Abstract - Prehistoric cultures of warriors or warriors of prehistoric cultures?
The article primarily aims at answering the question about the presence of warriors in prehistoric cultures of Central Europe. The author studies this issue on the basis of archaeological sources (material evidence of the existence of the cultures). He also uses written sources from the late antiquity. He concludes that prehistoric weapons are of crucial importance and their interpretation depends mainly on the contexts they are found in. What is also significant is the quality and quantity of particular types of armament. There are many arguments in support of the thesis concerning prevalence of symbols and meanings of e.g. the sword. In a synthetic sense, we can talk about two basic models: presence of a culture of warriors (referring mostly to the nomads) or just knowledge of war craft (referring to settled, farming communities).