The Mystery of the Danube Civilisation

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.



Harald Haarmann (* 1946) is one of the world's best-known linguists; PhD in Bonn, Habilitation (post-doctoral qualification) in Trier. He has been Vice-President of the Institute of Archaeomythology (director of its European office in Finland) since 2003; author of more than 70 books in German and English, some of which have been translated into over a dozen languages. In addition to his study of 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 (Paris, 1999), the Premio Jean Monnet (Genova, 1999) for essay writing, and the Plato Award (UK, 2006).



Contents



The puzzle of a 7,000 year-old civilisation



1. The transition to the Neolithic in Europe (ca. 7500–5500 BCE)



Early farmers in Southeast Europe

The emergence of regional cultures

Cultural timeline of Old Europe



2. In search of the Old Europeans



The genetic footprint

Linguistic traces



3. Commerce and living space



Trade routes and commodities

Settlements and architecture

Religious sites and graves



4. Arts and crafts



Weaving and textiles

Pottery and firing techniques

Metallurgy

Art forms and cultural symbols



5. Model of an egalitarian society



Matriarchal or matrilineal?

Families and clans

Oecumene and trade



6. Religion and mythology



The world view of hunter-gatherers and farmers

Female deities in Old Europe

The bull – Animal symbols as attributes of the goddess

Cults and rituals

Music and dance



7. Counting, measuring, recording



Numerical signs and numerology

Calendrical notation

Weights and measures

Potter's or ownership marks



8. The invention of writing



Origin and development of the Danube script

The spread of writing in Old Europe

Writing materials, inscriptions and varieties of text

The repertory of Old European signs

Written legacy of the Danube Civilisation

A script in the service of religion

The demise of the use of writing



9. The decline and legacy of the Danube Civilisation (from around 4500 BCE)



Political and cultural upheavals

The Balkan-Ancient Aegean cultural drift

Minoan-Cypriot contacts: How Aegean script was exported



Epilogue

Bibliography

Key to inside cover map