with exceptions, meteoric iron has been used by humans since at least 3200 BC. Ancient iron production did not become widespread until the ability to smelt ore, remove impurities. The start of the Iron Age proper is considered by many to fall between around 1200 BC and 600 BC, depending on the region, the earliest known iron artifacts are nine small beads dated to 3200 BC, which were found in burials at Gerzeh, Lower Egypt. They have been identified as meteoric iron shaped by careful hammering, meteoric iron, a characteristic iron–nickel alloy, was used by various ancient peoples thousands of years before the Iron Age. Such iron, being in its metallic state, required no smelting of ores. Smelted iron appears sporadically in the record from the middle Bronze Age. While terrestrial iron is abundant, its high melting point of 1,538 °C placed it out of reach of common use until the end of the second millennium BC. Tins low melting point of 231, similarly, recent archaeological remains of iron working in the Ganges Valley in India have been tentatively dated to 1800 BC. By the Middle Bronze Age, increasing numbers of smelted iron objects appeared in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, African sites are turning up dates as early as 1200 BC. Modern archaeological evidence identifies the start of iron production in around 1200 BC. Between 1200 BC and 1000 BC, diffusion in the understanding of iron metallurgy and use of objects was fast. As evidence, many bronze implements were recycled into weapons during this time, more widespread use of iron led to improved steel-making technology at lower cost. Thus, even when tin became available again, iron was cheaper, stronger, and lighter, and forged iron implements superseded cast bronze tools permanently. Increasingly, the Iron Age in Europe is being seen as a part of the Bronze Age collapse in the ancient Near East, in ancient India, ancient Iran, and ancient Greece. In other regions of Europe, the Iron Age began in the 8th century BC in Central Europe, the Near Eastern Iron Age is divided into two subsections, Iron I and Iron II. Iron I illustrates both continuity and discontinuity with the previous Late Bronze Age, during the Iron Age, the best tools and weapons were made from steel, particularly alloys which were produced with a carbon content between approximately 0. 30% and 1. 2% by weight. Steel weapons and tools were nearly the same weight as those of bronze, however, steel was difficult to produce with the methods available, and alloys that were easier to make, such as wrought iron, were more common in lower-priced goods
14.
Poland
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Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe, situated between the Baltic Sea in the north and two mountain ranges in the south. Bordered by Germany to the west, the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south, Ukraine and Belarus to the east, the total area of Poland is 312,679 square kilometres, making it the 69th largest country in the world and the 9th largest in Europe. With a population of over 38.5 million people, Poland is the 34th most populous country in the world, the 8th most populous country in Europe, Poland is a unitary state divided into 16 administrative subdivisions, and its capital and largest city is Warsaw. Other metropolises include Kraków, Wrocław, Poznań, Gdańsk and Szczecin, the establishment of a Polish state can be traced back to 966, when Mieszko I, ruler of a territory roughly coextensive with that of present-day Poland, converted to Christianity. The Kingdom of Poland was founded in 1025, and in 1569 it cemented a political association with the Grand Duchy of Lithuania by signing the Union of Lublin. This union formed the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, one of the largest and most populous countries of 16th and 17th century Europe, Poland regained its independence in 1918 at the end of World War I, reconstituting much of its historical territory as the Second Polish Republic. In September 1939, World War II started with the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany, followed thereafter by invasion by the Soviet Union. More than six million Polish citizens died in the war, after the war, Polands borders were shifted westwards under the terms of the Potsdam Conference. With the backing of the Soviet Union, a communist puppet government was formed, and after a referendum in 1946. During the Revolutions of 1989 Polands Communist government was overthrown and Poland adopted a new constitution establishing itself as a democracy, informally called the Third Polish Republic. Since the early 1990s, when the transition to a primarily market-based economy began, Poland has achieved a high ranking on the Human Development Index. Poland is a country, which was categorised by the World Bank as having a high-income economy. Furthermore, it is visited by approximately 16 million tourists every year, Poland is the eighth largest economy in the European Union and was the 6th fastest growing economy on the continent between 2010 and 2015. According to the Global Peace Index for 2014, Poland is ranked 19th in the list of the safest countries in the world to live in. The origin of the name Poland derives from a West Slavic tribe of Polans that inhabited the Warta River basin of the historic Greater Poland region in the 8th century, the origin of the name Polanie itself derives from the western Slavic word pole. In some foreign languages such as Hungarian, Lithuanian, Persian and Turkish the exonym for Poland is Lechites, historians have postulated that throughout Late Antiquity, many distinct ethnic groups populated the regions of what is now Poland. The most famous archaeological find from the prehistory and protohistory of Poland is the Biskupin fortified settlement, dating from the Lusatian culture of the early Iron Age, the Slavic groups who would form Poland migrated to these areas in the second half of the 5th century AD. With the Baptism of Poland the Polish rulers accepted Christianity and the authority of the Roman Church
