Making the Cultural Landscape: and Bronze Age Communities on Polish Lowland and their Environment

Janusz Czebreszuk & Marzena Szmyt, Poznań

Intoduction

When we explore the meaning of the title, change or transform its elements, but also we face the question what relationships be- create some new components of the envi- tween human communities and their envi- ronment. Using and changing the primeval ronment to define. Most often scholars natural environment, people create as speak of human impact as a factor that a new quality marked by a landscape that is changes the primeval natural environment. no longer natural but rather cultural in- But we would like to use a more complex stead, in which we have grown up, too. definition of human impact that consists of While discussing such questions, our at least four aspects: perception, use, trans- reference area will be the Polish Lowland formation (change)and creation. People that is a part of the Central European Plain. first perceive the natural environment and For our study we have chosen a western identify its resources. Then they use the part of the Lowland: an area between the environment and natural resources and Vistula, Odra and Noteć rivers and the line

Fig. 1A. Most important regions of Poland with Greater Poland (Wielkopolska) and Kujawy

Anthropogenic Pressure in the Neolithic and the Bronze Age on the Central European Lowlands Eds.: I. Hildebrandt-Radke/W. Dörfler/J. Czebreszuk/J. Müller. Bogucki Wydawnictwo Naukowe, Poznań 2011. 31 Fig. 1B. Western part of the Polish Lowland: soils (foll. Prusinkiewicz, Bednarek 1999). Thick horizontal lines mark areas with black soils

of the upper Warta river (Fig. 1). The most intensive archaeological research was done in the eastern part of this area, namely in the Kujawy region (Fig. 1). The stage of history we refer to covers the Neolithic and Bronze Age, i.e. the pe- riod of 5400 BC to 800 BC (Fig. 2). The be- ginning of the period is marked by the ap- pearance of first agriculturalists on the Polish Lowland while its end date coin- cides with the rise of a system of fortified settlements (grody), belonging to the Lusatian culture.

Fig. 2. General chronological framework LPC – Linear culture; LDG – Late Danubian Groups; FBC – Funnel Beaker culture; GAC – ; CWC – ; BB – Bell Beakers; IC – Iwno culture; TH – Trzciniec Horizon; LC – Lusatian culture

Polish Lowland: natural and cultural background

Within the Polish Lowland one can find glossary: cambic arenosols, cambic podzols, very diversified landscapes and soils luvisols etc.), and plains with very fertile (PRUSINKIEWICZ /BEDNAREK 1999): lake- black soils (mollic gleysols, gleyic phaeozems). lands, large valleys with peaty floor, sandy The latter form here a kind of ‘fertile is- and clayey areas (in the FAO-UNESCO lands’ (Fig. 1): they are large (ca. 845 sq.

