After the 

glaciers of the Vistula Glacial

Stage retreated from Pomerania during the Allerød
oscillation,[2] a warming period that falls within
the Early Stone Age, they left a tundra. First humans
appeared, hunting reindeer in the summer.[53] A
climate change in 8000 BC[54] allowed hunters and
foragers of the Maglemosian culture,[2] and from
6000 BC of the Ertebølle-Ellerbek culture, to
continuously inhabit the area.[55] These people
became influenced by farmers of the Linear Pottery
culture who settled in southern Pomerania.[55][56] The
hunters of the Ertebølle-Ellerbek culture became
farmers of the Funnelbeaker culture in 3000 BC.[55]
[57]
 The Havelland culture dominated in
the Uckermark from 2500 to 2000 BC.[58] In 2400 BC,
the Corded Ware culture reached Pomerania[58][59] and
introduced the domestic horse.[59] Both Linear Pottery
and Corded Ware culture have been associated
with Indo-Europeans.[59] Except for Western
Pomerania,[58] the Funnelbeaker culture was replaced
by the Globular Amphora culture a thousand years
later.[60]
During the Bronze Age, Western Pomerania was
part of the Nordic Bronze Age cultures, while east of
the Oder the Lusatian culture dominated.
[61]
 Throughout the Iron Age, the people of the
western Pomeranian areas belonged to the Jastorf
culture,[62][63] while the Lusatian culture of the East
was succeeded by the Pomeranian culture,[62] then in
150 BC by the Oxhöft (Oksywie) culture, and at the
beginning of the first millennium by the Willenberg
(Wielbark) Culture.[62]
While the Jastorf culture is usually associated
with Germanic peoples,[64] the ethnic category of
the Lusatian culture and its successors is debated.
[65]
 Veneti, Germanic peoples (Goths, Rugians,
and Gepids) and possibly Slavs are assumed to
have been the bearers of these cultures or parts
thereof.[65]
Beginning in the 3rd century, many settlements were
abandoned,[66] marking the beginning of the Migration
Period in Pomerania. It is assumed
that Burgundians, Goths and Gepids with parts of
the Rugians left Pomerania during that stage, while
some Veneti, Vidivarii and other, Germanic
groups remained,[67] and formed
the Gustow, Debczyn and late Willenberg cultures,
which existed in Pomerania until the 6th century.[66]
Timeline 10,000 BC–600 AD[edit]
Pomeranian culture - Pomerelian faced urns

 ~10,000 BC (Early Stone Age): first humans

hunt in Pomerania after the Ice Age glaciers left
(Hamburg culture,[3] a subgroup of the Ahrensburg
culture)[2]
 8000–3000 BC (Middle Stone
Age): Maglemosian culture,[2] Ertebølle-Ellerbek
culture (Lietzow subgroup)[2][6][55]
 3000–1900 BC (Late Stone Age): Linear Pottery
culture,[55][56] Funnelbeaker culture,[55][57] Havelland
culture,[58] Corded Ware culture,[58][59] Globular
Amphora culture[58]
 1900–~550 BC (Bronze Age): Nordic Bronze
Age (Western Pomerania),[68] Lusatian
Culture (Eastern Pomerania)[61]
 ~550 BC–~250 AD (Iron Age): Jastorf
culture (Western Pomerania, 550–50 BC),[62]
[63]
 Pomeranian culture (Pomerelia, 650–150 BC),
[62]
 Oxhöft (Oksywie) culture (Pomerelia, 150 BC–1
AD), Willenberg (Wielbark) culture (Pomerelia, 1–
250 AD).[62] In part associated
 with Veneti and Germanic
peoples[64] like Suebi, Goths, and Rugians.
 since 200: Migration Period: great parts of the
population move south, associated
with Burgundians, Goths, Gepids, and parts of
the Rugians[67]
 3rd–6th centuries: Gustow group in Western
Pomerania, Dębczyn (Denzin) culture in most
of Farther Pomerania, late stage of the Willenberg
(Wielbark) culture in Pomerelia and some areas
west of it. Associated with Rugian remains and
other Germanic tribes, Vistula Veneti,
and Vidivarii.[67]

Early Middle Ages[edit]

A priest of Svantevit depicted on a stone from Arkona,

now in the church of Altenkirchen
Main article: Pomerania during the Early Middle
Ages
The southward movement of Germanic
tribes and Veneti during the Migration Period had left
Pomerania largely depopulated by the 7th century.
[69]
 Between 650 and 850 AD, West Slavic
tribes settled in Pomerania.[70][71] These tribes were
collectively known as "Pomeranians" between
the Oder and Vistula rivers, or as "Veleti" (later
"Liuticians") west of the Oder. A distinct tribe,
the Rani, was based on the island of Rügen and the
adjacent mainland.[7][72] In the 8th and 9th
centuries, Slavic-Scandinavian emporia were set up
along the coastline as powerful centres of craft and
trade.[73]
In 936, the Holy Roman Empire set up
the Billung and Northern marches in Western
Pomerania, divided by the Peene. The Liutician
federation, in an uprising of 983, managed to regain
independence, but broke apart in the course of the
11th century because of internal conflicts.[9]
[74]
 Meanwhile, Polish Piasts managed to acquire
parts of eastern Pomerania during the late 960s,
where the Diocese of Kołobrzeg was installed in
1000 AD. The Pomeranians regained independence
during the Pomeranian uprising of 1005.[10][12][13][failed
verification][14][15][75][76][77][78][79]