Pierwsi Słowianie nad Wisłą w rejonie Krakowa / The first Slavs on the Vistula River in the area of Kraków

The decline of antiquity, the Migration Period, was in Central Europe a time of fundamental changes, the content of which we are only gradually discovering. Stable settlement structures that existed here for centuries have mostly “disappeared” from the archaeological record. A new cultural quality has appeared: the Slavs. Eleven settlements dating back to the Early Slavic phase were discovered between Kraków-Mogiła and Wawrzeńczyce. Residents of these settlements began to arrive on the upper Vistula probably after the middle of the 5th century from eastern Europe, or more precisely from the upper Dnieper basin. In Poland, the earliest early Slavic sites, including those from the vicinity of Igołomia, are referred to as Prague culture. These small settlements consisted of a few semi-sunken dwellings, free-standing ovens and household pits. Handmade pottery has survived in their relics, and much less frequently other products, including “luxury” ones, such as combs, brooches and pendants. The population engaged mainly in agriculture, and non-agricultural production satisfied only domestic needs. Pots were made, wool was spun, fabrics were woven, wood tar was made, unsophisticated ornaments were cast, and iron was smelted from the ore, mainly for tools.