Environmental Conditions of Settlement of the Danubian Communities in the Northern Foreland of the Sandomierz Upland

The article raises the issue of the nature, intensity and environmental conditions of the settlement processes occurring on the borderline of the loessic Sandomierz Upland and the sandyclay areas of the Iłża Foothills, between the end of the 6th and the beginning of the 4th millennia BC. The results of previously conducted research confirm the high settlement activity in these areas, throughout the period of development of the Danubian cultural groups. The obtained data document the phenomenon of the formation and functioning of the early-agricultural settlement centres in upland areas, located outside the range of compact loess cover, i.e. within ecological and landscape zones that diverge from the basic preferences of the Danubian communities, inhabiting the upland areas of the upper Vistula basin.