32 J. Czebreszuk & M. Szmyt km in the Kujawy region), smaller have the largest database of sources and, (100–300 sq. km in the Września or hence, we shall often refer to it (see Kościan district)or really small (e.g. ca. 80 COFTA-BRONIEWSKA /KOŚKO 2002, here sq. km in the Szamotuły district). older literature). The in the Low- Generally, a sequence of archaeological land began on the ‘fertile islands’ and then units in the Neolithic and the Bronze Age for hundreds of years these areas were in- (Fig. 2)began at the onset of the Neolithic, tensively used for human settlement. Con- about 5400 BC in the Kujawy region (ca. tinuously settled from the beginning of the 5200 BC in other parts of the Lowland; Neolithic until the end of antiquity, they CZERNIAK 2008), with the Danubian cul- saw above all a cumulation of effects of tural circle: first, the long-term cultural and settlement transfor- and then, ca. 4800 BC, Late Danubian mations. This in turn had a favourable ef- groups, and ca. 4400 BC the first fect on the activities of societies inhabiting autochthonous Neolithic culture on the the ‘fertile islands’, making them cradles of Lowland – the Funnel Beaker culture Lowland cultural centres. Being part of a (CZERNIAK 2008). In the network of cultural contacts extending be- (CZEBRESZUK et al. 2000, Fig. 1), we are yond the Lowland, the areas in question dealing with the Funnel Beaker culture saw periodical influxes of new cultural pat- (the late phase)as well as with the Globu - terns (ideas and )and, under lar Amphora culture (from ca. 3800–3600 certain circumstances, new populations as BC)and the Corded Ware culture (from well. It was from the Lowland centres that 2900 BC). It ought to be stressed that still innovations (economic, social, religious, in the first half of the 3rd millennium BC, etc.)spread onto all of the Lowland. In this in some peripheral parts of the Lowland way, natural conditions combined with so- there lived epi- (also called pa- cial and cultural factors to divide anew the ra-Neolithic)hunters-gatherers (e.g. K OBU- Lowland with respect to settlement and SIEWICZ,KABACIŃSKI 1993). Around 2300 culture. In the new space division, different BC, the Early Bronze Age began (CZEBRE- from the Mesolithic one, the dominant po- SZUK et al. 2000, Fig. 1)and then from 1300 sition was held by central regions formed BC onwards the Lusatian culture domi- on the ‘fertile islands’. nated here in the Late Bronze Age and at The largest and most important of the the beginning of the Early Iron Age (IGNA- Lowland centres was Kujawy for which we CZAK 2002).

Perception of the Lowland natural environment in the Neolithic and the Bronze Age

The first agriculturalists on the Lowland lakelands in the west and the south, and belonged to a large cultural complex na- large valleys in the north and east. The very med Danubian, i.e. the Linear Pottery cul- flat Kujawy Plain is covered with black ture (Bandkeramik)and then the post-Lin - soils. Both lakelands and valleys have a var- ear Late Danubian groups (the Late Band ied relief and are mainly covered with Pottery culture). Settlers connected to the sandy or clayey soils (cambic arenosols, Linear Pottery culture spread to new terri- cambic podzols, luvisols, etc.). The Danubian tories in central and western , in- newcomers exclusively settled the central cluding the Lowland on the Vistula and part of the region (the Kujawy Plain), cov- Odra rivers. On the Lowland they were ered with black soils (Fig. 3B). What is re- newcomers from southern Poland. They markable, hunters-gatherers perceived the settled almost exclusively areas of the most same part of Kujawy as not useful. One can fertile soils that had been perceived as ex- find here only a few hunter-gatherer sites, tremely good for early agriculture and its dated to the Mesolithic as well as defined technological conditions. as post-Mesolithic, i.e. contemporaneous A good example is the Kujawy region with the Danubians (Fig. 3A). But the set- that consisted of several different parts: the tlers of the Linear Pottery culture formed Kujawy Plain, which is in the centre, here a large and quite long-lasting settle-

Making the Cultural Landscape: Neolithic and Bronze Age Communities on Polish Lowland and their Environment 33 Fig. 3A. Comparison of site location in Kujawy – Mesolithic 1 – black soils; 2 – sandy soils

agricultural settlement and fertile soils, so strongly marked in the early Neolithic, is severed. The process starts in the Middle Neolithic with the rise of the Funnel Beaker culture, the populations of which took advantage of economic strategies ad- justed to less fertile clayey and sandy soils. As a result, in the Middle Neolithic, settle- ment and economic dualism emerges in Kujawy. For at that time there were two contem- poraneous societies in the region which differed in the perception of the environ- ment and had different selection criteria of land for use. The Late Danubian settlement was exclusively linked to black soil areas (CZERNIAK 1980, GRYGIEL 2008)while con - temporaneous early Funnel Beaker (phase I)sites were located only on sandy areas and had the “tendency to use the environ- ment to a maximum” (RZEPECKI 2004)by applying the slash-and-burn economy. Fig. 3B. Comparison of site ment structure (CZERNIAK 1994, GRYGIEL Also, the types of settlements varied in location in Kujawy – Linear Pottery culture 2004). Its main elements were settlements both cases (see part 5). Later on, the people (diagonal lines mark areas consisting of long houses (see part 5). of the Funnel Beaker culture created new with black soils) From the Early Neolithic, during the Mid- patterns of economic life, more flexible in (foll. COFTA-BRONIEWSKA/KOŚKO 2002) dle Neolithic and the Late Neolithic as well selecting areas for settlement. as in the Bronze Age and even later, the From ca. 3500 BC on, one of the most Kujawy Plain was the most intensively distinctive characteristics of the Polish used by people. Lowland is the wide variety of cultural However, as human societies developed groups that formed a kind of “cultural culturally (technologically, socially, etc.), patchwork” (CZEBRESZUK /SZMYT 1998, the almost exclusive connection between 2001). These societies often coexisted

