Editing History of Poland (section)

==Prehistory and protohistory==
{{further|Prehistory and protohistory of Poland|Poland in the Early Middle Ages}}
[[File:Krzemionki 20150519 6511.jpg|thumb|right|[[Krzemionki|Krzemionki Flint Mine]], once a source of material for [[Neolithic]] toolmaking, features an example of [[Rock art|ancient parietal art]] – a linear [[pictogram]] of a female [[deity]]. It is now a [[List of World Heritage Sites in Poland|UNESCO World Heritage Site]].]] 

In [[prehistory|prehistoric]] and [[protohistory|protohistoric]] times, over a period of approximately 500,000 years, the area of present-day Poland was intermittently inhabited by members of the [[genus]] ''[[Homo]]''.<ref name="auto1">{{Harvnb|Jurek|Kizik|2013|p=40}}.</ref> The earliest evidence of ''[[Homo erectus]]'' activity in the form of [[microlith]] artifacts was discovered at [[Trzebnica]], in [[Lower Silesian Voivodeship|Lower Silesia]].<ref name="auto1"/><ref>{{Harvnb|Chauhan|2009|p=202}}.</ref> It remains the oldest [[archeological site]] in the country, dating back to the [[Lower Paleolithic]] period of the [[Stone Age]].<ref name="auto1"/> The southern regions of Poland were subsequently penetrated by sporadic groups of [[Neanderthal]]s.<ref name="auto1"/> Their presence was confirmed by the [[stone tools]] unearthed in caves of the [[Kraków-Częstochowa Upland]], a [[limestone]] formation with hills, [[cliff]]s and valleys that came to be known as the Polish Jura.<ref name="auto1"/>

The arrival of ''[[Homo sapiens]]'' and [[Early European modern humans|anatomically modern humans]] coincided with the climatic discontinuity at the end of the [[Last Glacial Period]] ([[Weichselian glaciation]]) around 10,000 BC, when Poland became warmer and habitable.<ref>{{Harvnb|Jurek|2019|p=93}}.</ref> It allowed various groups of early humans to pass the [[Sudeten Mountains]] through the [[Moravian Gate]] and the [[Kłodzko Valley]] into Lower Silesia.<ref name="auto2">{{Harvnb|Jurek|Kizik|2013|pp=40–41}}.</ref> The [[Neolithic]] period ushered in the [[Linear Pottery culture]], whose founders belonged to the [[Danubian culture]] and migrated from the [[Danube|Danube River]] area beginning about 5500 BC.<ref name="auto2"/> This culture was distinguished by the establishment of the first settled [[agriculture|agricultural]] communities in modern Polish territory.<ref name="auto2"/> Later, between about 4400 and 2000 BC, the native post-[[Mesolithic]] populations would also adopt and further develop the agricultural way of life.<ref name="UzP 32-53">{{Harvnb|Derwich|Żurek|2002|pp=32–53}}.</ref>

Excavations indicated broad-ranging development in the [[New Stone Age]]. Most notably, the oldest samples of European cheese (5500 BC) were found in the region of [[Kuyavia]], and a [[Bronocice pot|pot]] from [[Bronocice]] is incised with what is now believed to be the earliest-known portrayal of a wheeled vehicle (3400 BC).<ref>{{Harvnb|Subbaraman|2012}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Attema|Los-Weijns|Pers|2006|pp=10–28}}</ref> Toolmaking became more advanced and material was primarily sourced from quarries and mines in the [[Świętokrzyskie Mountains|Świętokrzyskie (Holy Cross) Mountains]].<ref name="auto">{{Harvnb|Jurek|Kizik|2013|p=41}}.</ref> Artifacts that originated in this mountain region were excavated as far as [[Moravia]] and near the [[Baltic Sea]].<ref name="auto"/> It is estimated that the [[List of World Heritage Sites in Poland|UNESCO]]-protected neolithic [[flint]] mines at [[Krzemionki]], one of Europe's largest, were utilised by the [[Funnelbeaker culture|Funnelbeaker]] and [[Globular Amphora culture|Globular Amphora]] cultures from 3900 BC to 1600 BC.<ref>{{Harvnb|Wierzbowski|2006|p=180}}</ref> The only surviving example of [[Rock art|ancient parietal art]] in Poland is at a flint shaft in Krzemionki and features a linear [[charcoal]] [[pictogram]] of a female figure or [[deity]] that has been since associated with fertility.<ref>{{Harvnb|Szafrański|1987|p=97}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Hensel|1983|p=97}}</ref>   

