Use of a general ecological model for the reconstruction of prehistoric economy: The Hallstatt period culture of northwestern Poland

An ecological model of prehistoric economy is presented and illustrated in the case of cultures dated to the Hallstatt period of the Iron Age. The central theorem of the model is that a self-sufficient population must have such extractive efficiency as to supply the population with an amount of matter and energy sufficient to cover all its needs (nutritional, “hygenic”, technological, and organizational), under given environmental conditions. Appropriate quantitative measures of environmental conditions, extractive efficiency, and population needs are proposed, and relaitons between them presented. The model is applied to an actual case of “Biskupin-type” fortified settlements (about 500 B.C., northwest Poland) and their fall. This application is based on quantitative estimates of human needs and prehistoric extractive efficiency.