Rejon Środy Śląskiej w pradziejach i wczesnym średniowieczu jako przykład obszaru „pomiędzy”

• Authors: Grzegorz Borowski

Title variants

EN

ŚRODA ŚLĄSKA AND ITS REGION DURING PREHISTORY AND EARLY MEDIEVAL PERIOD AS A CASE STUDY OF AN AREA “IN-BETWEEN”

• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

Among several well-established and - it would seem - unshakable views there is one that Środa Śląska developed from a trading settlement (10th-11th c.) found on an ancient route running westward from Wrocław, and that at the time of its formation it was at the centre of a densely populated hinterland. The origins of Środa Śląska and the existence of the aforesaid route recently were addressed by a number of separate studies; all of them have led to the conclusion that, contrary to the established opinion, the region of Środa Śląska was more of an area “in-between” – not fully without population perhaps, but with a substantially lower density of settlement finds. We have reason to believe this is not merely the effect of an incomplete archaeological record. The same situation is observed already during the Mesolithic, when the region of Środa Śląska was part of a larger unsettled area between the settlement micro-regions of the Barycz R., the Kaczawa R. and the Sudety Mts. During the Neolithic, when settlement preferences changed, the region of Środa Śląska is virtually without settlement, and its evident lack of attraction is visible during the Middle Neolithic when Lengyel-Polgar and Funnel Beaker settlement may be seen to flourish south of Wrocław, in the basin of the Bystrzyca and the Oława rivers, and west of Środa Śląska, in the basin of the Kaczawa R. The situation is similar in the period of Lusatian Culture, and a slightly larger number of archaeological sites associated with this age, known from the region of Środa Śląska (mainly clustering along the Odra R.), does little to alter this general view. Admittedly, during the time of the ascendancy of the Przeworsk Culture what is known as Środa-Wołów settlement micro-region stands out, but it still takes in only the area on the left bank of the Odra R., whereas the entire province of Środa Śląska (with minor exceptions) is “conspicuously empty”, in contrast to the adjacent micro-regions of Bystrzyca-Oława and Legnica. Studies made for the older segments of the early medieval period suggest that during this time also the region of Środa Śląska was not attractive for settlement. Settlement continues to be observed mainly in the basin of the Bystrzyca and the Oława as well as on the Kaczawa R. During later segments of the early medieval period the situation is similar. There was change only at the onset of the thirteenth century when, according to the most recent research, Henry I the Bearded founded an “experimental town” of Środa Śląska on a site previously without settlement. A dense network of settlements sprang up at this time, and continued to develop without break until the present age. Naturally, further in-depth research is needed to confirm the findings presented here and the new model-image postulated for Środa Śląska and its region during prehistory and the early medieval period and to explicate this status quo.

Keywords

EN

ŚRODA ŚLĄSKA; REGION; PREHISTORY; MEDIEVAL PERIOD; WITHOUT POPULATION

• Publisher: Instytut Archeologii Uniwersytetu Wrocławskiego
• Journal: Śląskie Sprawozdania Archeologiczne
• Year: 2011
• Volume: 53
• Pages: 151-166

Contributors

author

Grzegorz Borowski

• Muzeum Regionalne w Środzie Śląskiej , pl. Wolności 3, 55-300 Środa Śląska, Poland.