Joanna A. Markiewicz

Despite the continuous increase of archaeological data coming from the Polish Western Carpathians, the colonisation process of the Beskidy Mountains in prehistory is still relatively poorly recognized. The subject of discussion is, in particular, the impact of environmental and cultural factors on the formation of settlement networks in individual periods. This paper considers these questions on the example of a part of the middle Dunajec River basin in the chronological framework from the Neolithic to the La Tène period. Based on the archaeological and paleoenvironmental record, an analysis of settlement dynamics in terms of preferences and economy in the subsequent periods was carried out. The observations made were then interpreted in the context of cultural phenomena. A comparison of the results with the situation observed in other Central European mountain ranges made it possible to formulate some universal tendencies in the settlement development in these zones. In particular, the impact of climate and environmental conditions on the economy was considered, as well as the role of natural resources and communication routes. It has been demonstrated that three main stages can be distinguished in the process of prehistoric mountain colonisation. This mechanism was correlated with the gradual adaptation of the economy and the “familiarising” of the mountain landscape, which offered both some limitations and strategic values determining the specific cultural function of these areas.

The article presents new research on fortified settlements from the Early Iron Age in the Orava and Dunajec river valleys. Based on the characteristics of the construction of the fortifications and similarities in terms of material culture, we propose recognizing the hillforts discovered here as a manifestation of one cultural and settlement horizon related to the so-called Pre-Púchov stage. The radiocarbon determinations obtained for the contexts stratigraphically related to the ramparts from the Nižná-Ostražica, Zabrzeż-Babia Góra, and Maszkowice-Góra Zyndrama sites are already located on the calibration curve after the so-called Hallstatt plateau and allow this horizon to be dated to the 4th century BC, i.e. to the times corresponding to the La Tène B1–B2 phases. Our observations confirm the opinions appearing in more recent literature about the need to date the Pre-Púchov stage in Slovakia earlier, and discuss the thesis about the continuation of settlement at the beginning of the La Tène period. With regard to the Polish Carpathian zone, arguments indicating the possibility of the survival of settlements with Early Iron Age traditions up to the 4th century BC are presented for the first time. This allows us to assume that the process of the formation of the cultural tradition of the La Tène period here progressed in a similar manner to Slovakia, and it was not solely the result of migration from the latter.