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After theglaciers of theIce Age in theEarly Stone Age withdrew from the area, which since about 1000 AD is calledPomerania, in what are now northernPoland and north-easternGermany, they left atundra. First humans appeared, huntingreindeer in the summer.[1] A climate change in 8000 BC[2] allowed hunters and foragers of theErtebølle-Ellerbek culture to continuously inhabit the area.[3] These people became influenced by farmers of theLinear Pottery culture who settled in southern Pomerania.[3][4] The hunters of the Ertebølle-Ellerbek culture became farmers of theFunnelbeaker culture in 3000 BC.[3][5] TheHavelland culture dominated in theUckermark from 2500 to 2000 BC.[6] In 2400 BC, theCorded Ware culture reached Pomerania[6][7] and introduced the domestichorse.[7] Both Linear Pottery and Corded Ware culture have been associated withIndo-Europeans.[7] Except forWestern Pomerania,[6] the Funnelbeaker culture was replaced by theGlobular Amphora culture a thousand years later.[5]
During theBronze Age,Western Pomerania was part of theNordic Bronze Age cultures, while east of theOder river theLusatian culture dominated.[8] Throughout theIron Age, the people of the western Pomeranian areas belonged to theJastorf culture,[9][10] while the Lusatian culture of the East was succeeded by thePomeranian culture,[9] then in 150 BC by theOksywie culture, and at the beginning of the first millennium by theWielbark culture.[9]
While theJastorf culture is usually associated withGermanic peoples,[11] the ethnic category of the Lusatian culture and its successors is debated.[12]Veneti,Germanic peoples likeGoths,Rugians, andGepids, andSlavs are assumed to have been the bearers of these cultures or parts thereof.[12]
From the 3rd century onwards, many settlements were abandoned,[13] marking the beginning of themigration period in Pomerania. It is assumed thatBurgundians, Goths and Gepids with parts of the Rugians left Pomerania during that stage, while some Veneti,Vidivarii and other, Germanic groups remained,[14] and formed theGustow,Debczyn and late Wielbark cultures, which existed in Pomerania until the 6th century.[13]
The namePomerania comes fromSlavicpo more, which means "[land] by the sea".[15]
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 theOld Stone Age orPaleolithic some 13,000 years BC, when theScandinavianglacier receded northwards (Allerød oscillation).[16] At the site of the laterBaltic Sea was the cold, salineYoldia Sea (~11,500-9500 BC), which was succeeded by the fresh waterAncylus Lake (9500-8000 BC).
Hamburgianreindeer 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 inTanowo, these finds likely stem from a later era.[17]
The Federmesser and related Bromme techno-complexes are archaeologically traceable in Pomerania, but finds are sparse.[18] That may be due to Pomerania's location within the fall-out zone of theLaacher See eruption, which in 10970 BC covered the area with a tephra layer and is probably responsible for the emergence of the Bromme techno-complex from the Federmesser one by separating it from the southern groups.[19] A workedgiant deer antler and a sharpened horse rib from theEndingen IV Federmesser site were14C-dated to 11555 ±100 BP and 11830 ±50 BP, respectively, and together with a giant deer skull from Mecklenburg represent the oldest absolutely dated human traces in northeastern Germany.[20]
About 8000 BC, the climate started to change, and the former subarctic tundra was transformed into woodlands.[2]
About 7,500 years ago, theLitorina Sea, a predecessor of theBaltic Sea evolved, with its southern coastline being close to the current one.[21]
ThePaleolithicAhrensburg culture was succeeded by the early MesolithicMaglemosian culture (8000-6000 BC), whose members were not only hunters, but also foragers and fishermen.[16] According to their tools, they are grouped as first belonging to theKomornica (east) andDuvensee culture (west), later to theChojnice-Pienki culture (east).[22][23][24] They settled the dunes and usedflint stonemicroliths.[24][25]
Flintstone tools of hunters and foragers from theMesolithic Age were found at various sites.[26] Most of the artefacts date back to the late Mesolithic Age (since 5500 BC). They belong to theErtebølle-Ellerbek culture (Lietzow subgroup),[3][16][25][27] a culture that settled the coastline and already used ceramics.[25]
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 builddugout canoes, such as theStralsund dugouts, and with these they travelled down the rivers into the hinterlands. The starting point for these expeditions often wasRügen.[28]
The move from Middle to LateStone Age (Mesolithic toNeolithic Age) is marked by the change in the way of life from hunting and foraging to farming and livestock breeding. This was not a sudden change, but took place over a long period. The people of the Ertebølle culture were thereby inspired by the Middle GermanLinear Pottery culture, whose northernmost frontier was southern Pomerania (Uckermark and thePyrzyce area).[3][4][25]
