and Krajenskian lakes) and stretched southwards, into the region around Poznań. Here it ejected the Przeworsk culture, which is often associated with the Vandals. Rather than being entirely replaced, archaeological evidence suggest that the Przeworks were to a certain extent absorbed by the Wielbark. The southward expansion of the Wielbark burial habits has been connected with the beginning of the Marcomannic Wars. By 200 AD, people of the Wielbark culture appear to have been recruited as soldiers in the Roman Army. In the first half of the 3rd century AD, the Wielbark culture expanded southwards along the Vistula and Bug towards the upper Dniester. Meanwhile, Pomeranian settlements by the Baltic Sea were somewhat, but not entirely, abandoned. This expansion was swifter and on an even larger scale than previous ones, and represented a significant shift of Wielbark power towards the south. Archaeological and linguistics evidence suggest that the expansion involved both men, women and children. The Gothic attack on Histria in 238 is probably connected with this expansion. North of the Black Sea, the Wielbark culture played a decisive role in the formation of the Chernyakhov culture in the late 3rd century AD, which by the 4th century AD would cover a huge area between the Danube and the Don River. Though historically controversial, it is now universally accepted that the origins of the Chernyakhov culture lie primarily in the Wielbark culture, and that the former represents a culture dominated by the Goths and other Germanic peoples. Isolated pockets of the Wielbark culture continued to exist in current northern Poland until the 5th century AD. From then it was replaced by the Sukow-Dziedzice group, which is associated with Early Slavs. Ethnicity The Wielbark culture has been described by archaeologists as a culture which continued both Germanic and non-Germanic people, which developed from the previous Oksywie material culture, with some influences from Scandinavia. Roman authors described the Gutones, Rugii and Lemovii as living in the same approximate area. The Gutones have traditionally been equated to the ancestors of the Goths from Scandza (Scandinavia) to Gothiscandza as related in Jordanes' account of their origin. While such Scandinavian influence may well have played a part, the identical geographical extent and persistent use of Oksywie cemeteries suggest that the Wielbark Culture emerged from previous human settlements in the area, with new groups of Scandinavian immigrants making contributions to it as they arrived. Based upon