Early history of Pomerania
History of Pomerania |
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After the
During the Bronze Age, Western Pomerania was part of the Nordic Bronze Age cultures, while east of the Oder river the Lusatian culture dominated.[8] Throughout the Iron Age, the people of the western Pomeranian areas belonged to the Jastorf culture,[9][10] while the Lusatian culture of the East was succeeded by the Pomeranian culture,[9] then in 150 BC by the Oksywie culture, and at the beginning of the first millennium by the Wielbark culture.[9]
While the
From the 3rd century onwards, many settlements were abandoned,
The name Pomerania comes from Slavic po more, which means "[land] by the sea".[15]
Ice Age and Paleolithic (Early Stone) Age (before 8000 BC)
20,000 years ago the territory of present-day Pomerania was covered with ice, which did not start to recede until the late period of the
Hamburgian
Hamburgian reindeer hunters were the first humans to occupy the plains freed from the retreating glaciers in north-central Europe. However, whether they also roamed Pomerania is uncertain: though there are finds in neighboring regions of Denmark, Mecklenburg and Poland, there are no finds from Pomerania which can be associated to the Hamburgian techno-complex without doubt. Though finds resembling Hamburgian typology were made in Tanowo, these finds likely stem from a later era.[17]
Federmesser, Bromme
The Federmesser and related Bromme techno-complexes are archaeologically traceable in Pomerania, but finds are sparse.
Ahrensburgian
Mesolithic (Middle Stone) Age (8000 - 3000 BC)
About 8000 BC, the climate started to change, and the former subarctic tundra was transformed into woodlands.[2]
About 7,500 years ago, the
Maglemosian culture
The paleolithic
Ertebølle-Ellerbek-Lietzow culture
While primarily hunters, it is assumed that the mesolithic people were also foraging, fishing, and even farming on a most primitive scale. They also knew how to build
Neolithic (Late Stone) Age (3000 -1900 BC)
Linear Pottery culture
The move from Middle to Late
Funnelbeaker culture
From 3000 to 1900 BC Pomerania was settled by farmers and herders of the Funnelbeaker culture (also TRB, Trichterbecher culture),[3][5] that had evolved from the previous Mesolithic cultures and Linear Pottery culture influence. During this period, Western Pomerania was more densely settled than before, primarily on smooth hills near the water. Artefacts and settlements from this periods have been found at various sites in Western Pomerania, e.g. around the Bay of Greifswald. The Funnelbeaker culture people erected numerous Megalith tombs.[30]
Havelland culture
From 2500 to 2000 BC, the Uckermark was not influenced by the Funnelbeaker culture, but by the Havelland culture, representing the northernmost area of this culture that was centered around the middle Elbe and Havel rivers. The Bay of Greifswald, Usedom and Uecker-Randow areas were under a weak influence of this culture also.[6]
Corded Ware culture
About 2400 BC, people of the
While most of Pomerania was part of or influenced by the Single Grave culture subgroup,[25] eastern Pomerelia belonged to the Rzucewo (also Bay Coast or Haffküsten) culture subgroup stretching from Pomerelia to Lithuania,[25][32][33] formerly associated with early Balts.[34]
The impact of the late
Globular Amphora culture
The Globular Amphora culture replaced the Funnelbeaker culture in most of Pomerania a thousand years later,[5][25] but no artefacts have been found in Western Pomerania.[6] This culture is associated with amber trade.[25]
Comb Ceramic culture
During the mid-Neolithic Age, small populations belonging to the Comb Ceramic or
Bronze Age (1900 - 550 BC)
Nordic Bronze Age (Western Pomerania)
While the Bronze Age began in Southern Germany before 1800 BC and had reached the Elbe and Saale area by 1550 BC, the North was still dominated by the neolithic Funnelbeaker culture and Corded Ware culture (Single Grave culture).[35][36] Only isolated artefacts belonging to the early Bronze Age have been found in Western Pomerania.[35] The early Bronze Age cultures in Western Pomerania are classified as Buchholz group (Plonia group).[25]
From the Late Bronze Age, various settlements and artefacts were found in Western Pomerania.[37] These later Bronze Age culters (periods II and III) are classified as Westpomeranian group (also Wusterwitz or Ostrowice group), and associated with the Grubengrab culture.[25] In this period, settlement became more stable.[38]
Early Bronze Age in Eastern Pomerania
During the early
