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46-627: Old Europe or Old European may refer to: Old Europe (archaeology) (c. 6500 – c. 2800 BC), a culture of Neolithic Europe Old European languages , the mostly unknown languages that were spoken in Europe prior to the spread of the Indo-European and Uralic families Old European script , Vinča symbols Old European hydronymy (c. 2500 – c. 1500 BC), in Central and Western Europe "Old Europe",

92-534: A context of extreme aridification in the area in the wake of the 4.2-kiloyear climatic event , which roughly coincided with the transition from the Copper Age to the Bronze Age. Increased precipitation and recovery of the water table from about 1800 BC onward should have led to the forsaking of the motillas (which may have flooded) and the redefinition of the relation of the inhabitants of the territory with

138-426: A far-ranging trade network. This network imported tin and charcoal to Cyprus , where copper was mined and alloyed with the tin to produce bronze . Bronze objects were then exported far and wide and supported the trade. Isotopic analysis of the tin in some Mediterranean bronze objects indicates it came from as far away as Great Britain . Knowledge of navigation was well developed at this time and reached

184-679: A link to the East. It was preceded by the Yamnaya culture and succeeded by the western Corded Ware culture . The eastern Corded Ware culture ( Fatyanovo–Balanovo culture ) gave rise to the Abashevo culture , followed by the Sintashta culture , where the earliest known spoked-wheel chariots have been found, dating from c.  2000 BC . The Catacomb culture in the Pontic steppe was succeeded by

230-487: A network of palace states that developed rigid hierarchical, political, social and economic systems. At the head of this society was the king, known as wanax . A study in the journal Antiquity from 2013 reported the discovery of a tin bronze foil from the Pločnik archaeological site dated to c.  4650 BC , as well as 14 other artefacts from Serbia and Bulgaria dated to before 4000 BC, showed that early tin bronze

276-509: A new interdisciplinary field, archaeomythology . In historical times, some ethnonyms are believed to correspond to Pre-Indo-European peoples, assumed to be the descendants of the earlier Old European cultures: the Pelasgians , Minoans , Leleges , Iberians , Nuragic people , Etruscans , Rhaetians , Camunni and Basques . Two of the three pre-Greek peoples of Sicily, the Sicans and

322-569: A peak of skill not exceeded until a method was discovered (or perhaps rediscovered) to determine longitude around AD 1750. Around 1600 BC, the eruption of Thera destroyed the site of Akrotiri and damaged Minoan sites in eastern Crete . The further impact of this event is poorly understood. Starting in the 15th century BC, the Mycenaeans began to spread their influence throughout the Aegean and Western Anatolia. By c.  1450 BC ,

368-742: A system of primitive notation, if not writing. Neolithic Europe refers to the time between the Mesolithic and Bronze Age periods in Europe , roughly from 7000 BC (the approximate time of the first farming societies in Greece ) to c. 2000 BC (the beginning of the Bronze Age in Scandinavia ). Its peak period is estimated as 5000–3500 BC, during which its population centers exceeded the first Mesopotamian cities. A high level of craft skill and trade

414-476: A term for pre-modern (i.e. pre-1800) European history coined by Austrian historian Otto Brunner "Old Europe" (politics) , used by former U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld Old Europe, New Europe, Core Europe , a book See also [ edit ] Ancient Europe (disambiguation) History of Europe New Europe (disambiguation) Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with

460-783: Is characterized by bronze artifacts and the use of bronze implements. The regional Bronze Age succeeds the Neolithic and Copper Age and is followed by the Iron Age . It starts with the Aegean Bronze Age in 3200 BC and spans the entire 2nd millennium BC (including the Unetice culture , Ottomány culture , British Bronze Age , Argaric culture , Nordic Bronze Age , Tumulus culture , Nuragic culture , Terramare culture , Urnfield culture and Lusatian culture ), lasting until c.  800 BC in central Europe. Arsenical bronze

506-694: Is characterized by cremation burials. It includes the Lusatian culture in eastern Germany and Poland (1300–500 BC) that continues into the Iron Age . The Central European Bronze Age is followed by the Iron Age Hallstatt culture (800–450 BC). The Italian Bronze Age is conditionally divided into four periods: The Early Bronze Age (2300–1700 BC), the Middle Bronze Age (1700–1350 BC), the Recent Bronze Age (1350–1150 BC),

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552-439: Is divided into the periods I–VI, according to Oscar Montelius . Period Montelius V, already belongs to the Iron Age in other regions. In Great Britain , the Bronze Age is considered to have been the period from around 2100 to 700 BC. Immigration brought new people to the islands from the continent. Recent tooth enamel isotope research on bodies found in early Bronze Age graves around Stonehenge indicate that at least some of

