The significance of the gateways on the outskirts of the Odra (Oder) river drainage basin for early medieval communication routes

Abstract Gateways on waterways play a special role, providing links to neighbouring river drainage basins and their communities. In addition to inter-regional as well as local communication, water links were also of strategic and economic importance. The main objective of this study is to characterise the most important gateways connecting the Odra (Oder) drainage basin area with neighbouring areas in terms of their potential for communication and transport in the early medieval period (8 th to 11 th century), as well as to determine to what extent/degree the gateways delineated in a physiographic context relate to the gateway city model, formulated and developed intensively in the 1970s and 1980s with particular emphasis on Santok as a place on the main waterways of the area. In this paper 17 gateways located on the watershed of the Odra (Oder) drainage basin. Taking into account physiographic features, four categories of gateways were distinguished: easy gateways, gateways of medium difficulty, difficult gateways and very difficult gateways. A number of techniques were considered necessary in crossing most gateways, such as dragging, threading boats with or without goods, carrying by people, transporting on sleds, skids or wagons. The study results indicate that the communities living in the Odra (Oder) drainage basin area and the lofty Pomeranian Lakeland hump clearly directed their interests towards the regions immediately around the Baltic Sea, which, thanks to its long-distance water communication, formed a particularly privileged commercial and cultural area.