DOI chapter:
Grenzgänger, traders and the last hunter-gatherers of the North European Plain
DOI chapter:Kabaciński, Jacek; Czekaj-Zastawny, Agnieszka: Long distance contacts in the area of the north European plain: The Late Mesolithic and Early Neolithic in Poland and its relations to neighbouring cultures
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.66745#0251
250
Long distance contacts in the area of the north European plain: The Late Mesolithic and Early Neolithic in Poland
Ca. 5500-4900 BC. Linear Pottery Culture
Ca. 5500-4000 BC. Mesolithic
250 km
Ca. 4600-4000 BC. Brzesc Kujawski Group of the Lengyel C.
Ca. 4200-3700 BC. Funnel Beaker Culture
Fig. 1 The cultural situation in Poland from the middle of the 6th to the middle of the 4th millennium calBC (drawing: J. Kabacihski).
The spread of the earliest Neolithic groups in
Poland - Linear Band Pottery culture (Linearband-
keramik: LBK) - was gradual, but, according to radio-
carbon dates, relatively fast, and between c. 5,500 and
5,300/ 5,200 calBC LBK settlements appeared within
the majority of the most fertile areas of Poland from
Lesser Poland and Silesia to the south, through cen-
tral Polish Kuyavia up to the northern fringes (Fig. 1;
Czekaj-Zastawny / Kabacinski 2016). Even if from
a large-scale perspective the dispersal of the earliest
Neolithic occupations had ‘island’ character, it was
certainly an important moment, as for the first time
ever intercultural relations between hunter-gatherers
and farmers were possible on Polish territory.
The Neolithic settlement in Poland, initially spa-
tially limited, expanded in the course of time, fed by
population growth and supplied by further waves of
immigrants from the south, of so-called late Danubian
cultures, during the 5th millennium calBC (Kadrow
2016). Finally, Funnel Beaker culture groups, consid-
ered as the first native farmers, settled most of the
Polish territory during the 4th and 3rd millennia calBC
(Nowak 2016). The continuously growing presence of
farmers in the originally hunter-gatherers’ world led
to different forms of contacts, which are interpreted
as results of exchange, but which in some cases had
also wider socio-cultural implications.
The evidence of contacts
Observing the general dispersion of the Mesolithic
and early Neolithic settlements (Fig. 1) and taking
into account at least 1,500 years of spatial coexistence
in a more distant or closer vicinity, the scale of con-
tacts should have been substantial. However, it is not
Long distance contacts in the area of the north European plain: The Late Mesolithic and Early Neolithic in Poland
Ca. 5500-4900 BC. Linear Pottery Culture
Ca. 5500-4000 BC. Mesolithic
250 km
Ca. 4600-4000 BC. Brzesc Kujawski Group of the Lengyel C.
Ca. 4200-3700 BC. Funnel Beaker Culture
Fig. 1 The cultural situation in Poland from the middle of the 6th to the middle of the 4th millennium calBC (drawing: J. Kabacihski).
The spread of the earliest Neolithic groups in
Poland - Linear Band Pottery culture (Linearband-
keramik: LBK) - was gradual, but, according to radio-
carbon dates, relatively fast, and between c. 5,500 and
5,300/ 5,200 calBC LBK settlements appeared within
the majority of the most fertile areas of Poland from
Lesser Poland and Silesia to the south, through cen-
tral Polish Kuyavia up to the northern fringes (Fig. 1;
Czekaj-Zastawny / Kabacinski 2016). Even if from
a large-scale perspective the dispersal of the earliest
Neolithic occupations had ‘island’ character, it was
certainly an important moment, as for the first time
ever intercultural relations between hunter-gatherers
and farmers were possible on Polish territory.
The Neolithic settlement in Poland, initially spa-
tially limited, expanded in the course of time, fed by
population growth and supplied by further waves of
immigrants from the south, of so-called late Danubian
cultures, during the 5th millennium calBC (Kadrow
2016). Finally, Funnel Beaker culture groups, consid-
ered as the first native farmers, settled most of the
Polish territory during the 4th and 3rd millennia calBC
(Nowak 2016). The continuously growing presence of
farmers in the originally hunter-gatherers’ world led
to different forms of contacts, which are interpreted
as results of exchange, but which in some cases had
also wider socio-cultural implications.
The evidence of contacts
Observing the general dispersion of the Mesolithic
and early Neolithic settlements (Fig. 1) and taking
into account at least 1,500 years of spatial coexistence
in a more distant or closer vicinity, the scale of con-
tacts should have been substantial. However, it is not