44841 P1060312

142 JANUSZ OSTOJA-ZAOORSKI

is notrccablc. start mg a period ofoonsiderable transformations in scttlcincnt structure. The bitberto denseły popu lal cd ecumens aro fallinp a part and the surrounding open settlemcnts considcrably dispersing- With the disappearance of strongholds, the territorial communities, bound by common cconomic nctivitics, also dcclłno. At the same timc. a gradual procesu of Family separalion starta, turnlng it into a sclf-suffi-cicnt cconomic unit. Ali tbcse facts. espccially the dedine of fortińed soliłem on ts, indicafe a far-rcaching crais of the prcriously stabilized cuhural and socio-cconomic structure. which togetger with somc ethnic shiftings (the czpansion of Cclts towards the cast) causcd the dcclinc of the kagthy period of the Lusatian culturc.

The reasom for thn phenomenon have not yet been fully cxamincd. nevcrthclcss ii seems po&sibie thal cconomic tmmfonnalions played an csscntial role. both in the dedine of the defcnsrie form of settkments and the dedine of the Lusatian culturc.

Howcver, factors soch as the previous!y mentioned shifting of the population and rfhwatic chan ges can not be overlookcd. it seems though that the basie reasons •erc in wide tramfonnations m the cconomic structure. Similarly raterpreted are also changcs in settłement pattern occurring at the same timc m vast arcas of oorthern Europę, mainly in northem Germany and Dcnmark (Jonkuhn, 1952).

It is, in principal. not possible to discuss generał cconomic problcms, espccially lo attempt a definition of the model of eoonomy dnring the period of Lusatian cni turę. becausc of the spatial and chronological rangę of this culturc. and mainly because of the considcrabłc gaps m specialistic studics (palacobotanical. archaco-zoological etc). It should be stressed herc that reccnt studics show a morę and morę growmg conventionałism conccming the traditionally uscd definition of Lusatian culturc. supporting the hypothcsis, acoording to which, the abovc mentioned cultural complex is oomposed of numerous related cultures, distinctly diflering from each other in oeriain traits. Most promńing in studymg thesc cconomic phenomena. is to fołlow their course in rclativcly smali arcas. whcrc analoguous forms of settłement cocsiMed. A region particularly predisposed to thesc typ es of studics is the north-westem zonę of the Odcr and Vistula river basins Studics of thesc phenomena cali. howcvcr. for the appłication of new research methods and wider co-opcration of numerous diserplines of nalural Sciences. Therc is no doubt, today, that the aocessibility of arehacołogical materiał facilitates, basically. the tracing of the evołu-tion of socio-economio formations typical for the defined periods, simultancousjy taking into accounl univcrsal phases and stages of the historica! proccss. We should remem ber that the socio-cconomtc developmcnt in particular periods of prehistory was influeneed not only by undoubtedly csscntial cultural factors, but also by ccologic agents and generał rules of the biological do elopment of man os a spccies.

In prehistory, ąttention was drawn long ago to the influence of naturnl-gcographio al conditions on the development of culturc. This is expressed in Ute notlceablc inerease of the significanoe of ecołogic invcstigations. and interest m the problcms of the reactions of “bion" and “habitat” (Clark, 1952). and also m the proces*, of controlling and shaping the naturę through products of materiał culturc, which are to a oeriain degree a reaction to the environment (Childc, 1961).

Further thougli, lendcncics can be obsenred In studics to* overlook bioarchaco-

logical problcms. a fact which has dcfiacd mcihodologic conscqucnces. The omissum of the anihiopologicnl sióo of bisiory, was frcquently the cauic of crcating "artificial" modeli, as it was rightly strassed in literaturę (Hćnsel, 1971).

In studying eoonomio problcms the ąuestion of Corporation (frcąucntly through common initiativcs in investigations) bctwccn humanitics and natura! Sciences,

U of great importanee. We havc to agree with the statement that one of the csscntial problcms studied in contcmporaneous prehistory is the following of the adaptation of individual culturcs to the changing conditions of the ecologic cnvironmcnt. This faa imposes the ncccssity of cnriching and prccismg our notions, and of considcnng on a widc-scale rclntions appearing rccurrcntly bctwccn particular catcgoriei of cultural phenomena and the biological conditions of human populationa. The fulfillmcnt oTthesc conditions will cnabie the rcalisation of concrete studics, the finał aim of which is the creation of new models of cultural changes, facilitating a formulation of generał notions, refleetmg the comptea structure of the devdopment of prehistorie culturcs.

In my considcratiom I should like Tn present an attempt at applying bioarcbaco logical methods in studics of cconomic transformations, ii tbc Hallstatt period, m the north-westem zonę of the Odcr and Yisttda rivcr basras.

An attempt at a definition of the cconomic model of the population of Lusatian culture

In Polish nrchacological literatura, the problem of the cconomic model of the Lusatian culture has bcen recently livcly discusscd. Deliberations were concentrated mainly on relations bctwccn two fundamental lines of contcmporaneous cconomy: land tilling and cattlc brceding. Materials at our disposal permit the acoeptance of the thosis that the rcgionally diflerentiated model of cconomy of the population of Lusatian culture was comptat, bascd on both mobile and statkmary forms of cxploitation of natural resourccs (Ostoja-Zagórski, 1974). In considerations on the economy of the Lusatian culture population, the problem of eoonomio transfonna-tions, which must have oocurred in the Hallstatt poriod espccially in territories wherc the form of fortified scttlements was highly dcvełoped (Biskupin type)—was rcgularły omitted. It seems that in connection with transformations in the settłement structure (conccntration of the population in fortified scttlements and thetr nearest ricmity), cconomic activities were considcrably mtensified. It was manifested espccially in the inerease of oocupations other tban farming, i.c. brceding of cattk, gatherrag, hunling and fishing (Ostoja-Zagórski, 1974). There is no doubt that those activities playod only a secondary rolo in the total cconomy, it muy though bo assumod that thoy establishod an indisponsiblo part of tho food basis.

The proviously mentioned transformations in sottloment structure (conccntration of the population in fortified scttlements), and the inerease of the dcmographic potential, created a vcry csscntial problem of providing suffleient amounts of food.

It should also be remembered that there was no Principal of raboual foediag.