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Czech Republic
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The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, is a nation state in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west, Austria to the south, Slovakia to the east and Poland to the northeast. The Czech Republic covers an area of 78,866 square kilometres with mostly temperate continental climate and it is a unitary parliamentary republic, has 10.5 million inhabitants and the capital and largest city is Prague, with over 1.2 million residents. The Czech Republic includes the territories of Bohemia, Moravia. The Czech state was formed in the late 9th century as the Duchy of Bohemia under the Great Moravian Empire, after the fall of the Empire in 907, the centre of power transferred from Moravia to Bohemia under the Přemyslid dynasty. In 1002, the duchy was formally recognized as part of the Holy Roman Empire, becoming the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1198 and reaching its greatest territorial extent in the 14th century. Following the Battle of Mohács in 1526, the whole Crown of Bohemia was gradually integrated into the Habsburg Monarchy alongside the Archduchy of Austria, the Protestant Bohemian Revolt against the Catholic Habsburgs led to the Thirty Years War. After the Battle of the White Mountain, the Habsburgs consolidated their rule, reimposed Roman Catholicism, the Czech part of Czechoslovakia was occupied by Germany in World War II, and was liberated in 1945 by the armies of the Soviet Union and the United States. The Czech country lost the majority of its German-speaking inhabitants after they were expelled following the war, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia won the 1946 elections. Following the 1948 coup détat, Czechoslovakia became a one-party communist state under Soviet influence, in 1968, increasing dissatisfaction with the regime culminated in a reform movement known as the Prague Spring, which ended in a Soviet-led invasion. Czechoslovakia remained occupied until the 1989 Velvet Revolution, when the communist regime collapsed, on 6 March 1990, the Czech Socialistic Republic was renamed to the Czech Republic. On 1 January 1993, Czechoslovakia peacefully dissolved, with its constituent states becoming the independent states of the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic. The Czech Republic joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004, it is a member of the United Nations, the OECD, the OSCE, and it is a developed country with an advanced, high income economy and high living standards. The UNDP ranks the country 14th in inequality-adjusted human development, the Czech Republic also ranks as the 6th most peaceful country, while achieving strong performance in democratic governance. It has the lowest unemployment rate in the European Union, the traditional English name Bohemia derives from Latin Boiohaemum, which means home of the Boii. The current name comes from the endonym Čech, spelled Cžech until the reform in 1842. The name comes from the Slavic tribe and, according to legend, their leader Čech, the etymology of the word Čech can be traced back to the Proto-Slavic root *čel-, meaning member of the people, kinsman, thus making it cognate to the Czech word člověk. The country has traditionally divided into three lands, namely Bohemia in the west, Moravia in the southeast, and Czech Silesia in the northeast. Following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia at the end of 1992, the Czech part of the former nation found itself without a common single-word geographical name in English, the name Czechia /ˈtʃɛkiə/ was recommended by the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs
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Slovakia
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Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Slovakias territory spans about 49,000 square kilometres and is mostly mountainous. The population is over 5 million and comprises mostly ethnic Slovaks, the capital and largest city is Bratislava. The Slavs arrived in the territory of present-day Slovakia in the 5th and 6th centuries, in the 7th century, they played a significant role in the creation of Samos Empire and in the 9th century established the Principality of Nitra. In the 10th century, the territory was integrated into the Kingdom of Hungary, which became part of the Habsburg Empire. After World War I and the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a separate Slovak Republic existed in World War II as a client state of Nazi Germany. In 1945, Czechoslovakia was reëstablished under Communist rule as a Soviet satellite, in 1989 the Velvet Revolution ended authoritarian Communist rule in Czechoslovakia. Slovakia became an independent state on 1 January 1993 after the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. The country maintains a combination of economy with universal health care. The country joined the European Union in 2004 and the Eurozone on 1 January 2009, Slovakia is also a member of the Schengen Area, NATO, the United Nations, the OECD, the WTO, CERN, the OSCE, the Council of Europe and the Visegrád Group. The Slovak economy is one of the fastest growing economies in Europe and its legal tender, the Euro, is the worlds 2nd most traded currency. Although regional income inequality is high, 90% of citizens own their homes, in 2016, Slovak citizens had visa-free or visa-on-arrival access to 165 countries and territories, ranking the Slovak passport 11th in the world. Slovakia is the world’s biggest per-capita car