Lusatian Culture (Eastern Pomerania)
During the late Bronze Age (1200 BC),
These contacts and the Scandinavian influence on Pomerania was so considerable that this region is sometimes included in the Nordic Bronze Age culture.[41] The local Lusatian cultures were also influenced by the west-alpine and Hallstatt cultures.[38] Metalworks technologies were imported from the South via the Oder river.[38] The eastern or Kashubian group of the Pomeranian Lusatian culture, characterized by burial rites were burned ashes were placed in burial mounds with stone constructions, imported their metalworks technologies from the South via the Vistula river as well as from the North via the Baltic Sea.[38]
The people of the Lusatian Culture lived either in unfortified villages or in fortified strongholds. The number of such strongholds rapidly increased at about 700 BC for unknown reasons. Towards and during the Iron Age, an increasing wealth is recorded.[38][42]
There was a dispute between German and Polish historians concerning the ethnicity of the Lusatian Culture people. This dispute had reached its climax in the interbellum and also after World War II. Recent studies conclude a multi-ethnic character,
Pre-Roman Iron Age
Jastorf culture (Western Pomerania, 550 - 50 BC)
During the Iron Age, Western Pomerania belonged to the Jastorf culture[9] (550-50 BC).[10] As before during the Bronze Age, the dead were burned and the ashes buried in urns. Settlements and urn grave fields with artefacts were found e.g. in the then densely settled Greifswald area.[44]
The Jastorf culture is associated with early Germanic peoples. Western Pomerania belonged to the Warnow-Oder estituary subgroup of the Jastorf culture,[11] the easternmost group is designated Oder group.[45] The Oder group, formerly thought to have emerged after an immigration from Bornholm, is now thought to have evolved from a local population formerly belonging to the Pomeranian culture and the Göritz group of the Lusatian culture, who first adapted to new habits and later mingled with a Germanic population from the West.[46]
Pomeranian culture (Eastern Pomerania, 650 - 150 BC)
The Pomeranian culture evolved from the Lusatian culture east of the Parseta river and in Pomerelia.[9][38] It is characterized primarily by the use of faced urns, also of house urns, placed in stone cists.[38]
This culture is considered to mark the (proto-)Germanic-Baltic frontier. A linguistic classification, whether Baltic, Germanic, or interlink, is not possible.[47] Earlier, the Pomeranian culture was associated with the Bastarnae, yet today the culture is considered to have evolved from the local Lusatian culture tribes.[46]
Oksywie (Oxhöft) culture (Eastern Pomerania, 150 BC - 1 AD)
The Oksywie culture existed in the area of Farther Pomerania and Pomerelia around the lower Vistula river, from the 2nd century BC to the early 1st century AD. The culture is named after the village Oksywie (formerly Oxhöft, today part of the city of Gdynia), where the first artifacts typical of this culture were discovered.
Roman Iron Age and Migration period
Gustow group, Western Pomerania
Since the second half of the 1st century AD, settlement in Western Pomerania became more dense. The highest density was reached in the 2nd century. Artefacts, settlements and tombs from this period belong to the coastal group of the
Slag from the smelting of iron was found in many settlements, also imported goods, primarily from the Roman provinces, as well as silver and gold.[50] After an archaeological site in Gustow on Rügen, this western Pomeranian culture is referred to as Gustow group.[13][51] The Gustrow group comprised the coastal territories between the Darß peninsula in the West, and the Rega river in the East, while the adjacent Lower Oder area in the South belonged to the related Lebus group.[52] The Gustow group was closely related to the contemporary Elbe cultures.[53]
In the 3rd century, as in all of Pomerania,[13] many settlements were abandoned, and fewer settlement traces are found in the following period.[54] Though rather scarce, Gustow group settlements were located on better soil due to the increasing importance of plant cultivation.[55]
Wielbark (Willenberg) Culture (Eastern Pomerania, 1 - 450 AD)
The Willenberg or Wielbark culture appeared during the first half of the 1st century AD and replaced the Oksywie culture. This culture dominated the area of Farther Pomerania northeast of the
