Early History
The first signs of genus Homo in Silesia date to between 230,000 and 100,000 years ago. The Silesian region between the upper Vistula and upper Oder was the northern extreme of the human penetration at the time of the last glaciation. The anatomically-modern human is estimated to have arrived in Silesia about 35,000 years ago. Subsequently, Silesia was inhabited by people who belonged to changing archaeological cultures in the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages, and the ethnic identity of whose cannot currently be determined. The civilization of Old Europe undoubtedly included Silesia. In the late Bronze Age, the Lusatian culture (in the past, variously speculated to be either 'pre-Germanic', Proto-Slavic, Thracian, Karpo-Dacian or Illyrian) covered Silesia. Later, the Scythians and Celts (the tribes of Boii, Cotini and Osi) are known to have played a role within the Silesian territory. Still later Germanic tribes migrated to Silesia, possibly from Northern Germany or Scandinavia.
The first written sources about Silesia came down from the Egyptian Claudius Ptolemaeus (Magna Germania) and the Roman Gaius Cornelius Tacitus (Germania). According to Tacitus, the 1st century Silesia was inhabited by a multi-ethnic league dominated by the Lugii. The Silingi were also part of this federation, and most likely a Vandalic people (Germanic) that lived south of the Baltic Sea in the Laba, later Elbe, Oder and Vistula river areas. Also, other East Germanic tribes inhabited the region.
After c. AD 500, the migration period had induced the bulk of the East Germanic tribes to continue their migration and leave Silesia towards Southern Europe, while Slavic tribes began to appear and spread including into the Silesian lands. Early documents mention a few mostly Slavic tribes probably living in Silesia (Silesian tribes). The Bavarian Geographer (c. AD 845) specifies the following peoples: the Ślężanie, Dzhadoshanie, Opolanie, Lupiglaa and Golęszycy. A document of the Bishopric of Prague (1086) also mentions the Zlasane, Trebovyane, Poborane and Dedositze.
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