From 3000 to 1900 BC Pomerania was settled by farmers and herders of theFunnelbeaker 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 inWestern Pomerania, e.g. around theBay of Greifswald. The Funnelbeaker culture people erected numerousMegalith tombs.[30]
From 2500 to 2000 BC, theUckermark was not influenced by the Funnelbeaker culture, but by theHavelland culture, representing the northernmost area of this culture that was centered around the middleElbe andHavel rivers. TheBay of Greifswald,Usedom andUecker-Randow areas were under a weak influence of this culture also.[6]
About 2400 BC, people of theCorded Ware culture reached Pomerania. They probably originated in theBlack Sea area and introduced the domestichorse. While the Corded Ware people have been associated with the firstIndo-Europeans,[25] recently the earlierLinear Pottery Culture is said to be Indo-European, too.[7]
While most of Pomerania was part of or influenced by theSingle Grave culture subgroup,[25] easternPomerelia belonged to theRzucewo (also Bay Coast or Haffküsten) culture subgroup stretching from Pomerelia toLithuania,[25][32][33] formerly associated with earlyBalts.[34]
The impact of the lateneolithicCorded Ware culture onWestern Pomerania was not as strong, but traceable. For example, both Funnelbeaker and Corded Ware culture artefacts were found in a Megalith tomb nearGroß Zastrow.[6]
TheGlobular Amphora culture replaced theFunnelbeaker 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 withamber trade.[25]
During the mid-Neolithic Age, small populations belonging to the Comb Ceramic orPit-comb ware culture were traced inPomerania.[25]
While theBronze Age began in Southern Germany before 1800 BC and had reached theElbe andSaale area by 1550 BC, the North was still dominated by the NeolithicFunnelbeaker culture andCorded Ware culture (Single Grave culture).[35][36] Only isolated artefacts belonging to the early Bronze Age have been found inWestern Pomerania.[35] The early Bronze Age cultures in Western Pomerania are classified asBuchholz 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 asWestpomeranian group (also Wusterwitz or Ostrowice group), and associated with theGrubengrab culture.[25] In this period, settlement became more stable.[38]
During the earlyBronze Age, the eastern and the southeastern parts ofPomerania were not as densely settled as the western parts. The local cultures were influenced byIwno culture, laterTrzciniec culture.[38] Based on linguistic analyses of toponymes,Marija Gimbutas and others proposed a culture ofPomeranian Balts from the mouth of the Oder, and the whole Vistula basin to Silesia in the South-West.[39]
During the late Bronze Age (1200 BC),Farther Pomerania andPomerelia were under the influence of theLusatian culture, the north-eastern subgroup of theUrnfield culture.[8][38] People of this culture burned their dead and buried the ashes inurns, which were typically placed inurnfields but also intumuli.[8][38] The Pomeranian variant of the Lusatian culture can further be divided into an eastern and theGöritz group.[38] Thesun is assumed to have played a prominent role in their religion, which also includedcannibalism.[8] Numerous archeological findings of imported Scandinavian products prove contacts toNordic Bronze Age peoples.[8][38][40]
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 andHallstatt cultures.[38] Metalworks technologies were imported from the South via theOder 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 theVistula river as well as from theNorth via theBaltic 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 theIron 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,[38] prominently including theVeneti, but alsoGermanic peoples in the Northwest andSlavic peoples in the East.[43]
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During the Iron Age,Western Pomerania belonged to the Jastorf culture[9] (550-50 BC).[10] As before during theBronze 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 settledGreifswald 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 designatedOder group.[45] The Oder group, formerly thought to have emerged after an immigration fromBornholm, is now thought to have evolved from a local population formerly belonging to thePomeranian culture and theGöritz group of theLusatian culture, who first adapted to new habits and later mingled with aGermanic population from the West.[46]
ThePomeranian culture evolved from the Lusatian culture east of the Parseta river and in Pomerelia.[9][38] It is characterized primarily by the use offaced urns, also ofhouse 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 theBastarnae, yet today the culture is considered to have evolved from the local Lusatian culture tribes.[46]
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 villageOksywie (today part of the city ofGdynia), where the first artifacts typical of this culture were discovered.
