The Mystery of the Danube Civilisation: The discovery of Europe's oldest civilisationmarixverlag, 2020 M05 29 - 288 pages Over the last few decades, archaeologists and cultural scientists have come to a better understanding of the extent of Neolithic civilisation on the Balkan peninsula. This Danube Civilisation, thriving between the 6th and 4th millennia BCE, was using a writing system long before the Mesopotamians and is remarkable for its accomplishments in craftsmanship, art and urban development. In this book, Harald Haarmann provides the first comprehensive insight into this enigmatic Old European culture, which is still largely unknown to the greater public. He describes the trade routes, settlements, mythology and writing system of this people, traces the changes resulting from the arrival of the Indo-Europeans, and shows how this first advanced civilisation in Europe influenced its successors. |
Contents
In search of the Old Europeans | |
Commerce and living space | |
Arts and crafts | |
Model of an egalitarian society | |
Religion and mythology | |
Common terms and phrases
3rd millennium BCE 5th millennium BCE Aegean agrarian agricultural altars Anatolia Ancient Greek animals anthropomorphic arable farming archaeologists area Balkans BCE Gimbutas Black Sea Bronze Age Bulgaria burial Çatalhöyük century BCE ceramic characters clan clay stamps Copper Age Crete Cucuteni Cucuteni culture cult cultural symbols Cyclades Cypriot Cyprus Danube Civilisation Danube script dates back decoration deity development double-headed axe early Neolithic evidence farmers female figurines fire flood form found function goddess grave Greece Haarmann houses hunter-gatherers indigenous Indo-European inscriptions Karanovo language later Lazarovici Linear loanwords Mediterranean Mesolithic Mesopotamia millennia Minoan models myths name Neolithic Nikolov number Old Europe Old European Old European cultural oldest origin ornamentation period population pottery pre-Greek prehistoric regional cultures religious repertory ritual role Romania sculptures Sesklo settlements signs social society Southeast Europe spondylus statuettes steppe nomads stylised Sumerian technology Thessaly trade tradition Trypillya culture Ukraine Varna vessels Vinča culture vocabulary women world writing system