34 J. Czebreszuk & M. Szmyt Fig. 4. Radziejów site 4, Kujawy. Animal grave of the Globular Amphora culture (foll. CZERNIAK/GRYGIEL/ TETZLAFF 1977) within a relatively small area and differed mainly , in special graves (Fig. 4). not only in their material culture but also Moreover, the first populations appeared in the social, economic and ritual activities. whose way of life was more mobile, mainly There still existed societies for whom crop the Corded Ware culture (CZEBRESZUK cultivation was fundamental to the way of 1996, 2000, 2000a). life (mainly late groups of the Funnel Hence, Late Neolithic societies followed Beaker culture). However, other contem- diverse economic strategies (from the dom- porary communities also emerged who re- ination of crop cultivation to that of animal lied on a different strategy for procuring rearing), making environmental limita- food. The majority of groups inhabiting the tions, so conspicuous earlier, disappear. Lowland began to place greater emphasis An example in point here is so called at this time on the rearing of domesticated Prokopiak’s Mount in Opatowice, in Kuja- animals as the basis of their livelihoods, wy (Fig. 5). This is a sandy morainic hill lo- e.g. populations of the Globular Amphora cated just in the center of a flat plain cov- culture (SZMYT 1996)which in special cir - ered with black soils. The Mount was cumstances deposited their animals, intensively used and settled only at the end

Making the Cultural Landscape: Neolithic and Bronze Age Communities on Polish Lowland and their Environment 35 Fig. 5. Prokopiak’s Mount in Opatowice, Kujawy. Location of archaeological sites (foll. KOŚKO/SZMYT 2006) 1 – contour line; 2 – destroyed area; 3 – ways; 4 – buildings; 5 – forests; 6 – archaeological sites

of the Middle Neolithic and especially in cipitation on the Lowland, it did not deter- the Late Neolithic – the Early Bronze Age mine the choice of locations for settlement (KOŚKO/SZMYT 2006, 2007a, 2007b). so strongly as it did in other regions. It is worth noting that throughout the To end this part of the discussion, it is stage in discussed here, the crite- worth mentioning a special phenomenon ria for selecting areas for settlement relied of continuous use of certain places on the above all on identifying suitable soils and Lowland for ritual purposes. Some sites terrain. In the latter aspect, a clear tendency have been explored (e.g. KOŚKO 1989, was to choose relatively elevated locations 1991, KOŚKO /SZMYT 2007a, SZMYT 2008) (e.g. CZERNIAK 1994, SZMYT 1996). A con- where relics of ritual practices (chiefly fu- nection to a hydrological network was al- nerary)have been unearthed. They were ways important, but owing to abundant pre- performed by various societies living in the

Fig. 6A. Opatowice site 1, Kujawy. Places of ritual practices of the Funnel Beaker culture (foll. CZEBRESZUK/KOŚKO/SZMYT 2007)

36 J. Czebreszuk & M. Szmyt Fig. 6B. Opatowice site 1, Kujawy. The Globular Amphora culture (foll. CZEBRESZUK/KOŚKO/SZMYT 2007)

Fig. 6C. Opatowice site 1, Kujawy. Proto-Bronze Age (foll. CZEBRESZUK/KOŚKO/SZMYT 2007)

