The Chotyniec agglomeration and its importance for interpretation of the so-called Scythian finds from south-eastern Poland

Abstract

Artefacts of eastern provenance, so-called Scythian ones, have been registered in Polish areas for a long time. In the western part of Polish lands, they were most often linked with Scythian invasions, and this explanation of finds was emphasized by destroyed settlements. In eastern Poland, the presence of similar artefacts, was interpreted rather in the context of contacts with the forest-steppe zone, and their almost neighbourly character was confirmed by characteristic decorations and parts of clothing. Discoveries related to the fortified settlement in Chotyniec (south-eastern Poland), together with accompanying settlements from the same time, allow for a slightly different view on the so-called Scythian finds recorded within the eastern groups of the Lusatian circle. The agglomeration should be treated as the farthest northwest enclave of the forest-steppe variant of the Scythian culture and as transmitter of certain cultural patterns. It is also a cultural phenomenon that plays a key role in the reception of the so-called eastern cultural elements.