10087 P1060313

JANUSZ OSTOJA -ZAGORSKI

quaniii) was important and considered as neoe&sary. bot h lor the rcgencration of sircngth and furtbcr baological survival. We havc roachod herc thc vcry complicatcd problem, i.e. oconomy of food m ifcc Hallstatt period, in thc northcm and western /one of thc rivcr basms of Oder and Yistula. It is a oomplex problem dcmanding doser mspection of its mdisidual components: thc efttciency of contemporaneout agncułturc and other domaines of cconomy. and thc ccologic capacity of thc cxploit-ed natnral en\ironmcni. Herc. we have to consult thc achicvcmcnt$ of na tu rai Sciences and cspccialły their methods of study. which would facilitate wide-ranged ■imli|iiiiini of economic transformatlons in prehistory. The point of issuc in these mscsngaiioas must obviouslv be archacological methods on thc base of which a cołnpcehensjYC questioanairc should be compilcd to obtain thc neccssary Information frorr. thcsc soorces (Topolski, 1968).

I and tiUagc influcncing thc Lusatian culture was undoubtodly of paramount importanoc. It is diflicult conccming thc Hallstatt period—to consider lhi» problem as finally tohed. It socms thal on thc basis of accessibłe archacological facts we can a parallcl appcarancc of sarious agrotechnic systems (slush—and-burn land tillmc with thc hdp of vanous primitive plough and garden i ng (echniques). It is dtsputablc, which of thcsc systems was most economic in thc Hallstatt period.

The Khesis of widely spread common tcchniques of land tilling (of thc gardening typek is supported by finds of hom hocs appearing in masses in particular laycrs of fortified scttlcments. This system is also justified by economic factors: papiliona-ceous plants providc far richer crops than cereals cultivatcd in an analoguous area (Kurnatowski. 1975b).

Best schabie for these cuItivaiions werc undoubtedly thc floodplains, regenerated by pcnodkal spring and winter floods. Futthcr favourablc regions bsyond ihe rangę of floodplains. werc areas covcrcd with brown and podzolic soils. casy acccssiblc for thc lar mmg tcchmqucs. The previously mentioned concentration of thc population m smali arcas (in thc fortified settłements and their elosest vicinities), causcd a eon-saderablc rocrease of consumption. imposing—at tbe same time—the nccessity of penaaacm use of all thc tben known focms of exploitalion of thc natural cnviron* ■bbl The tkcsis may fcc thcrcforc acceptcd that in the Hallstatt period, mainly in its declming phase (HaC HaD). economic activity was strongly intensified both in basie (land tilling and kntsbandry) and in tccondary (gathcrinc, hunting and fishing) -occupations.

The ąucstion anses. bow the incrcasing dcmand for food was satisfied in spite of (he Umitcd possibilitaes of esplohation of the natural environmcnt? This problem should be considered m tw© plaacs: the ccologic capacity of thc exploitcd natural easironmcnt. and the su* of the human group to be providcd for. Herc wc havo to oonsult-as was prcviously mentioned—the achicvcmcnts of natural Sciences, and ***** of palneodcmography (Strzałko. Ostoja-Zagórski, 1974). As there are no coolopc studies conductcd ra particular settlcment micro-rćgions. offorts werc madę to recomtmct the natural environmcm, basing on the results of immediate and ********* acc^fcntal studies. mainly palinological. geomorphological, pedological •ato. Ancmpts werc miso rccenily siaried, in Polish archaeology. to use zoological

materiał* obtaincd during excavations to reconstruct ccologic conditions in indi-vidual micro-rcgions (D/ięczkowski, Ostoja-Zagórski, 1976).

Palacodcmographic studies arc also of csscntiał significanoc. The rcconstruction of thc sizc of human groups populating the givcn micro-rcgion is dccisive in prehis-tory. A good orientation in thc possibilhies of defining the socio-cconomic dodopnie ni of thc etamined humangroup, presentation of its potential possibilities conccrn-ing the natural environment as wcll as other human groups, is of great importance. The sizc of the human group may be defined by approximate estimation of thc number of inhabitants in the given scttlcment. or by data obtaincd from ccmetcrics. The łasi method demands: 1) a thorough exammation of the oemcłcry and exploration of all burials, and 2) a precisc • dating of the begmning and end of the use of the ccmctcry. There is also a third condition: the presenration of bonę materiał cnabling a construction of a fuli survival rccord in order to define prccisdy a further, avcrage span of life of infants (Henncberg, Ostoja-Zagórski, Piontek, Strzałko. 1975). An csscntiał moment in palacodcmographic studies, is also a detailod analysis of the structuro of scttlements in the chosen micro-region, which would permit the establishing of ehronological-spatial. rclations between particular scttlements and cemetcries (Strzałko, Ostoja-Zagórski, 1975), Having obiained results from these analyscs, we can define the density of the population in these tęrritóries, economi-oally intcnsively expłoited. This will permit the traemg of transfonnalions occurring in thc given economic structure in thc cxamincd scttled mkro-region.

One of thc csscntiał and at thc same time disputabłe problems is the question of mutual rclations between thc size of mdividual ccumens and the terriiorics marked by inlcnsivc economic activity. This problem is still unsoWcd. 1 will not deal cłoser herc with the question of establishing sizes of particular ccumens for various fortified scttlements known in the so-called Biskupin type, 1 will only mention ihat basing on the distribution of the latter, situated cach from other at a distance avcraging from 20 km to 25 km the surfaoc of ccumens defined by these scttlements was about 500 sq. km to 800 sq. km or 400 sq. km to 600 sq. km (Bukowski. 1974). These eslimatiońs, despite their systematic lowcrmg, arc, all the same, considcrably raiscd, even whenwcassume that they compriscd also the surfaccs of lak es, moors and swam-ps, as wcll as dense, hardly accessible forests. This was confirmcd by supplemcntary, delailed studies in better known scttlcmcnt complexcs. On thc base of cartographic dispersion of particular catcgorics of finds, it has bccn assumed that thc surfaoc of ccumens associated with fortified scttlements of thc Biskupin type. could not have bccn larger than 200 sq. km. Thought should therefore be givcn to the question of establishing the sizes of territories, cconomically intcnsiveły exploited. Studies concemmg this question, and particular the analysis of distribution of mdiridual catcgorics of finds (settlemcnts, cemetcries, hoards and random finds), showed that thc zonę of intensive, economic exploitation was distinctly limited by ooologic barriers such as the higher regions of highlands. terraoes beyond flood plam rangę. Basing on the above, hypothetical determinants, and considermg the economic aspeets—not always pcrccpnblc—it has bccn assumed that the surface economicaUy cxploited by the inhabitants of the fortified scttlements must bave beea approxanatdy

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