 Clearing activities, during which sowing was conducted in places of cut down and burned forest, were common among the northwestern Slavs, hence, Lavrovsky concludes that in ancient times the words Liakh=Lech (лѧх = лях = лех) referred to a person who conducted clearings, a farmer, or a landowner.In pre-Slavic times the region was populated by the Lugii and Anarti, associated with the Przeworsk and Puchov cultures.They were followed by East Germanic tribes, the Goths and Vandals.