Familiarising the landscape: the development of prehistoric settlement in the middle Dunajec River valley

Abstract

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.