598-440: Is evident from tons of recovered copper artifacts and a small amount of gold, as well as pottery and carved items. These include the period's signature female figurines which have raised interest in the role of the society's women, as well as suspected proto-writing . Regardless of specific chronology, many European Neolithic groups share basic characteristics, such as living in small-scale communities, being more egalitarian than

644-589: The Cypriots , the lost waxing technique was introduced to create several hundred bronze statuettes and other tools. The Nuragic civilization survived throughout the early Iron Age when the sanctuaries were still in use, stone statues were crafted and some Nuraghi were reused as temples. In northern Germany , Denmark , Sweden and Norway , Bronze Age cultures manufactured many distinctive and artistic artifacts. This includes lur horns, horned ceremonial helmets, sun discs, gold jewelry and some unexplained finds like

690-605: The Elymians , may also have been pre-Indo-European. How many Pre-Indo-European languages existed is not known. Nor is it known whether the ancient names of peoples descended from the pre-ancient population actually referred to speakers of distinct languages. Gimbutas (1989), observing a unity of symbols marked especially on pots, but also on other objects, concluded that there may have been a single language spoken in Old Europe. She thought that decipherment would have to wait for

736-673: The Multi-cordoned Ware culture , and the Srubnaya culture from c.  the 17th century BC . Important sites include: In Central Europe , the early Bronze Age Unetice culture (2300–1600 BC) includes numerous smaller groups like the Straubingen , Adlerberg and Hatvan cultures. Some very rich burials, such as the one located at Leubingen (today part of Sömmerda ) with grave gifts crafted from gold, point to an increase of social stratification already present in

782-634: The Pontic–Caspian steppe (the " Kurgan culture") who brought with them violence, patriarchy , and Indo-European languages . More recent proponents of the Kurgan hypothesis agree that the cultures of Old Europe spoke pre-Indo-European languages but include a less dramatic transition, with a prolonged migration of Proto-Indo-European speakers after Old Europe's collapse due to other factors. Colin Renfrew 's competing Anatolian hypothesis suggests that

828-593: The bronze "gong" from Balkåkra in Sweden. Some linguists believe that an early Indo-European language was introduced to the area probably around 2000 BC, which eventually became Proto-Germanic , the last common ancestor of the Germanic languages . This would fit with the apparently unbroken evolution of the Nordic Bronze Age into the most probably ethnolinguistically Germanic Pre-Roman Iron Age . The age

874-634: The city-states and chiefdoms of the Bronze Age , subsisting on domestic plants and animals supplemented with the collection of wild plant foods and hunting, and producing hand-made pottery, without the aid of the potter's wheel . There are also many differences, with some Neolithic communities in southeastern Europe living in heavily fortified settlements of 3,000–4,000 people (e.g., Sesklo in Greece) whereas Neolithic groups in Britain were usually small (possibly 50–100 people). Marija Gimbutas studied

920-555: The 36th–23rd centuries BC. The culture was predominantly nomadic, with some agriculture practiced near rivers and a few hill-forts. The Catacomb culture , covering several related archaeological cultures, was first to introduce corded pottery decorations into the steppes and showed a profuse use of the polished battle ax, providing a link to the West. Parallels with the Afanasevo culture , including provoked cranial deformations, provide

966-601: The Final Bronze Age (1150–950 BC). During the second millennium BC, the Nuragic civilization flourished in the island of Sardinia . It was a rather homogeneous culture, more than 7000 imposing stone tower-buildings known as Nuraghe were built by this culture all over the island, along with other types of monuments such as the megaron temples, the monumental Giants' graves and the holy well temples . Sanctuaries and larger settlements were also built starting from

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1012-575: The Indo-European languages were spread across Europe by the first farmers from Anatolia . In the hypothesis' original formulation, the languages of Old Europe belonged to the Indo-European family but played no special role in its transmission. According to Renfrew's most recent revision of the theory, however, Old Europe was a "secondary urheimat " (linguistic homeland) where the Greek , Armenian , and Balto-Slavic language families diverged around 5000 BC. Three genetic studies in 2015 gave partial support to

1058-563: The Neolithic period in order to understand cultural developments in settled village culture in the southern Balkans, which she characterized as peaceful, matristic , and possessing a goddess-centered religion. In contrast, she characterizes the later Indo-European influences as warlike, nomadic, and patrilineal . Using evidence from pottery and sculpture, and combining the tools of archaeology , comparative mythology , linguistics , and, most controversially, folkloristics , Gimbutas invented