Neolithic and Early Bronze Age and popu- (or sometimes even millennia)by other lations of later stages of history (Fig. 6). Fre- graves or places of ritual practices located in quently, such a use of space was begun by its immediate vicinity. The phenomenon the construction of a monumental funerary shows that distant traditions of hallowing (e.g. a tomb of Funnel Beaker cul- space were recognized and respected. ture population), followed in later centuries

Lowland’s natural resources and their use

The Lowlands’s resources consisted of lithic onwards, local poor quality raw soils, rocks, clay, water, plants, wood, ani- materials were already accepted for most mals, etc. Since the use of soils has already purposes (Fig. 7B). been discussed, we shall focus now on Also the majority of stone raw material other resources. was local (erratic). We know of traces of ex- First of all, local flint raw material (so ploitation of secondary erratic deposits called Baltic cretaceous flint; e.g. BALCER from moraine pavement close to the earth 1983)was of quite bad quality, too bad for surface (CHACHLIKOWSKI 1997). An exam- making refined . This was the reason ple of a complex of small pit stone mines why Early/Middle Neolithic communities comes from Goszczewo (Kujawy region), got the majority of flint they used from the dated to the Late Neolithic (Fig. 8). In the south and it was good quality flint (Fig. production of multi-purpose tools such as 7A). However later, from the Late Neo- querns, grinders, polishing plates, polish-

Making the Cultural Landscape: Neolithic and Bronze Age Communities on Polish Lowland and their Environment 37 Fig. 7A. Kujawy. Two ers etc., raw material from the local sources The societies made a wide use of local examples of flint using. Middle Neolithic societies (that is post-glacial erratic blocks)was deposits of Quaternary clay and silt. The (the early Funnel Beaker used (CHACHLIKOWSKI 1997). The raw ma- former in particular were easily accessible culture) – mainly flint from terial structure of the tools fully agrees as they lay shallow under the ground sur- south Poland (foll. BALCER 1983) with that of the erratic boulders (Fig. 9). face in many places on the Lowland. They (foll. DOMAŃSKA/KABACIŃSKI Only a small part of the refined tools or were certainly used for building (as pisé) 2000) weapons (such as )was made from the and for making pottery. Currently, traces of very good quality rocks of southern origin. exploitation of silt deposits, of good usabil-

38 J. Czebreszuk & M. Szmyt ity, especially plasticity, are dated to the The use of local animal resources is dif- Fig. 7B. Kujawy. Two examples of flint using. Late Neolithic (DASZKIEWICZ/PRINKE 1999). ferent. From the Early Neolithic till the end Late Neolithic societies As regards the use of timber for build- of the Bronze Age and even later local wild (the Globular Amphora ing and heating, most data bear out the animals formed only a small (or even very culture) – mainly local flint (foll. DOMAŃSKA/KABACIŃSKI claim that basic tree species were used. On small)part of consumed animals. Only 2000) the Lowland these were pine and oak. epi-Mesolithic hunters-gatherers subsisted From the Neolithic and the Bronze Age we mainly on wild animals. This is clearly seen have a lot of information on the processing in the comparison of animal bone remains of pine and birch wood into tar and pitch found at different settlements dated to the (PIETRZAK 2010). discussed stage in prehistory (Fig. 10).

Making the Cultural Landscape: Neolithic and Bronze Age Communities on Polish Lowland and their Environment 39 Fig. 8. Goszczewo site 13, Kujawy. Traces of exploitation of secondary erratic deposits from moraine pavement (foll. CHACHLIKOWSKI 1997)

Fig. 9. Goszczewo site 13, Kujawy. The raw material structure of the tools and the erratic boulders (foll. CHACHLIKOWSKI 1997) I – structure of erratic rock raw material, II – raw material structure of stone tools of the Funnel Beaker culture, III – raw material structure of stone tools of the Globular Amphora culture, 1–17 – different kinds of rocks

Too few observations prevent the as- sessment of the degree to which wild plants and fish were used (see MAKOWIECKI 2003).