[[File:Brama biskupińska.jpg|thumb|right|Reconstructed [[Biskupin]] fortified settlement of the [[Lusatian culture]], 8th century BC.]]

Poland's [[Early Bronze Age]] began around 2400–2300 BC, whereas its [[Iron Age]] commenced c. 750–700 BC. One of the many cultures that have been uncovered, the [[Lusatian culture]], spanned the Bronze and Iron Ages and left notable settlement sites.<ref name="UzP 54-75">{{Harvnb|Derwich|Żurek|2002|pp=54–75}}.</ref> Around 400 BC, Poland was settled by [[Celts]] of the [[La Tène culture]]. They were soon followed by emerging cultures with a strong [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] component, influenced first by the Celts and then by the [[Roman Empire]]. The Germanic peoples migrated out of the area by about 500 AD during the great [[Migration Period]] of the European [[Dark Ages (historiography)|Dark Ages]]. Wooded regions to the north and east were settled by [[Balts]].<ref name="UzP 76-121">{{Harvnb|Derwich|Żurek|2002|pp=76–121}}.</ref>

According to some archaeological research, [[Slavs]] have resided in modern Polish territories for only 1,500 years.<ref name="UzP 122-143">{{Harvnb|Derwich|Żurek|2002|pp=122–143}}.</ref> However, recent genetic studies determined that the inhabitants of Poland are also the descendants of people from before the Migration Period.<ref name="journals.plos.org">{{Harvnb|Mielnik-Sikorska|2013}}.</ref> According to other archaeological and linguistic research, [[Early Slavs|early Slavic peoples]] were likely present in parts of Poland much earlier, and may have been associated with the ancient [[Przeworsk culture|Przeworsk]] culture of the 3rd century BC, though some Slavic groups may have arrived from the east in later periods.<ref>{{cite book |last=Buko |first=Andrzej |date=2008 |title=The Archaeology of Early Medieval Poland |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=i6A3Q1WQIroC |location=Leiden |publisher=Brill |page=57 |isbn=9789004162303}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Brather | first1 = Sebastian | year = 2004 | title = The Archaeology of the Northwestern Slavs (Seventh To Ninth Centuries) | journal = East Central Europe | volume = 31 | issue = 1| pages = 78–81 | doi = 10.1163/187633004x00116 |issn = 0094-3037 }}</ref><ref>Trubačev, O. N. 1985. ''Linguistics and Ethnogenesis of the Slavs: The Ancient Slavs as Evidenced by Etymology and Onomastics''. [http://www.jies.org/ ''Journal of Indo-European Studies'' (JIES)], 13: 203–256.</ref> The West Slavic and [[Lechites|Lechitic]] peoples as well as any remaining minority clans were organized into [[Tribe|tribal units]] ([[Polish tribes]]), as outlined by the anonymous [[Bavarian Geographer]] in the 9th century.<ref name="playground I xxvii">{{Harvnb|Davies|2005a|p=xxvii}}.</ref> Largely divided, it was the [[Polans (western)|Western Polans]] in the [[Greater Poland]] region who began a process of unification and created a lasting [[political system|political structure]] in the 10th century that subsequently became the [[State (polity)|state]] of Poland.<ref name="UzP 122-143"/>{{Ref label|x|x|none}}