1104-932: The Steppe theory regarding the Indo-European Urheimat . According to those studies, haplogroups R1b and R1a , now the most common in Europe (R1a is also common in South Asia) would have expanded from the steppes north of the Pontic and Caspian seas, along with at least some of the Indo-European languages; they also detected an autosomal component present in modern Europeans which was not present in Neolithic Europeans, which would have been introduced with paternal lineages R1b and R1a, as well as Indo-European languages. [REDACTED] Media related to Old Europe (archaeology) at Wikimedia Commons Bronze Age Europe The European Bronze Age

1150-629: The Unetice culture. All in all, cemeteries of this period are rare and of small size. The Unetice culture is followed by the middle Bronze Age (1600–1200 BC) Tumulus culture , which is characterized by inhumation burials in tumuli (barrows). In the eastern Hungarian Körös tributaries, the early Bronze Age first saw the introduction of the Makó culture , followed by the Otomani and Gyulavarsánd cultures. The late Bronze Age Urnfield culture (1300–750 BC)

1196-418: The ancient world dated before 3500 bc. The demand for copper, gold, Aegean shells, and other valuables created networks of negotiation that reached hundreds of kilometers. Pottery, figurines, and even houses were decorated with striking designs. Female "goddess" figurines, found in almost every settlement, have triggered intense debates about the ritual and political power of women. Signs inscribed on clay suggest

1242-510: The centuries around 2000 BC when copper was alloyed with tin and used to manufacture Ballybeg type flat axes and associated metalwork. The preceding period is known as the Copper Age and is characterised by the production of flat axes , daggers , halberds and awls in copper. The period is divided into three phases: Early Bronze Age 2000–1500 BC; Middle Bronze Age 1500–1200 BC and Late Bronze Age 1200– c.  500 BC . Ireland

1288-446: The discovery of bilingual texts. The idea of a Pre-Indo-European language in the region precedes Gimbutas. It went by other names, such as " Pelasgian ", "Mediterranean", or "Aegean". Apart from marks on artifacts, the main evidence concerning Pre-Indo-European language is in names: toponyms , ethnonyms , etc., and in roots in other languages believed to be derived from one or more prior languages, possibly unrelated. Reconstruction from

1334-546: The environment, with the development of the Iberian oppida mode of settlement. The Atlantic Bronze Age is a cultural complex of the Bronze Age period of approximately 1300–700 BC that includes different cultures in Portugal , Andalusia , Galicia , France , Britain , and Ireland and is marked by economic and cultural exchange that led to the high degree of cultural similarity exhibited by coastal communities, including

1380-575: The evidence is an accepted, though somewhat speculative, field of study. Suggestions of possible Old European languages include Urbian by Sorin Paliga , and the Vasconic substratum hypothesis of Theo Vennemann (also see Sigmund Feist 's Germanic substrate hypothesis ). According to Gimbutas' version of the Kurgan hypothesis , Old Europe was invaded and destroyed by horse-riding pastoral nomads from

1426-670: The fields of engineering, architecture and military infrastructure, while trade over vast areas of the Mediterranean was essential for the Mycenaean economy. Their syllabic script, the Linear B , offers the first written records of the Greek language and their religion already included several deities that can be also found in the Olympic Pantheon . Mycenaean Greece was dominated by a warrior elite society and consisted of

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1472-590: The first tin bronze alloys in the Near East . This bronze production lasted for c. 500 years in the Balkans but disappeared at the end of the 5th millennium, coinciding with the " collapse of large cultural complexes in north-eastern Bulgaria and Thrace in the late fifth millennium BC". Tin bronzes using cassiterite tin were subsequently reintroduced to the area some 1500 years later. The Aegean Bronze Age begins around 3200 BC when civilizations first established

1518-584: The frequent use of stones as chevaux-de-frise , the establishment of cliff castles , or the domestic architecture sometimes characterized by the round houses. Commercial contacts extended from Sweden and Denmark to the Mediterranean . The period was defined by a number of distinct regional centres of metal production, unified by a regular maritime exchange of some of their products. The major centres were southern England and Ireland, north-western France, and western Iberia. The Bronze Age in Ireland commenced in

1564-415: The hills and into the fertile valleys . Large livestock ranches developed in the lowlands which appear to have contributed to economic growth and inspired increasing forest clearances. The Deverel–Rimbury culture began to emerge in the second half of the 'Middle Bronze Age' ( c.  1400 –1100 BC) to exploit these conditions. Cornwall was a major source of tin for much of western Europe and copper

