Before Santok became a stronghold known as the “guard and key of the kingdom”, it was a thriving centre, which began with a settlement established in the proglacial valley at the confluence of the rivers by a community participating in the exchange process. Archaeological sources indicate interactions between the Baltic zone and the Oder basin and the flow of goods along the Warta-Noteć route as early as the 8th century. For a century, the seemingly peripheral area was transformed into a place of great importance and potential, integrated with distant territories, as a nodal point in the network of water connections. At the end of the 9th century, the settlement was surrounded by ramparts and the topography of the stronghold was changing. The need to take control of a node in the communication network was the reason for including Santok in the structures of the organised Piast state. It became a multifunctional centre in the system of state strongholds.