Anthropogenic changes of natural Lowland environment

The best way to identify the transforma- anthropopressure eased and forests ex- tions of the natural environment is to fol- panded again. So we are dealing not with a low traits of deforestation and land use, linear evolution but rather with a sinuous which are detected in pollen diagrams or in development. pedologic and geomorphologic data. It Beginning with the second half of the must be stressed that periods of more in- Atlantic period (in absolute chronology tensive deforestation re-occurred in pre- from the second half of the 6th millennium historic times on the Lowland. However, BC), traces of forest transformations, re- they were interspersed with periods when lated to the activities of societies of agricul-

40 J. Czebreszuk & M. Szmyt Fig. 10. Chwalim site 1, Greater Poland (Wielkopolska). The structure of animal remains in the site of epi-Mesolithic hunters-gatherers (foll. GAUTIER 1993)

turalists, are identified (e.g. JANKOWSKA spontaneous pine forest Peucedano-Pinetum 1980, TOBOLSKI (ed.)1991, N ORYŚKIEWICZ takes about 140 years. “For succession se- 1995, MILECKA 1998, RALSKA-JASIEWICZOWA quences leading to the growth of other for- et al. 1998, MAKOHONIENKO 2000, PELISIAK est communities the period is usually lon- et al. 2006, MAKOHONIENKO 2008, see a list ger. For a multispecies deciduous forest, of palynological sites in: NALEPKA 2004). for instance a dry-ground forest, the period The complexes of vegetation evidence of can be calculated to be at least 350 years.” their multifarious activities are registered (FALIŃSKI 1986) throughout the period in question and ac- Permanent changes, whose connection tivity culminations are distinguished as with human activity is not obvious, successive anthropogenic phases. Gen- though, involved variations in the share of erally speaking, the transformations are the elm and hornbeam in Lowland forest manifested in the growing thinning of for- communities. They fall on the period in ests and the appearance of synanthropic prehistory discussed here. In Greater Po- plants, including crop and animal grazing land (Wielkopolska)and Kujawy, two suc - indicators, as well as ruderal communities cessive falls in the elm share are dated to and traces of fires. Successive episodes of 3900 BC and 3150 BC (MAKOHONIENKO decline in tree pollen share in favour of that 2008)whereas the inception of hornbeam of herbaceous plants are registered. How- dissemination falls on 4500–4000 BC (MA- ever, the question of how permanent these KOHONIENKO 2008). changes were is debatable. They persisted The attached comparison of pollen dia- or even cumulated in areas of high settle- gram fragments illustrates well changes in ment intensity and continuity. The cycle of vegetation communities in several regions vegetation succession must have been dis- of the Lowland. turbed there with respect to model analy- The diagram from Chwalim (Fig. 11A) ses. It follows from the latter that in the describes the situation in the peripheral re- simplest case, the succession from psam- gions of the Lowland not reached by the mophytic grass to the mature phase of a populations of early agriculturalists but ve-

Making the Cultural Landscape: Neolithic and Bronze Age Communities on Polish Lowland and their Environment 41 1993) ASYLIKOWA (foll. W Fig. 11A. Palinological diagrams referring to activities of different types of societies — Chwalim, epi-Mesolithic hunter-gatherers

