Exchanges between Syncretic Groups from the Mazury Lake District in Northeast Poland and Early Bronze Age Communities in Central Europe
Volume 13 (2010): At the Origins of the Culture of the Balts, pp. 126–139
Pub. online: 20 June 2010
Type: Article
Open Access
Received
23 March 2010
23 March 2010
Revised
26 May 2010
26 May 2010
Accepted
20 June 2010
20 June 2010
Published
20 June 2010
20 June 2010
Abstract
At the end of the Neolithic and during the Early Bronze Age, trans-regional exchange networks were already functioning in Europe, many of them covering the entire continent. One consequence of them was the rise of multi-directional ties between groups, and exchange on a scale which transcended individual culture groups. One exchange route that was in existence at the end of the Neolithic was associated with the distribution of amber. It followed the line of the River Vistula, from the Bay of Gdańsk to its headwaters. During the Early Bronze Age, this situation underwent a change. Drawing on older and more recent findings from the Mazury Lake District, I have tried to make the case for the existence during this period of an alternative communication route which traversed the Mazury region of northeast Poland.