DOI: 10.33547/terra.fertilis00
Preface
by Marzena J. Przybyła 
, Judyta Rodzińska-Nowak , Michał Wojenka
in Terra fertilis, terra deserta. Exploitation of marginal zones, edited by M. J. Przybyła, J. Rodzińska-Nowak and M. Wojenka, Neue Studien zur Sachsenforschung 15, Braunschweig – Kraków: Braunschweigische Landesmuseum, Uniwersytet Jagielloński, Profil-Archeo, pp. 7-8.
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Terra fertilis, terra deserta. Exploitation of marginal zones is a collection of articles devoted to the issue of the exploitation of marginal zones—areas characterised by particularly challenging environmental conditions—in the long-term settlement, economic, and social processes of Northern and Central Europe from the Roman period to the Middle Ages. The point of departure or the reflections presented in this volume is an examination of the role these areas played in the past and of the changing significance attributed to them depending on cultural, political, demographic, and climatic conditions. The concept of marginal zones has long been present in archaeological, historical, and geographical research; however, its meaning remains ambiguous and strongly dependent on cultural, chronological, and scholarly contexts. These areas, often perceived as peripheral, inhospitable, or even ’empty,’ in reality rarely lay entirely outside the sphere of human interest. On the contrary, archaeological and historical evidence demonstrates that zones with limited environmental potential were exploited in a variety of ways: as areas for the extraction of specific resources, spaces of seasonal economic activity, communication corridors, and, at times, even as settlement areas during periods of heightened political, demographic, or climatic stress. The issue of exploiting marginal zones encourages a reconsideration of the relationship between humans and the natural environment. It also prompts reflection on the notion of the 'profitability’ of settlement, the flexibility of economic strategies, and the capacity of past societies to adapt under conditions of changing constraints and opportunities. Marginal zones were not a fixed category—their status could change dynamically depending on political circumstances, demographic pressure, available technologies, or climatic shifts. What in one period was considered terra deserta could in another become terra fertilis.
The thematic scope of the volume encompasses a wide range of research problems. The authors address, among other things, definitional issues related to the identification of marginal zones and the role of cultural factors in settlement choice. An important thread concerns landscape perception and its conceptualisation—the question of how past societies perceived 'borderlands,’ wastelands, or wild areas, and what meanings they attributed to them. A significant part of the volume consists of studies devoted
to mobility, both that resulting from seasonal economic practices and long-distance movements associated with trade, transport, or migration. In this context, the emergence of specialised social groups capable of functioning under conditions of limited resource availability or employing niche economic strategies is also discussed.
Several articles address the issue of climatic changes in Late Antiquity and the potential application of palaeoclimatic research results in analyses of settlement patterns. Environmental changes, such as fluctuations in temperature, humidity, or the availability of arable land, had a substantial impact on the attractiveness of particular regions and could contribute to the intensification of colonisation processes in areas previously regarded as marginal. Palaeodemographic issues constitute another important theme of the volume. The authors analyse the influence of changes in population size, settlement pressure, and the overexploitation of economically attractive core areas on the expansion of settlement zones into peripheral regions. From this perspective, marginal zones appear not only as spaces of 'last resort,’ but also as areas offering alternative development opportunities in times of crisis. Settlement in marginal zones was also often directly linked to political events—conflicts, shifts in borders, the collapse of
existing power structures, or transformations of administrative systems. The volume analyses cases in which peripheral regions became refuges, economic hinterlands, or spaces for settlement experimentation during periods of destabilisation.
Equally intriguing is the role of marginal and wild areas as communication barriers—fear zones—but also as places of contact and exchange. Some of the studies consider the possibility that such areas functioned as points of interaction between different cultural groups, or even as potential 'trading ports’ in the broad sense of exchange infrastructure. The volume comprises a total of 21 articles presenting research conducted in various regions of Northern and Central Europe. They are organised into three sections. The first places its primary emphasis on peripheral areas, while the second focuses on core regions, with full awareness of the relativity of these concepts in terms of time and space—both in the lived experience of historical actors and in the interpretations offered by scholars—and of the fact that such a dualism ultimately represents a considerable simplification. The third section includes articles devoted to the most recent discoveries and research. The chronological diversity, spanning from the Roman period to the Middle Ages, allows for the identification of long-term pro-cesses and the comparison of different models of how marginal zones functioned under changing socio-economic conditions. We hope that bringing together such a wide range of research perspectives will contribute to deepening the discussion on the
role of peripheries in European history and inspire further studies on the relationship between environment and human societies.
The context for the creation of this volume was the 73rd edition of the Sachsensymposion, held in Kraków from 17 to 21 September 2022 and hosted by the Institute of Archaeology of the Jagiellonian University. The meeting brought together 89 participants and provided an important forum for the intensive exchange of knowledge, experience, and reflection on the issue of marginal zones in research on the past of Northern and Central Europe. An integral part of the programme was also a scientific excursion to the Kraków–Częstochowa Upland, which enabled participants to become directly acquainted with the specific character of this region—an area that in various historical periods functioned as marginal in relation to the fertile loess lands of the Kraków region. In concluding this introduction, we wish to mention the person to whom this volume is dedicated. On 18 November 2024, our esteemed colleague Babette Ludowici passed away. During the annual conference in Kraków in September 2022, the results of which are presented in this volume, Babette was—by broad support of the participants—elected the new chair of the Sachsensymposion. Long before this election, she had been deeply involved in the activities of the symposium, both as a member of its board and as an editor of the series Neue Studien zur Sachsenforschung, in which this volume is published. Although an incurable illness prevented Babette from realising many of the ideas and plans associated with her role as chair, the Sachsensymposion and its participants remained close to her until her final days. We are convinced that she would have read this volume with her characteristic enthusiasm, curiosity, and insight. For this reason, we dedicate it to her memory.