The ethnic background of the Wielbark people is not certain. While in the past, German and Polish historians had associated them with the Goths or Slavs, respectively, recent hypotheses suggest they were a heterogeneous people, though scholarship is divided on whom to include therein; suggestions include the Veleti, Germanic peoples (Goths, Rugians, and Gepids) and possibly Slavs.[56]
From this period, many influences are recorded from the Roman Empire. Coins were in use abundantly. Imported Roman goods and their native imitations, though poorer in quality, were common. Roman luxury goods were also found, but those were most probably reserved for the elite.[56] Besides the import of Roman goods, the society also to a lesser degree copied the social differentiation of the Romans. Many princely graves are known from this period.[57]
Between 170 and 260 AD, settlement in Pomerania became less dense.[13] The Wielbark culture continued to exist in the Oder and Vistula estuaries, in parallel to and under mutual influence of the Dębczyn (Denzin) culture that evolved in its midst.[13] Numerous imported goods found from this period in the Oder estuary, originating in the Black Sea area, the Roman provinces, and Scandinavia underline the contemporary importance of the Oder estuary.[13]
Dębczyn (Denzin) culture (250-525 AD)
In the second half of the 3rd century, the Dębczyn (Denzin) culture (or group) succeeded the Wielbark culture between the
The Dębczyn group might comprise the archaeological remnants of Tacitus' Lemovii, probably identical with Widsith's Glommas, who are believed to have been the neighbors of the Rugians, a tribe dwelling at the Pomeranian coast before the migration period. Germanic sagas report a battle on the isle of Hiddensee between King Hetel (Hethin, Heodin of the Glommas) and Rugian king Hagen, following the abduction of Hagen's daughter Hilde by Hetel. Yet, there are also other hypotheses about the location of the Lemovii, and that their identification as Glommas, though probable, is not certain.[60]
5th and 6th centuries
Since the mid-5th century, the dead were not buried on
In the late 5th and early 6th centuries, large grave fields were set up in the coastal areas, which differ from the Debzcyn group type and show Scandinavian analogies.[14] Findings include fibulae of the Bornholm type, needles with bird heads, and armour (shields, lances and swords) of western European and Scandinavian type.[14]
It is assumed that
References
- ISBN 83-906184-8-6
- ^ ISBN 83-906184-8-6
- ^ ISBN 3-931185-56-7
- ^ ISBN 83-906184-8-6
- ^ ISBN 83-906184-8-6
- ^ ISBN 3-931185-56-7
- ^ ISBN 83-906184-8-6
- ^ ISBN 83-906184-8-6
- ^ ISBN 83-906184-8-6
- ^ ISBN 3-931185-56-7
- ^ ISBN 3-931185-56-7: Leitformen: Pommersche Fibel, Nadeln mit Rauten- oder Kreuzkopf, Flügelnadeln vom klassischen Typ, dreiteilige Gürtelhaken, langrandige Gefäße
- ^ ISBN 83-906184-8-6
- ^ ISBN 3-11-017535-5
- ^ ISBN 3-11-017535-5
- ^ Der Name Pommern (po more) ist slawischer Herkunft und bedeutet so viel wie „Land am Meer“. Archived 2020-08-19 at the Wayback Machine (Pommersches Landesmuseum, German)
- ^ ISBN 3-11-017733-1
- ^ Bobrowski, Przemyslaw; Sobkowiak-Tabaka, Iwona (2006), Ostrauskas T. (ed.), "How far east did Hamburgian culture reach?", Archaeologia Baltica, 7: 13–16 "Is it a gap of information or a gap of occupation?" ask Terberger, Thomas; De Klerk, Pim; Helbig, Henrik; Kaiser, Knut; Kühn, Peter (2004), "Late Weichselian landscape development and human settlement in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (NE Germany)", Eiszeitalter und Gegenwart, 54 (1): 157
- ^ Terberger, Thomas; De Klerk, Pim; Helbig, Henrik; Kaiser, Knut; Kühn, Peter (2004), "Late Weichselian landscape development and human settlement in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (NE Germany)", Eiszeitalter und Gegenwart, 54 (1): 159
- ^ Kaiser, Knut (2003), "Geoarchäologie und landschaftsgeschichtliche Aussage spätpaläolithischer und frühmesolithischer Fundplätze in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern", Meyniana, 55: 53–54
- ISBN 3-931185-56-7
- ISBN 3-11-017535-5 [1]
- ISBN 1-85075-648-1 [2]
- ^ ISBN 0-521-26868-0 [3]; includes a consideration whether Maglemosian and Duvensee are distinct cultures or not
- ^ ISBN 3-11-017535-5
- ISBN 0-521-44920-0
- ISBN 83-906184-8-6
- ^ Ewald Schuldt, Die Großsteingräber von Lancken Granitz auf der Insel Rügen, pp.9-83
- ISBN 3-931185-56-7:settlements e.g. in Gristow, Ludwigsburg, Neuendorf; tombs all over Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, e.g. in Ludwigsburg
- ^ EIEC
- ISBN 3-11-017163-5
- ISBN 0-306-46793-3
- ISBN 3-11-017163-5: "[...] die ihrerseits ehemals als frühester Nachweis der balt. Bevölkerung gedeuted wurde."
