Wleń/Lähn District in the Sudetes Foothills, Poland: A Case Study of Cultural Landscape Evolution of an East Central European Settlement Microregion From the Tenth to the Eighteenth Centuries

Abstract

The aim of the study is to reconstruct the evolution of the cultural landscape of a settlement microregion located in Central-Eastern Europe, in the Sudetes Foothills. The microregion selected for the research, Wleń, is a good example to study and describe phenomena that are also typical of other similar administrative and economic territories in this cultural zone during the medieval period and the modern era. Archaeological evidence, written and cartographic sources, Airborne Laser Scanning, Geographical Information System and geomagnetic research were used to reconstruct the development and forms of particular elements of the settlement and the economic structure.

Stone Walls as a Characteristic Feature of the Cultural Landscape of the Izera Mountains, southwestern Poland

“…In the low-located zone, at an altitude of around 200-350 m a.s.l., rare early medieval (tenth-twelfth century) settlements were established, but it was mainly in the thirteenth-fourteenth century that the settlement network dynamically developed. New villages, towns, and fortified residences were erected as a result of a planned colonization organized by Silesian rulers from the Piast Dynasty (Chorowska et al 2017). Settlers from the German lands were a demographic base for the campaign.…”

8th-10th century hillforts in the Sudetes – exploring current state of research and observations, towards new horizons

“…For Central Europe, such studies based on shaded relief models, often supported by aerial photographs and non-invasive prospection, were undertaken for prehistoric, medieval and modern sites (Andrzejewski, Sikora 2017;Engel, Sobczak 2019;Furmanek et al 2015;Furmanek, Wroniecki 2018;Gojda, John, Starková, 2011;Kittel et al 2019;Rodak, Wroniecki 2019;Šebková, John 2014). So far, such analyses encompassing the Sudetes have been scarce, covering selected medieval and modern periods (Chorowska et al 2017;Duma et al 2020;Fokt, Legut-Pintal 2018;Legut-Pintal, Rajski 2019, Lisowska, Rodak 2020Migoń, Latocha 2018).…”