producer with a total of 1,040,000 cars manufactured in the country in 2016 alone, the car industry represents 43 percent of Slovakia’s industrial output, and a quarter of its exports. Radiocarbon datingputs the oldest surviving archaeological artefacts from Slovakia – found near Nové Mesto nad Váhom – at 270,000 BC and these ancient tools, made by the Clactonian technique, bear witness to the ancient habitation of Slovakia. Other stone tools from the Middle Paleolithic era come from the Prévôt cave near Bojnice, the most important discovery from that era is a Neanderthal cranium, discovered near Gánovce, a village in northern Slovakia. The most well-known finds include the oldest female statue made of mammoth-bone, the statue was found in the 1940s in Moravany nad Váhom near Piešťany. Numerous necklaces made of shells from Cypraca thermophile gastropods of the Tertiary period have come from the sites of Zákovská, Podkovice, Hubina and these findings provide the most ancient evidence of commercial exchanges carried out between the Mediterranean and Central Europe. The Bronze Age in the territory of modern-day Slovakia went through three stages of development, stretching from 2000 to 800 BC
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Germany
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Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe. It includes 16 constituent states, covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres, with about 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state of the European Union. After the United States, it is the second most popular destination in the world. Germanys capital and largest metropolis is Berlin, while its largest conurbation is the Ruhr, other major cities include Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Leipzig. Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity, a region named Germania was documented before 100 AD. During the Migration Period the Germanic tribes expanded southward, beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation, in 1871, Germany became a nation state when most of the German states unified into the Prussian-dominated German Empire. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–1919, the Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic, the establishment of the national socialist dictatorship in 1933 led to World War II and the Holocaust. After a period of Allied occupation, two German states were founded, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, in 1990, the country was reunified. In the 21st century, Germany is a power and has the worlds fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP. As a global leader in industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds third-largest exporter and importer of goods. Germany is a country with a very high standard of living sustained by a skilled. It upholds a social security and universal health system, environmental protection. Germany was a member of the European Economic Community in 1957. It is part of the Schengen Area, and became a co-founder of the Eurozone in 1999, Germany is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20, and the OECD. The national military expenditure is the 9th highest in the world, the English word Germany derives from the Latin Germania, which came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for the peoples east of the Rhine. This in turn descends from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz popular, derived from *þeudō, descended from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂- people, the discovery of the Mauer 1 mandible shows that ancient humans were present in Germany at least 600,000 years ago. The oldest complete hunting weapons found anywhere in the world were discovered in a mine in Schöningen where three 380, 000-year-old wooden javelins were unearthed
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Ukraine
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Ukraine is currently in territorial dispute with Russia over the Crimean Peninsula which Russia annexed in 2014 but which Ukraine and most of the international community recognise as Ukrainian. Including Crimea, Ukraine has an area of 603,628 km2, making it the largest country entirely within Europe and it has a population of about 42.5 million, making it the 32nd most populous country in the world. The territory of modern Ukraine has been inhabited since 32,000 BC, during the Middle Ages, the area was a key centre of East Slavic culture, with the powerful state of Kievan Rus forming the basis of Ukrainian identity. Following its fragmentation in the 13th century, the territory was contested, ruled and divided by a variety of powers, including Lithuania, Poland, the Ottoman Empire, Austria-Hungary, and Russia. A Cossack republic emerged and prospered during the 17th and 18th centuries, two brief periods of independence occurred during the 20th century, once near the end of World War I and another during World War II. Before its independence, Ukraine was typically referred to in English as The Ukraine, following independence, Ukraine declared itself a neutral state. Nonetheless it formed a limited partnership with the Russian Federation and other CIS countries. In the 2000s, the government began leaning towards NATO, and it was later agreed that the question of joining NATO should be answered by a national referendum at some point in the future. Former President Viktor Yanukovych considered the current level of co-operation between Ukraine and NATO sufficient, and was against Ukraine joining NATO and these events formed the background for the annexation of Crimea by Russia in March 2014, and the War in Donbass in April 2014. On 1 January 2016, Ukraine applied the economic part of the Deep, Ukraine has long been a global breadbasket because of its extensive, fertile farmlands