Szczecin – A medieval town at the mouth of the river Odra on the southern coast of the Baltic

Abstract

Szczecin in one of the most important towns in Pomerania region. According to archaeological sources, the oldest Slavic settlement appeared here in the 8th century. Specific conditions prevailing in river mouths have favoured human settlements since prehistory but settlement processes and intensive transformations of the natural environment which accompanied them became very intensive in the Middle Ages. The landscape of the River Odra, which underwent transformations as a result of anthropogenic processes, was shaped primarily in the period of the last 16–15 thousand years. In the literature the problem of reconstructing the topography of the oldest part of today's Szczecin has been addressed. The aim of the article is to present the earliest stages of the formation of the city and the beginnings of the transformation of the natural environment as a result of anthropogenic processes, as well as ways of using natural resources.