42 J. Czebreszuk & M. Szmyt ry long prowled by epi-Mesolithic hunt- Here, one or, in some places, two levels of Fig. 11B. Palinological diagrams referring to ZEBRESZUK ers-gatherers. Crop indicators appear here fossil soil were discovered (C et activities of different types only in the Subatlantic period (WASYKIKO- al. 1997). The upper fossilized soil has ra- of societies — Nasiłowo, WA 1993). diocarbon datings of ca. 4000 BC. Sedi- late Neolithic agriculturalists and herders A diagram from Nasiłowo (Fig. 11B)on mentological analyses prove that sedimen- (foll. MAKOHONIENKO 2008) the Kujawy plain is quite different (MAKO- tation of aeolian covers most likely had HONIENKO 2008). Especially a Late Neo- merely one phase. The presence of many lithic deforestation and land use are here shards of early Funnel Beaker culture pot- very clearly marked. The results agree very tery in the fossil soil associate the very be- well with the archaeological examinations ginnings of the eolic processes with the de- of the neighboring settlement complex in forestation of this territory, effected by the Opatowice-Prokopiak’s Mount. communities of the given culture in the Much stronger was the human impact Middle Neolithic. locally in the Early Bronze Age. Here the Anthropogenic changes are recorded pollen profile from Bruszczewo (Greater also by many phases of slope cover accu- Poland)is very convincing. Palaeobotanical mulation. An example of the distribution studies (HAAS /WAHLMÜLLER 2010)show of slope covers comes from a site in that just after 2000 BC, the anthropogenic Bruszczewo (Fig. 13). Here, the slope cov- process led to deep changes in the environ- ers are deposited primarily in the moat and ment, triggering a local ecological disaster the scarp zones of the site, to a great extent visible, for instance, in the eutrophication also in the peat bog zone (HILDEBRANDT- of the nearby lake. RADKE 2008). The older stages of slope In many places there are traces of local wash sedimentation can be linked to the changes in field relief, especially related to Early Bronze Age (Unetice culture)and aeolian processes. An example comes from then to the Late Bronze Age (Lusatian cul- Dęby in a sandy part of Kujawy (Fig. 12). ture) human activity on the site.

Making the Cultural Landscape: Neolithic and Bronze Age Communities on Polish Lowland and their Environment 43 Fig. 12. Dęby site 29A, Kujawy. Two levels of fossil soils (foll. HILDEBRANDT-RADKE 2008)

Fig. 13. Bruszczewo site 17, Great Poland (Wielkopolska). Phases of slope cover accumulation (foll. HILDEBRANDT-RADKE 2008) 1 – modern, 2 – Lusatian culture, 3 – Early Bronze Age, 4 – @@@@@@@@@@@@ 5 – cultural layer of the Bronze Age (early and late), 6 – cultural layer of the Lusatian culture, 7 – cultural layer of the Early Bronze Age, 8 – peat deposits in the glacial trough Creation of the cultural landscape

Within the title scope one could discuss Their impact on the natural environment many other examples of anthropopressure was rather limited in space, but locally it like introduction of new domestic mam- could be relatively deep. mals into the natural Lowland environ- In the fifth millennium BC, this type of ment, new plants like cereals, but also buil- agriculture was continued and even inten- dings, graves, fields, pastures, etc. sified by groups of Late Danubian cultures, The creation of the new anthropogenic connected to the south as well. They cre- landscape began at the beginning of the ated larger “village communities” only in Neolithic. First agriculturalists on the fertile areas (Fig. 15), with their settle- Lowland (Danubian groups)built settle - ments consisting of several monumental ments that consisted chiefly of 1–3 monu- long houses and several extended families. mental long houses (Fig. 14). Every house The settlement structure was rather con- was used by an extended family group. centrated and the impact on the natural en- Their farming is called “garden-type”. vironment was deeper but still local.

44 J. Czebreszuk & M. Szmyt Fig. 14. Łojewo site 35, Kujawy. A house of the Linear Pottery culture (foll. CZERNIAK 1994)

Making the Cultural Landscape: Neolithic and Bronze Age Communities on Polish Lowland and their Environment 45 Fig. 15. Miechowice site 4, Kujawy. Houses of the Late Danubian culture (foll. GRYGIEL 2008)

Fig. 16. Sarnowo site 1, Kujawy. Settlement of the early Funnel Beaker culture (foll. RZEPECKI 2004)

46 J. Czebreszuk & M. Szmyt Fig. 17. Wietrzychowice site 1, Kujawy. A tomb of the so-called Kujavian type, the Funnel Beaker culture (foll. COFTA-BRONIEWSKA/KOŚKO 2002)

