The Oksywie culture (German ') was an archaeological culture that existed in the area of modern-day Eastern Pomerania around the lower

Vistula The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...

river from the 2nd century BC to the early 1st century AD. It is named after the village of

Oksywie Oksywie (german: Oxhöft, csb, Òksëwiô) is a neighbourhood of the city of Gdynia, Pomeranian Voivodeship, northern Poland. Formerly a separate settlement, it is older than Gdynia by several centuries. Etymology Both the Polish and then ...

, now part of the city of

Gdynia Gdynia ( ; ; german: Gdingen (currently), (1939–1945); csb, Gdiniô, , , ) is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With a population of 243,918, it is the 12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in th ...

in northern

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, where the first archaeological finds typical of this culture were discovered. Archaeological research during the past recent decades near

Pomerania Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...

suggests that the transition of the local component of the

Pomeranian culture The Pomeranian culture, also Pomeranian or Pomerelian Face Urn culture was an Iron Age culture with origins in parts of the area south of the Baltic Sea (which later became Pomerania, part of northern Germany/Poland), from the 7th century BC to ...

into the Oksywie culture occurred in the 2nd century BC. Like other cultures of this period, Oksywie showed some signs of an influence from the

La Tène culture The La Tène culture (; ) was a European Iron Age culture. It developed and flourished during the late Iron Age (from about 450 BC to the Roman conquest in the 1st century BC), succeeding the early Iron Age Hallstatt culture without any defi ...

. However, in terms of their ethnolinguistic identity, the time period and geographical location may suggest that the Pomeranian and/or Oksywie cultures were linked to the long-extinct

Western Baltic languages The Western Baltic languages were a group of Baltic languages that were spoken by Western Baltic peoples. Western Baltic is one of the two primary branches of Baltic languages, along with Eastern Baltic. It includes Old Prussian, Sudovian, Weste ...

and, in particular, the little-known Pomeranian Baltic language. The Oksywie culture's ceramics and burial customs indicate strong ties with the

Przeworsk culture The Przeworsk culture () was an Iron Age material culture in the region of what is now Poland, that dates from the 3rd century BC to the 5th century AD. It takes its name from the town Przeworsk, near the village where the first artifacts w ...

. Men only had their ashes placed in well made black urns with fine finish and a decorative band around. Their graves were supplied with practical items for the afterlife, such as utensils and weapons. Typically buried with the man, this culture would also place swords with one-sided edge, and the graves were often covered or marked by stones. Women's ashes were buried in hollows and supplied with feminine items. However, connections between the Oksywie culture and the

Bastarnae The Bastarnae ( Latin variants: ''Bastarni'', or ''Basternae''; grc, Βαστάρναι or Βαστέρναι) and Peucini ( grc, Πευκῖνοι) were two ancient peoples who between 200 BC and 300 AD inhabited areas north of the Roman front ...

and/or Rugii have also been proposed.

Notes

Sources

*
Oxhöftkultur
*

Andrzej Kokowski Andrzej Kokowski (born 1953) is a Polish archaeologist who is a Professor of Archaeology and Director of the Institute of Archaeology at Maria Curie-Skłodowska University. Biography Andrzej Kokowski was born in Złotów in 1953. He received h ...

"Archäologie der Goten" 1999 () * Marija Gimbutas. "The Bronze and the Early Iron Age of the Eastern Balts {{DEFAULTSORT:Oksywie Culture Archaeological cultures of Central Europe Iron Age cultures of Europe Germanic archaeological cultures Archaeological cultures in Poland Goths