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Proto-Slavonic origins
The earliest signs of human activity in the basins of the Vistula and Oder date back to about 100 thousand BC. Neanderthal hunters crossed the area, especially present-day southern Poland. The earliest settlements of Homo Sapiens in Poland go back to the Mesolithic Age (8 thousand - 5.5 thousand BC). These settlements were established by migrant peoples belonging to the Danubian Basin Culture.
With time (partly due to incursions by warrior tribes from Asia), the inhabitants of the present-day territories of Poland began to organise themselves into larger social groups
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Excavated settlement at Biskupin |
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| and establish fortified strongholds. An example of this type of construction can be found in Biskupin (8th century BC), an island settlement surrounded by palisades, which had a population of around 1,000 -1,200 people.
Later, from the 6th century BC onwards, Poland became the target of raids by Scythian and Sarmatian tribes from the east, and Celtic and Germanic tribes from the west. Often the invaders would assimilate with the indigenous inhabitants and settle in the conquered territories. Alongside the destruction, these invasions also brought the achievements of the civilised world and encouraged trade - the earliest traces of the "Amber Road", a trade route linking the Baltic Sea with Rome and the Mediterranean basin, date back to the 5th century BC.
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