page_title: Wielbark culture
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Wielbark culture / History
caption_attribution_description: English: The green area is the traditional extent of Götaland and the pink area is the island of Gotland. The red area is the extent of the Wielbark culture in the early 3rd century, and the orange area is the Chernyakhov culture, in the early 4th century. The purple area is the Roman Empire. The extent of the Wielbark culture is based on Zbigniew Babik: "Najstarsza warstwa nazewnicza na ziemiach polskich" Cracow 2001. The extent of the Chernyakhov culture is based on R. Wołągiewicz (1993), a map drawn by Lars Östlin, in Kaliff's Gothic Connections. Contacts between eastern Scandinavia and the southern Baltic coast 1000 BC – 500 AD (2001:29) Deutsch: Ungefähre Ausbildung der Chernjachov-Kultur im 3. Jahrhundert (orange) und der Wielbark-Kultur (rot).
context_page_description: The Wielbark culture or East Pomeranian-Mazovian is an Iron Age archaeological complex which flourished in Magna Germania, from the 1st century AD to the 5th century AD.
  The Wielbark culture is associated with the Goths and related Germanic peoples, and played an important role in the Amber Road. it displays cultural links not only with its neighbours, but also with southern Scandinavia. The Wielbark culture replaced the preceding Oksywie culture on the lower Vistula in the 1st century AD, and subsequently expanded southwards at the expense of the Przeworsk culture, which is associated with the Vandals. This expansion has been associated by historians such as Peter Heather with the contemporary Marcomannic Wars. By the late 3rd century AD, the Wielbark culture had expanded into the area of the upper Dniester, where it influenced the Chernyakhov culture to its south, — encompassing a large area between the Danube and the Don River.
  In the 5th century AD, the Wielbark culture was replaced by the Sukow-Dziedzice group, which is associated with the Early Slavs.
context_section_description: The Wielbark culture emerged in the 1st century AD around the same area as the Oksywie culture, around the present day towns of Gdańsk and Chełmno. Whether the Wielbark culture was an outgrowth of the Oksywie culture or represents a new population is disputed. The increasing density of Wielbark centuries after its establishment suggests that it experienced significant population growth during its existence. 
  During the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, the Wielbark culture expanded into the lakelands (Kashubian and Krajenskian lakes) and stretched southwards, into the region around Poznań. Here it ejected the Przeworsk culture, which is often associated with the Vandals. Rather than being entirely replaced, archaeological evidence suggest that the Przeworks were to a certain extent absorded by the Wielbark. The southward expansion of the Wielbark burial habits has been connected with the beginning of the Marcomannic Wars. By 200 AD, people are of the Wielbark culture appear to have been recruited as soldiers in the Roman Army.
  In the first half of the 3rd century AD, the Wielbark culture expanded southwards along the Vistula and Bug towards the upper Dniester. Meanwhile Pomeranian settlements by the Baltic Sea were somewhat, but not entirely, abandoned. This expansion was swifter and on an even larger scale than previous ones, and represented a significant shift of Wielbark power towards the south. Archaeological and linguistics evidence suggest that the expansion involved both men, women and children. The Gothic attack on Histria in 238 is probably connected with this expansion. North of the Black Sea, the Wielbark culture played a decisive role in the formation of the Chernyakhov culture n the late 3rd century AD, which by the 4th century AD would cover a huge area between the Danube and the Don River. Though historically controversial, it is now universally accepted that the origins of the Chernyakhov culture lie primarily in the Wielbark culture, and that the former represents a culture dominated by the Goths and other Germanic peoples. 
  Isolated pockets of the Wielbark culture continued to exist in current northern Poland until the 5th century AD. From then it was replaced by the Sukow-Dziedzice group, which is associated with Early Slavs.
caption:   Götaland   Gotland   Wielbark culture in the early 3rd century   Chernyakhov culture in the early 4th century   Roman Empire
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