- ^ ISBN 3-931185-56-7: e.g. sword fragments in Neuendorf and Hinrichshagen, lance fragments in Diedrichshagen, daggers and arrowheads of the Aujenitz culture style in Ladebow, Oldenhagen, Wampen, Friedrichshagen, Greifswald, and Eldena; early Bronze Age tombs suspected in Güst, Weitenhagen, and Ludwigsburg, Late Bronze Age settlement in Greifswald-Helmshäger Berg had also ceramics of the early Bronze Age
- ISBN 83-906184-8-6
- ISBN 3-931185-56-7: e.g. "Bronzetüllebeil" artefacts in Diedrichshagen and Greifswald, "Wendelring" artefacts in Wampen, urn graves in Wampen and Kemnitz, settlements in Greifswald, Hinrichshagen, and Friedrichshagen
- ^ ISBN 3-11-017535-5
- ^ The Balts by Marija Gimbutas. p. 61 Archived 2011-07-19 at the Wayback Machine
- ISBN 3-515-06930-5
- ^ Dabrowski, J., Nordischer Kreis und Kulturen polnischer Gebiete. Die Bronzezeit im Ostseegebiet. Ein Rapport der Kgl. Schwedischen Akademie der Literatur-Geschichte und Altertumsforschung über das Julita-Symposium 1986. Ed Ambrosiani, B. Kungl. Vitterhets Historie och Antikvitets Akademien. Konferenser 22, Stockholm 1989, p.73
- ISBN 83-906184-8-6
- ISBN 83-906184-8-6
- ISBN 3-931185-56-7: urn grave fields with artifacts e.g. in Weitenhagen, Potthagen, Helmshagen, Wampen, Neuenkirchen, Diedrichshagen, and the Ryck valley, single urn grave in Greifswald (eastside of the market place), and Neuendorf (Kessiner Berg); settlements in Helmshagen and Potthagen, Late Iron Age settlements in Friedrichshagen, Ludwigsburg, and Oldenhagen
- ISBN 3-11-017535-5
- ^ ISBN 3-11-017535-5
- ISBN 3-11-016383-7 [4]
- ^ (after the Penguin Atlas of World History 1988)
- ISBN 3-931185-56-7:Settlements were excavated for example in Greifswald-Ostseeviertel, Koitenhagen (two), Wackerow, Friedrichshagen, Ludwigsburg (several), Kemnitz, Wampen, Helmshagen
- ISBN 3-931185-56-7
- ^ Karl-Heinz Otto, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin Institut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte, Ost Universität (Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin Institut für Völkerkunde und deutsche Volkskunde, Ethnographisch-archäologische Zeitschrift (EAZ), v.43:no.1-4, Verlag der Wissenschaften, 2002, p.384
- ^ Slovenská akadémia vied., 1990, pp.347-351
- ISBN 838546364X
- Schlagtow and Voigtsdorf
- ^ Polish Academy of Sciences, Acta Palaeobotanica. Supplementum, W. Szafer institute of botany, Polish academy of sciences., 1992, p.132
- ^ ISBN 83-906184-8-6
- ISBN 83-906184-8-6
- ^ Karl-Heinz Otto, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin Institut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte, Ost Universität (Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin Institut für Völkerkunde und deutsche Volkskunde, Ethnographisch-archäologische Zeitschrift (EAZ), v.43:no.1-4, Verlag der Wissenschaften, 2002, p.390
- ^ ISBN 3-11-009635-8 [5]
- ISBN 3-11-016950-9 [6]
- ISBN 0-521-84601-3
- ^ ISBN 90-04-11734-2