Over the last few years, archaeologists have been finding more and more evidence for the existence of a civilisation on the Balkan peninsula which, between the 6th and 4th millennia BCE, was using a writing system long before the Mesopotamians. In this book, Harald Haarmann provides the first comprehensive insight into this enigmatic Old European culture which, until recently, was unknown. He describes trade routes and settlements, arts and crafts, the mythology and writing system of the Danube Civilisation; he traces its origins to the Black Sea area and shows which cultural influences it had on Ancient Greece and the Near East.
Harald Haarmann is one of the world's best-known linguists. He studied general linguistics, various philological disciplines and prehistory at the universities of Hamburg, Bonn, Coimbra and Bangor. He obtained his PhD in Bonn and his Habilitation (qualification at professorship level) in Trier. He taught and researched at a number of German and Japanese universities. Since 2003 he has been Vice-President of the Institute of Archaeomythology (main office in Sebastopol, California, USA) and director of its "European Branch" (located in Luumäki, Finland). Professor Haarmann has authored more than 70 books in German and English, some of which have been translated into over a dozen languages. In addition to this study on the Danube Civilisation, he has produced remarkable insights into the roots of ancient Greek civilisation and the early history of Rome. His work has earned him the Prix logos (1999), awarded by the Association européenne des linguistes et des professeurs de langues (Paris) and the Premio Jean Monnet (Genova, 1999) for essay writing. In 2006 he received the Plato Award (UK). He lives and works in Finland.
Contents
The puzzle of a 7,000 year-old civilisation
9
1. The transition to the Neolithic in Europe
(ca. 7500-5500 BCE)
13
Early farmers in Southeast Europe 14
The emergence of regional cultures 40
Cultural timeline of Old Europe 48
2. In search of the Old Europeans
51
The genetic footprint 51
Linguistic traces 56
3. Commerce and living space
79
Trade routes and commodities 79
Settlements and architecture 88
Religious sites and graves 99
4. Arts and crafts
109
Weaving and textiles 110
Pottery and firing techniques 114
Metallurgy 118
Art forms and cultural symbols 122
5. Model of an egalitarian society
141
Matriarchal or matrilineal? 144
Families and clans 146
Oecumene and trade 148
6. Religion and mythology
153
The world view of hunter-gatherers and farmers 155
Female deities in Old Europe 156
The bull - Animal symbols as attributes of the goddess 160
Cults and rituals 161
Music and dance 169
7. Counting, measuring, recording
173
Numerical signs and numerology 173
Calendrical notation 175
Weights and measures 180
Potter's or ownership marks 181
8. The invention of writing
183
Origin and development of the Danube script 184
The spread of writing in Old Europe 190
Writing materials, inscriptions and varieties of text 193
The repertory of Old European signs 196
Written legacy of the Danube Civilisation 200
A script in the service of religion 212
The demise of the use of writing 214
9. The decline and legacy of the Danube Civilisation
(from around 4500 BCE)
217
Political and cultural upheavals 218
The Balkan-Ancient Aegean cultural drift 227
Minoan-Cypriot contacts: How Aegean script was exported 243
Epilogue
249
Bibliography
259
Key to inside cover map
279
Over the last few years, archaeologists have been finding more and more evidence for the existence of a civilisation on the Balkan peninsula which, between the 6th and 4th millennia BCE, was using a writing system long before the Mesopotamians. In this book, Harald Haarmann provides the first comprehensive insight into this enigmatic Old European culture which, until recently, was unknown. He describes trade routes and settlements, arts and crafts, the mythology and writing system of the Danube Civilisation; he traces its origins to the Black Sea area and shows which cultural influences it had on Ancient Greece and the Near East.
Harald Haarmann is one of the world's best-known linguists. He studied general linguistics, various philological disciplines and prehistory at the universities of Hamburg, Bonn, Coimbra and Bangor. He obtained his PhD in Bonn and his Habilitation (qualification at professorship level) in Trier. He taught and researched at a number of German and Japanese universities. Since 2003 he has been Vice-President of the Institute of Archaeomythology (main office in Sebastopol, California, USA) and director of its "European Branch" (located in Luumäki, Finland). Professor Haarmann has authored more than 70 books in German and English, some of which have been translated into over a dozen languages. In addition to this study on the Danube Civilisation, he has produced remarkable insights into the roots of ancient Greek civilisation and the early history of Rome. His work has earned him the Prix logos (1999), awarded by the Association européenne des linguistes et des professeurs de langues (Paris) and the Premio Jean Monnet (Genova, 1999) for essay writing. In 2006 he received the Plato Award (UK). He lives and works in Finland.
Contents
The puzzle of a 7,000 year-old civilisation
9
1. The transition to the Neolithic in Europe
(ca. 7500-5500 BCE)
13
Early farmers in Southeast Europe 14
The emergence of regional cultures 40
Cultural timeline of Old Europe 48
2. In search of the Old Europeans
51
The genetic footprint 51
Linguistic traces 56
3. Commerce and living space
79
Trade routes and commodities 79
Settlements and architecture 88
Religious sites and graves 99
4. Arts and crafts
109
Weaving and textiles 110
Pottery and firing techniques 114
Metallurgy 118
Art forms and cultural symbols 122
5. Model of an egalitarian society
141
Matriarchal or matrilineal? 144
Families and clans 146
Oecumene and trade 148
6. Religion and mythology
153
The world view of hunter-gatherers and farmers 155
Female deities in Old Europe 156
The bull - Animal symbols as attributes of the goddess 160
Cults and rituals 161
Music and dance 169
7. Counting, measuring, recording
173
Numerical signs and numerology 173
Calendrical notation 175
Weights and measures 180
Potter's or ownership marks 181
8. The invention of writing
183
Origin and development of the Danube script 184
The spread of writing in Old Europe 190
Writing materials, inscriptions and varieties of text 193
The repertory of Old European signs 196
Written legacy of the Danube Civilisation 200
A script in the service of religion 212
The demise of the use of writing 214
9. The decline and legacy of the Danube Civilisation
(from around 4500 BCE)
217
Political and cultural upheavals 218
The Balkan-Ancient Aegean cultural drift 227
Minoan-Cypriot contacts: How Aegean script was exported 243
Epilogue
249
Bibliography
259
Key to inside cover map
279
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