Fig. 18A. Mounds of the Globular Amphora culture (Złotowo site 4, Kujawy) (foll. WIŚLAŃSKI 1966 and CZEBRESZUK 2000)

In the Middle Neolithic, Funnel Beaker Then, a cultural landscape development culture societies introduced to the Low- on the Lowland was related to the activity of land a new type of settlement structure. Late Neolithic societies, such as the Globu- Their dispersed settlements and campsites lar Amphora culture and the Corded Ware were formed by small family groups, which culture. In both cases, we are dealing with built rather small houses (Fig. 16). Of small family groups. Their settlements and prime importance for their social and ritual campsites were rather small, with small life were cemeteries, consisting of long bar- houses or even . But they built large se- rows that were also very significant for the pulchral monuments (Fig. 18): tombs con- landscape creation. The monumental structed of big stones and earth or round tombs of the so-called Kujavian type were earthen barrows (chiefly 5–10 metres in di- stone-earthen structures having the shape ameter and 2–3 metres high). Their subsis- of an elongated trapezium sometimes more tence is based more and more on the rearing than 100 meters long. Their fronts, made of domesticated animals. of the largest boulders, were several meters The Bronze Age, the beginnings of high (Fig. 17). They were built in groups of which are dated to ca. 2300 BC in this part several up to several dozen tombs, making of Europe, witnessed more intensive devel- their relics well visible against the land- opment of the cultural landscape. In some scape even after such locations were over- areas new settlement structures were estab- grown with forest. lished that were based on defensive (forti- What is important, the economy of the fied)settlements. In such places settlement Funnel Beaker culture societies was aggres- stabilized. A case in point is an Early Bronze sive towards the natural environment: they settlement at Bruszczewo (Fig. 19)that cleared by burning vast areas to grow cere- continued at one place for maximum 400 als on them (e.g. KRUK 1993, CZEBRESZUK years (2000–1600 BC), which was a rare oc- et al. 1997). As a result, some large ex- currence at this part of Europe. A perma- panses of the Lowland were deforested. nent occupation entailed a radical landscape

Making the Cultural Landscape: Neolithic and Bronze Age Communities on Polish Lowland and their Environment 47 Fig. 18B. Corded Ware culture (Kuczkowo site 5, Kujawy) (foll. WIŚLAŃSKI 1966 and CZEBRESZUK 2000)

transformation. Such settlements needed formed anthropogenic components of the lots of resources to build their moats or landscape. In that case, mounds were visibly ramparts became a long-lasting element of larger than the those known from the Late the landscape. Around Bruszczewo, the Neolithic. Often more than 10 meters in di- landscape acquired a typical cultural charac- ameter and over 4 meters high (Fig. 20), ter after 2000 BC. Also in the Early Bronze they had an earthen structure with a , there were places where barrows nucleus.

48 J. Czebreszuk & M. Szmyt Fig. 19. Bruszczewo site 5, Greater Poland (Wielkopolska). An Early Bronze Age fortified settlement (prepared by J. KNEISEL)

Nevertheless, in many parts of Polish related to the activities of Lusatian culture Lowland radical landscape changes took populations. place only in the Late Bronze Age and were

Conclusions

The Neolithic share in creating a cultural landscape transformation. At that time, in landscape was in some places strong but some parts of the Lowland, the human im- short-lived for it was limited to settlement pact was very strong. activities and minor forest clearings. Stable From this point of view, Neolithic and man-made landscape elements included lo- Bronze Age communities on the Polish cal forest clearings and sepulchral struc- Lowland were on the way from a natural tures. In the Bronze Age, locally, perma- landscape to a cultural one. nent human settlement entailed a radical

Making the Cultural Landscape: Neolithic and Bronze Age Communities on Polish Lowland and their Environment 49 Fig. 20. Łęki Małe, Greater Poland (Wielkopolska). An Early Bronze Age barrow (photo by M. Jaeger)

References

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52 J. Czebreszuk & M. Szmyt