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 the 3rd century BC, which eventually covered most of today's Poland.

About 650 BC, it evolved from the Lusatian culture between the lower Vistula and Parseta rivers,Jan M Piskorski, Pommern im Wandel der Zeit, 1999, p.23, and subsequently expanded southward. Between 200 and 150 BC, it was succeeded by the Oksywie culture in eastern Pomerania and the Przeworsk culture at the upper Vistula and Oder rivers.

Features

The Pomeranian culture developed in Western Pomerania covering the entire range of the Oder (Odra) and Vistula river basins. It has been sometimes associated with the Bastarnae. The original homeland of the Bastarnae remains uncertain. Babeş and Shchukin argue in favour of an origin in eastern Pomerania on the Baltic coast of northwestern Poland, on the grounds of correspondences in archaeological material e.g. a Pomeranian-style fibula found in a Poieneşti site in Moldavia.

The most characteristic feature was the use of burial urns with faces. The urns were often contained in stone cists. The face-urns have lids in the form of hats, often miniature ear-rings of real bronze are added. The faces are sometimes modelled very naturalistically, and no two urns show the same face. Incised drawings on the urns show hunting scenes, chariot races, or riders. Brooches of Certoza-type and necklaces of multiple bronze rings are typical examples of metal work.

The economy was similar to that of the Lusatian culture. Rye was systematically cultivated for the first time, but still formed a minor component of the cereals. There were fewer hill forts than in the area of the Lusatian culture further west. Southern imports were sparse as well.

Related cultures

A related culture of the same age was the House Urn culture in central Germany.Peter N. Peregrine, Melvin Ember, Human Relations Area Files, inc, ''Encyclopedia of Prehistory'', Springer, 2001, p.406,

Spread

In the later Iron Age, the Pomeranian culture spread southward, into areas formerly belonging to the Lusatian, Wysoko- and Milograd cultures. In Masovia and Poland, this mixture led to the development of the group with bell-shaped burials.

Gallery

File:Bronze pectoral from Mrowino.jpg, Pomeranian bronze pectoral, Poland
File:019 Typishes Fachwerkhaus in der Nahe von Krakau zirka 8. Jh. v. Chr..jpg, 8th century BC house model
File:055 Pomerellische Funde, Archaologisches Museum, Krakau.JPG, Tools and weapons
File:0857 Pomoranische Kultur, Hallstattzeitlicher Bronzedolch im Kraków-Museum.JPG, Antenna sword, Hallstatt period, 8th century BC
File:056 Pomerellische Funde, Archaologisches Museum, Krakau.JPG, Bronze cup
File:Gesichtsurne Dreidorf.jpg, Urn with facial decoration
Pomeranian culture pottery.PNG, Pottery
File:0178 Pommerellische Keramik des 7. Jhts. v. Chr., Kraków.jpg, 7th century cinerary urn burial
File:02019 1647 Hausurne, Hallstatt Grab von Obliwowice, 620–450 v. Chr.jpg
File:01933 3 1 0 10 1056 13 1 227528 Przedmioty kultury grobów skrzynkowych z wczesnego okresu żelaza na Pomorzu.jpg
File:02019 1643 Pomerellische Gesichtsurne aus Pomerania, 500–400 v. Chr., Piła.jpg
File:02019 1641 Pomerellische Gesichtsurne aus Pomerania, 500–400 v. Chr., Gdańsk.jpg
File:3 1 0 10 754 2253 Muzeum Archeologiczne Polskiej Akademii Umiejętności.jpg
File:MuseumGrudziadzA5149.JPG
File:Face Urn inside the Gdańsk Archaeological Museum.jpg
File:GrudziadzMuseumA5147.JPG

See also

* Bronze- and Iron-Age Poland
* Lusatian culture
* Przeworsk culture
* Nordic Bronze Age

References

External links

Late Bronze and early Iron Age costumes in the Southern Baltic (2017)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pomeranian Culture
Archaeological cultures of Central Europe
Archaeological cultures of Eastern Europe
Iron Age cultures of Europe
Slavic archaeological cultures
Archaeological cultures in Belarus
Archaeological cultures in Poland
Archaeological cultures in Ukraine
Prehistoric Poland
History of Pomerania