Editing Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (section)

===Prehistory===
{{See also|Megaliths in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern}}
[[File:Putgarten, Kap Arkona (2011-05-21) 3.JPG|thumb|right|Slavic ring fortress at [[Cape Arkona]], [[Rügen|Rügen Island]]]]
Human settlement in the area of modern Mecklenburg and Vorpommern began after the [[Last Glacial Period|Ice Age]], about 10,000 BC. About two thousand years ago, [[Germanic peoples]] were recorded in the area. Most of them left during the [[Migration Period]], heading towards Spain, Italy, and France, leaving the area relatively deserted. In the sixth century [[Polabian Slavs]] populated the area. While Mecklenburg was settled by the [[Obotrites]], Pomerania was settled by the [[Veleti]] (later ''Liuticians'') and the [[Rani (Slavic tribe)|Rani]].<ref name=MN>Michael North, ''The Baltic: A History'' (2015), pp. 187–189</ref>

Along the coast, [[Viking]]s and [[Slavs]] established trade posts like [[Reric]], [[Ralswiek]] and [[Altes Lager Menzlin|Menzlin]]. In the early 12th century, Hither Pomerania passed under Polish suzerainty under [[Bolesław III Wrymouth]], who initiated [[Christianization of Pomerania|Christianization]], entrusting this task to [[Otto of Bamberg]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Medley|first=D. J.|year=2004|title=The church and the empire|publisher=Kessinger Publishing|page=152}}</ref> In the late 12th century, Mecklenburg and Hither Pomerania were conquered by [[Henry the Lion]] and briefly incorporated into the [[Duchy of Saxony]], joining the [[Holy Roman Empire]] in the 1180s. Parts of Mecklenburg and Pomerania were settled with [[Germans]] in the ''[[Ostsiedlung]]'' process, starting in the 12th century.<ref name=MN/>