Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 January 2015
The problem of identification of the earliest Slavic settlement in central Europe drew researchers’ attention to the archaeological finds of the Late Roman and Migration periods. The simple hand-made pottery of this period in the northern Danube region showed a certain formal resemblance to the vessels of Early Slavic cultures, which provoked the idea of a direct time connection between the first wave of the Slav expansion from the east and the horizon of the preceding Germanic settlement in this territory. A find group from northeast Slovakia, known mainly from the small settlement at Presov (Chropovský 1962; Točík 1965; Chropovský & Ruttkay 1985), the ’Prešov‘ type, seemed to provide the geographical connection of this ethnic shift. However, different opinions were also expressed, pointing to a possible relationship with the Late Przeworsk culture milieu (Budinský-Krička 1963: 36–7), or connecting the genesis of the Prešov finds with the development of local settlement of the Later Roman period (Lamiová-Schmiedlová 1969: 478; Kolník 1980: 202). Investigations in the North Carpathian area has provided new evidence during the last few years enabling a first evaluation of its settlement.