Settlement of Danubian cultures in the area of Świecie Plateau

Abstract

This article is an attempt at defining the basic factors which determined the settlement of cultures of Danubian origin in the area of Świecie Plateau. In case of the analysed area, this will concern the Linear Pottery Band culture as well as the Brześć Kujawski culture. The Świecie region was not chosen without reason. It is one of the areas on the Polish Lowland, where the character of colonization of the Early Neolithic communities has been explored relatively poorly. This contrasts with relatively well excavated areas of Greater Poland, Kuyavia or Chełmno Land. This study should not be treated as a comprehensive synthesis and reconstruction of all the phenomena of interest. Due to poor state of research, we had to leave out some essential issues, focusing on a general outline of the problem as well as the analysis of basic tendencies in distribution and location of settlement points of Danubian culture communities. The general evaluation of settlement of the Świecie area was based on the surface research data from studies conducted within the framework of the research project named “Archaeological Picture of Poland”. They will be supplemented by results of few field studies (Stare Marzy, site no. 5, commune of Dragacz), conducted as part of rescue excavations along the route of the planned highway A-1.