Przeworsk culture

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The green area is the Przeworsk culture in the first half of the 3rd century. The red area is the extent of the Wielbark culture, the yellow area is a Baltic culture (Yotvingian?), and the pink area is the Debczyn Culture. The dark blue area is the Roman Empire

The Przeworsk culture is part of an Iron Age archaeological complex that dates from the 2nd century BC to the 4th century. It was located in what is now central and southern Poland and parts of eastern Slovakia and Carpathian Ruthenia ranging between the Odra and the middle and upper Vistula Rivers into the headwaters of the Dnestr and Tisza Rivers. It takes its name from the village near the town Przeworsk where the first artefacts were found.

The immediately preceding and more widespread Lusatian culture occupied this same area. To the east, in what is now northern part of Ukraine and southern Belarus, was the Zarubintsy culture, to which it is linked as a larger archaeological complex. In the east and to the north of the Zarubintsy culture was the Chernoles culture, which is usually identified as a very early Slavic community, representing a stage near to Proto-Slavic.

At its northeastern edge, the Goths developed the Wielbark culture along the lower and middle Vistula. To the northeast of the Goths, there was a Baltic (and likely Baltic-speaking) culture, perhaps the Aesti.

Roman-era writers report this area as being occupied by Lugians. A substantial effort has been expended in the past to characterize this as an early Slavic-speaking community. Modern thinking, however, leans towards assigning the culture to an East-Germanic-speaking people who likely evolved into the Vandals, though doubtless there was overlapping interpenetration with Slavic-speakers. The early Burgundians occupied portions of the area towards the end of this cultural period. Also, the Veneti, who seem to have been assimilated by both Slavic and Germanic peoples (see Relation between Veneti and Slavs) were found exactly here.