1610-445: The immigrants came from the area of modern Switzerland . The Beaker people displayed different behaviors from the earlier Neolithic people and cultural change was significant. The rich Wessex culture developed in southern Britain at this time. Additionally, the climate was deteriorating; where once the weather was warm and dry it became much wetter as the Bronze Age continued, forcing the population away from easily defended sites in

1656-538: The larger hilltop settlements, and the elite using violence in practical and ideological terms to clamp down on the population. Ecological degradation, landscape opening, fires, pastoralism, and maybe tree cutting for mining have been suggested as reasons for the collapse. The culture of the motillas , developed an early system of groundwater supply plants (the so-called motillas ) in the upper Guadiana basin (in Iberian Peninsula's southern meseta ) in

1702-468: The late fifth millennium BC". Tin bronzes using cassiterite tin would be reintroduced to the area again some 1,500 years later. The Maykop culture was the major early Bronze Age culture in the North Caucasus . Some scholars date arsenical bronze artifacts in the region as far back as the mid-4th millennium BC. The Yamnaya culture was a late copper age /early Bronze Age culture dating to

1748-471: The late second millennium BC to host these religious structures along with other structures such ritual pools, fountains and tanks, large stone roundhouses with circular benches used for the meeting of the leaders of the chiefdoms and large public areas. Bronze tools and weapons were widespread and their quality increased thanks to the contacts between the Nuragic people and Eastern Mediterranean peoples such as

1794-704: The most important finds were done in Isleham (more than 6500 pieces). Preceded by the Chalcolithic sites of Los Millares , the Argaric culture flourished in southeastern Iberia in from 2200 BC to 1550 BC, when depopulation of the area ensued along with disappearing of copper–bronze–arsenic metallurgy. The most accepted model for El Argar has been that of an early state society, most particularly in terms of class division, exploitation, and coercion, with agricultural production, maybe also human labour, controlled by

1840-519: The palace of Knossos was ruled by a Mycenaean elite who formed a hybrid Minoan-Mycenaean culture. Mycenaeans also colonized several other Aegean islands, reaching as far as Rhodes . Thus the Mycenaeans became the dominant power of the region, marking the beginning of the Mycenaean 'Koine' era (from Greek : Κοινή , common), a highly uniform culture that spread in mainland Greece and the Aegean. The Mycenaean Greeks introduced several innovations in

1886-493: The title Old Europe . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Old_Europe&oldid=1232923254 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Old Europe (archaeology) The term ' Danubian culture '

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1932-552: Was developing many of the political, technological, and ideological signs of "civilization". Some Old European villages grew to citylike sizes, larger than the earliest cities of Mesopotamia ... Old European metalsmiths were, in their day, among the most advanced metal artisans in the world, and certainly the most active. The metal artifacts recovered by archaeologists from Old Europe total about 4,700 kilograms (more than five tons) of copper, and over 6 kilograms (13.2 pounds) of gold, more metal by far than has been found in any other part of

1978-631: Was earlier coined by the archaeologist Vere Gordon Childe to describe early farming cultures (e.g. the Linear Pottery culture ) which spread westwards and northwards from the Danube Valley into Central and Eastern Europe . In 4500 bc, before the first cities were built in Mesopotamia and Egypt, Old Europe was among the most sophisticated and technologically advanced places in the world ... At its peak, about 5000–3500 bc, Old Europe

2024-883: Was extracted from sites such as the Great Orme mine in northern Wales . Social groups appear to have been tribal but with growing complexity and hierarchies becoming apparent. Also, the burial of dead (which until this period had usually been communal) became more individual. For example, whereas in the Neolithic a large chambered cairn or long barrow was used to house the dead, the 'Early Bronze Age' saw people buried in individual barrows (also commonly known and marked on modern British Ordnance Survey maps as Tumuli), or sometimes in cists covered with cairns . The greatest quantities of bronze objects found in England were discovered in East Cambridgeshire , where

2070-442: Was more common than previously thought and developed independently in Europe 1,500 years before the first tin bronze alloys in the Near East . The production of complex tin bronzes lasted for c. 500 years in the Balkans. The authors reported that evidence for the production of such complex bronzes disappears at the end of the 5th millennium coinciding with the "collapse of large cultural complexes in north-eastern Bulgaria and Thrace in

2116-564: Was produced in some areas from the 4th millennium BC onwards, prior to the introduction of tin bronze. Tin bronze foil had already been produced in southeastern Europe on a small scale in the Chalcolithic era, with examples from Pločnik in Serbia dated to c.  4650 BC , as well as 14 other artefacts from Bulgaria and Serbia dated to before 4000 BC, showing that early tin bronze developed independently in Europe 1500 years before

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