European Kingdoms

Oxhöft / Oksywie Culture (Iron Age) (Poland)
c.200 - 1 BC

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The later Bronze Age and Iron Age cultures across Northern Europe contained several distinct cultural periods and links with Early Poland. It was this territory in northern and Central Europe which would eventually grow into the Poland which is known by today's world, but population movements in the first few centuries BC and AD meant some rapid shifts in cultural dominance.

The Oxhöft culture appeared in the first half of the second century BC, succeeding the earlier Pomeranian culture in modern northern Poland, mainly around the mouths of the Oder and Vistula. The Polish version of the name is Oksywie, after the village in which the first archaeology for this period was discovered. Today this village has been drawn into the expanding city of Gdynia.

The culture stretched across eastern Pomerania (in today's northern Poland) to reach the lower Vistula which at this time may have been home to - or at least a vital trading connection for - the Vistula Venedi. New arrivals in the form of a migration seem to have created it, either that or participants in the migration brought elements of it with them to override the Pomeranian's influence.

These people were probably either early Scandinavians, or from the western-neighbouring Jastorf culture. There may also be some influence from the La Tène. The Rugii and Lemovii tribes are both included as contributors to this culture, so a degree of early northern Celtic (Belgic) and/or Germanic influence does seem likely (the two often seem to have been combined during this period in northern and upper Central Europe to a confusing and poorly-examined extent).

In central and southern Poland, the Przeworsk culture appeared at about the same time, and shared many similar characteristics with the Oxhöft. It was in part a continuation of the Pomeranian culture of the north, suggesting some southwards migration during the creation of the Oxhöft, but it also bore significant influence from the La Tène and Jastorf cultures.

Burials involved ashes being placed in well-made black urns which had a fine finish with a decorative band. Male internments were supplied with practical items for the afterlife, such as utensils and weapons. Swords with a single cutting edge were also typically included, and the internments were often covered by or marked with stones. The ashes of females were buried in hollows and were supplied with appropriate feminine items.

Archaeological finds are constantly being made, and archaeological cultures are frequently being updated with new information. Get in touch here if this page also requires updating.

(Information by Peter Kessler, with additional information by Jes Martens and Edward Dawson, from Rome and the Barbarians in Central and Eastern Europe, 1st Century BC-1st Century AD: The End of the La Tene Period, M B Shchukin (BAR, 1989), from The Bronze Age in Europe, J M Coles & A F Harding (London 1979), and from External Links: The Balts, Marija Gimbutas (1963, previously available online thanks to Gabriella at Vaidilute, but still available as a PDF - click or tap on link to download or access it), and Chronological Problems of the Pre-Roman Iron Age in Northern Europe, Jes Martens (Arkæologiske skrifter vol 7, Copenhagen, full conference report, 1997, and available via Academia.edu), and The burial rite of the Oksywie Culture (Museum in Lębork), and Goth migration induced changes, I Stolarek et al (Scientific Reports 2019; 9: 6737, National Library of Medicine, 2019).)

c.200 BC

Central Europe's Iron Age Pomeranian / Face-Urn culture is replaced by the Oxhöft culture in northern Poland and by the contemporary Przeworsk culture in southern and central areas. The latter may be a partial continuation of Pomeranian culture which has been carried southwards after being displaced in the north.

Oxhöft burial rites involved cremation, with the ashes of the dead being covered with the remains of the funeral pyre in burial pits or clay urns, and then tools and weapons being added to the internment prior to covering

c.120 BC

Although no documentary evidence exists to provide proof, it is generally accepted that the Vandali originate in southern Sweden or the Jutland peninsula. Around this time they migrate across the Baltic Sea, arriving on the Pomeranian shores of what later becomes Poland.

They soon settle in Silesia, a process of migration and occupation which may well have result in the creation of the Przeworsk culture out of a series of regional cultural expressions. This cultural definition then follows them southwards in the third century AD when they migrate again.

The Vandali probably started in southern Scandinavia, before migrating into northern Poland, and then shifting southwards to form, or perhaps found, the Przeworsk culture

c.8 - 6 BC

Various Germanic tribes can be located within the area of the Przeworsk at this time, including the Lugii and Vandali, along with the Vistula Venedi. The Burgundians are also linked to the region prior to their later migration.

Arguments have existed for some time over whether the Przeworsk is the result of Germanic, proto-Slavic, or Celtic influence. The truth is probably that Germanics and Celts almost certainly do contribute, perhaps in the form of the seemingly hybrid-like Belgae, while it is far too early for proto-Slavics to be located this far west.

The Lugii especially are known to cross the boundary between Germanic and Celtic (although many other tribes also exhibit crossover characteristics), while little is known of the proto-Slavs except that they first emerge between the southernmost extremities of Poland and western Ukraine.

Belgic settlement in, or migration across, Northern Europe almost certainly involved some of them entering the Cimbric peninsula where they interacted with early German tribes there, influencing them and being influenced by them