and is one of the worlds largest grain exporters. The diversified economy of Ukraine includes a heavy industry sector, particularly in aerospace. Ukraine is a republic under a semi-presidential system with separate powers, legislative, executive. Its capital and largest city is Kiev, taking into account reserves and paramilitary personnel, Ukraine maintains the second-largest military in Europe after that of Russia. Ukrainian is the language and its alphabet is Cyrillic. The dominant religion in the country is Eastern Orthodoxy, which has strongly influenced Ukrainian architecture, literature, there are different hypotheses as to the etymology of the name Ukraine. According to the older and most widespread hypothesis, it means borderland, while more recently some studies claim a different meaning, homeland or region. The Ukraine now implies disregard for the sovereignty, according to U. S. ambassador William Taylor. Neanderthal settlement in Ukraine is seen in the Molodova archaeological sites include a mammoth bone dwelling
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Montelius
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Gustav Oscar August Montelius, known as Oscar Montelius was a Swedish archaeologist who refined the concept of seriation, a relative chronological dating method. Oscar Montelius refined the concept of seriation, a relative dating method. Seriation is the procedure of working out a chronology by arranging material remains of a tradition in the order that produces the most consistent patterning of their cultural traits. Montelius’ method created a specific to the location, based on material remains. Later, when combined with historical references, objects could be provided absolute dates. He took the system, originally devised by Christian Jürgensen Thomsen to organize Danish museum collections of archaeological materials. He divided the Neolithic in Scandinavia into four numbered periods, I-IV, and he was the first to establish that the numerous Swedish petroglyphs were from the Nordic Bronze Age, by comparing axes portrayed in the petroglyphs with archaeological finds. Further he supported Thomsens typology of gold bracteates from the migration period and his diffusionist theories were eventually displaced by more complex views of cultural interaction but following refinement his system of sub-divisions is still effectively in use. Montelius was made a member of the Swedish Academy in 1917 and he and his wife, the feminist Agda Montelius, are buried in a dolmen grave in Norra begravningsplatsen in Solna, Sweden. The typologists then go on to demand professor chairs for themselves, remains from the Iron Age of Scandinavia. Om lifvet i Sverige under hednatiden, tombe ed antichità galliche in Italia. The Civilisation of Sweden in Heathen Times, la civilisation primitive en Italie depuis lintroduction des métaux, Part 1. Die Chronologie der ältesten Bronzezeit in Nord-Deutschland und Skandinavien
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Hallstatt culture
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It is commonly associated with Proto-Celtic and Celtic populations in the Western Hallstatt zone and with Illyrians in the eastern Hallstatt zone. Parts of Britain and Iberia are included in the expansion of the culture. Social distinctions became increasingly important, with emerging elite classes of chieftains and warriors, society was organized on a tribal basis, though very little is known about this. Only a few of the largest settlements, like Heuneburg in the south of Germany, were rather than villages by modern standards. In 1846, Johann Georg Ramsauer discovered a prehistoric cemetery near Hallstatt, Austria. Eventually the excavation would yield 1,045 burials, although no settlement has yet been found and this may be covered by the later village, which has long occupied the whole narrow strip between the steep hillsides and the lake. Some 1,300 burials have been found, including around 2,000 individuals, with women and children, nor is there a princely burial, as often found near large settlements. The community at Hallstatt was untypical of the wider, mainly agricultural, culture and these had been worked from time to time since the Neolithic period, and in this period were extensively mined with a peak from the 8th to 5th centuries BC. The style and decoration of the goods found in the cemetery are very distinctive. Finds at Hallstatt extend from about 1200 BC until around 500 BC, in this period, people were cremated and buried in simple graves. In phase B, tumulus burial becomes common, and cremation predominates, little is known about this period in which the typical Celtic elements have not yet distinguished themselves from the earlier Villanova-culture. The Hallstatt period proper is restricted to HaC and HaD, corresponding to the early European Iron Age, Hallstatt lies in the area where the western and eastern zones of the Hallstatt culture meet, which is reflected in the finds from there. Hallstatt D is succeeded by the La Tène culture, Hallstatt C is characterized by the first appearance of iron swords mixed amongst the bronze ones. For the final phase, Hallstatt D, daggers, almost to the exclusion of swords, are found in western zone graves ranging from c, there are also differences in the pottery and brooches. Halstatt D has been divided into the sub-phases D1-D3, relating only to the western zone. Major activity at the site appears to have finished about 500 BC, many Hallstatt graves were robbed, probably at this time. There was widespread throughout the western Hallstatt zone, and the salt workings had by then become very deep. By then the focus of mining had shifted to the nearby Hallein Salt Mine, with graves at Dürrnberg nearby where there are significant finds from the late Hallstatt
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