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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 theRoman Iron Age and are heavily influenced by the material culture of theOder andVistula area. Influences from theElbe area and Scandinavia are found in ceramics artefacts.[49]
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 inGustow onRügen, this western Pomeranian culture is referred to asGustow group.[13][51] The Gustrow group comprised the coastal territories between theDarß peninsula in the West, and theRega river in the East, while the adjacent LowerOder area in the South belonged to the relatedLebus group.[52] The Gustow group was closely related to the contemporaryElbe cultures.[53]
In the 3rd century, as in all ofPomerania,[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]
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 theIna river, most of Pomerelia and northernMazovia.[9]
The ethnic background of the Wielbark people is not certain. While in the past, German and Polish historians had associated them with theGoths 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 theRoman 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 theDębczyn culture that evolved in its midst.[13] Numerous imported goods found from this period in the Oder estuary, originating in theBlack Sea area, the Roman provinces, andScandinavia underline the contemporary importance of the Oder estuary.[13]
In the second half of the 3rd century, the Dębczyn culture (or group) succeeded the Wielbark culture between theParsęta andDrawa rivers, and a local, not yet classified culture between the lower Oder and Parsęta rivers. The adjacent areas to the east were uninhabited by this time. Whether the eastern Dębczyn culture replaced or evolved from the Wielbark culture is not yet known, in the western areas, settlement was continuous. The emergence of this group is characterized by an influence of the Vistula region (Wielbark culture), the expansion of the Gustow group, and many parallels to theElbe Germanic areas.[13][58][59] The dead were buried unburned. The culture existed until the first quarter of the 6th century, when burial of the dead in grave fields stopped.[13][59]
The Dębczyn group might comprise the archaeological remnants ofTacitus' Lemovii, probably identical withWidsith'sGlommas, who are believed to have been the neighbors of the Rugians, a tribe dwelling at the Pomeranian coast before the migration period. Germanicsagas report a battle on the isle ofHiddensee 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]
Since the mid-5th century, the dead were not buried ongrave fields anymore.[13] Also, hoards offibulae have been found from this period, especially of theSösdala andSjörup type.[13] From the second half of the 5th century and the beginning 6th century, treasures of lateRomansolidi,bracteates, and goldenjewelry are found.[13] From the same period these treasures were hidden, both hoards of and single solidi have been found, coined byValentinian III (425-455) andAnastasius I (491-518).[13][14] These were found in the Debczin group area, theVistula area, where they are associated with the Vidivarian stage of theWillenberg culture, and in theOder estituary, where they were found together with jewelry.[14] Some of these hoards might have served as a substitute for burial objects, others might have been buried for some mythological purpose.[14]
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 showScandinavian analogies.[14] Findings includefibulae of theBornholm type, needles with bird heads, and armour (shields, lances and swords) of western European and Scandinavian type.[14]
It is assumed thatBurgundians,Goths andGepids with parts of theRugians leftPomerania during the late Roman Age, and that during themigration period, remnants ofRugians,Vistula Veneti,Vidivarii and other,Germanic tribes remained and formed units that were laterSlavicized.[14] The Vidivarii themselves are described byJordanes in hisGetica as amelting pot of tribes who in the mid-6th century lived at the lower Vistula.[61][62] Though differing from the earlierWillenberg culture, some traditions were continued.[62] One hypothesis, based on the sudden appearance of large amounts of Roman solidi and migrations of other groups after the breakdown of theHun empire in 453, suggest a partial re-migration of earlier emigrants to their former northern homelands.[62]