Archaeological cultures
“Lusatian culture”
A culture of the middle Bronze Age, around 1300-1100 BC. It took shape in Lusatia, Silesia and Greater Poland. The Lusatian culture flourished in 700-550 BC and declined around 400 BC. Main features: cremation burial and pottery of a high technical and artistic standard. Occupations of the population: mainly crop growing (wheat, barley, rye, flax), animal husbandry: cattle, horses, sheep, pigs and dogs. Crafts: metallurgy, smithing - copper, bronze, the first iron products. The ethnic identity of the people of the Lusatian culture is disputed.
“Corded Ware culture - Neolithic”
Period: the end of the Stone Age and the transition to the early Bronze Age. The name comes from the decoration of the pottery, impressed into wet clay with a cord. The dating of this culture depends on the region. In the Near East it falls in 7000-3000 BC, in our area around 4500-1700 BC. Occupations of the population: the introduction of ploughing with ox teams, the keeping of sheep, cattle and goats. Long-distance trade (river and sea routes), traces of cannibalism, inhumation graves.
“Hallstatt culture”
It falls in the period 700-400 BC. A culture of the Iron Age. The name comes from the cemetery at Hallstatt (Upper Austria), where in 1846-1863 Johann Georg Ramsauer discovered 980 richly furnished graves, most of them from the Iron Age. The find provided the basis for defining the Hallstatt culture. Characteristic features: bronze ornaments, pendants on thin chains, pottery ornaments, mainly geometric and coloured.
“Przeworsk culture”
A culture of the late La Tène period (1st c. BC) and of the following period, the 1st-5th c. AD (late Roman period). Its creators were probably Germanic peoples and partly Celts. Characteristic features of this period: cremation graves with urns, pit and row graves, richly furnished with pottery, weapons and tools. Crop growing, cattle keeping. Highly developed crafts: smithing, pottery, stonemasonry.
“La Tène culture”
A culture of the Iron Age, falling in the period from about 400 BC to the start of the Common Era. It is found mainly in areas settled by the Celts.
Characteristic features: crop growing, animal husbandry, metallurgy, smithing (the first spurs, shears, double-edged swords, shields), wheel-thrown pottery, rotary querns, the appearance of a money economy and of the first towns and fortified settlements. In the 1st c. AD the influence of the La Tène culture spread among the Germanic tribes. The La Tène culture also influenced the lands of Silesia.
