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This web page was an information resource
I created for myself when I was working on my animated
Slavic historical films. It contains information from
a wide variety of sources. Of course some of the information
is arguable and speculative (just like all early Slavic
history).
I first placed this page on-line at
the beginning of 2003. At one stage I was thinking of
removing it as it's a little rough, and it's not even
referenced properly. But I decided to keep it on-line
as there aren't that many early Slavic history websites
out there. To my surprise it has also proved to be quite
popular with a decent number of hits and e-mail queries.
To view my animated Slavic historical
films and my other works, please visit the website listed
below:
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I was intending to complete
a revised and redone, properly referenced 'academic' version
of this web page, that was going to will be included in
the Appendices section of my Honours dissertation. Unfortunately
due to time constraints this did not happen. Here
is a short example of the improved text:
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Study of
the early Slavs has always been one of the most important
topics in Eastern European historiography. Investigating
the origins of the Slavs can be performed by conducting
research in the areas of; linguistics, etymology, onomastics,
ethnology, archaeology, anthropology, history and folkloristics
explains Sedov (1994). Only cooperation between these
various disciplines can solve the problem of the origins
of the Slavs. Sedov (1994) and Curta (2001) both specifically
mention linguistics and archaeology in particular.
Of these
two particular disciplines, the most useful is linguistic
palaeontology focusing on the early languages of a people,
and studying physical archaeological artefacts, especially
considering that the historical ethnic boundaries of peoples
were marked by items of material culture. In the area
of origins of the Slavs, linguistics and archaeology has
commonly been used hand in hand, more often that not,
archaeology was used to illustrate conclusions already
drawn from the analysis of the linguistic material.
Ethnicity.
'No other term in the whole field of Social Studies is
more ambiguous, yet more potent' (Curta 2001, p. 14).
Throughout the ages 'ethnicity' has meant many things.
In context of the origins of peoples one can view the
meaning in this light; individuals are born with ethnicity,
and are linked to it though cultural constructions of
biology. It is far deeper than mere cultural difference
as Curta suggests (2001, p. 15).
The first
historical sources about the early Slavs were Roman, Byzantine,
Greek, and later Germanic authors. Some early sources,
indeed eyewitnesses, knew about the first Slavs and partially
intuited the importance they would have for the known
world. These included figures such as the lst century
Roman historian Pliny the Elder, who was around at a time
when the Roman Empire was at the height of it's power.
He was a contemporary to Nero (23 - 79 AD), who was known
for his work Natural History, in which he described the
early Slavs, the Baltic coast, and the fruitful amber
trade to the Mediterranean.
'In his Natural
History, Pliny the Elder describes the expedition of a
Roman merchant sent by patrons of Circus Games to the
Baltic region in search of amber, highly praised for its
ornamental value. This Roman merchant travelled the length
of the Baltic coast and brought back to Rome so much amber
that a piece of it was inserted in every mesh of the netting
which protected the public from wild animals in the arena.
The largest piece is said to have weighed four kilograms'
(Siuchninski 1979, p. 10).
Pliny the
Elder was the first to refer to the tribes living along
the Vistula river beside the Sarmatians and others, by
the name Wend, or Venedi, the oldest known designation
and first certain reference of the Slavs. Another notable
early source from this period is the Roman historian Tacitus
(55 - 120 AD) who says the same. 'He describes the Wends
somewhat more in detail but cannot make up his mind whether
he ought to include them among the Germans or the Sarmatians;
still they seem to him to be more closely connected with
the first named than with the latter' (Lenard 1912).
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Many of the images displayed below are from the documentary
film 'The Slavs' (1984), ITC Entertainment, Directed by Folco
Quilici.
All
images are used for educational purposes only.
The
Slavic Ethnogenesis: Identifying the Slavic Stock and Origins
of the Slavs:
| 1.0 Indo-European Ethnographic
Colonisation of Europe: |
| 2.0 Slavic Ethnographic Colonisation
of Eastern Europe: |
| 2.1 Study of the Origins of the Slavs: |
| 2.2 Early Historical Sources: |
| 2.3 The source of the Slavic stock: |
| 2.4 Linquistic studies & the orginal
homeland of the Slavs: |
| 2.5 Early life & initial migrations
of the Slavs: |
| 2.6 The Great Slavic Mass-Migrations: |
| 2.7 The formation of
the various Slavic Languages: |
| 2.8 The Great Slavic Mass-Migrations
in History and Culture: |
| 2.9 The Slavs Post Mass-Migration: |
| Selected Bibliography & References: |
1.0 Indo-European Ethnographic Colonisation
of Europe:

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Map showing the distinct
peoples that arose from the Indo-European migration westwards
to Europe. Above map from the book 'The Times Concise
Atlas of World History'.
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From 6000BC to around 2000 BC, Europe
gave rise to a secondary homeland of the Indo-Europeans
that moved westwards, creating Celtic, Germanic Italic,
Greek, Balto-Slavic, and other European branches. Linquistic
studies suggest that the Balto-Slavic branch then separated
into separate Baltic and Slavic groups shortly thereafter
(the closest relatives to the Slavs are the Baltic peoples
of present day Lithuania and Latvia).
Over a few thousand years, the various
Indo-Europeans branches became significantly differentiated
from one another in many respects.
Meanwhile, migrations to the south and
east produced the various Indo-European languages and
peoples of India, Persia and Asia Minor. The south and
eastward travelling Indo-Europeans also no doubt encountered
indigenous tribes.
At this time in history, Europe was originally
inhabited by indigenous matriarchal agrarian tribes. They
worshipped 'Mother Earth', and spoke unknown languages.
Some of these peoples were most probably absorbed by the
Indo-Europeans.
Indo-Europeans on the other hand were
patriarchal and had a Pantheon of nature gods, the chief
of whom was 'Father Sky'. The proto-language spoken by
the Indo-Europeans was Proto-Indo-European, which is the
ancestor of the Indo-European languages of today, as well
as many extinct languages.
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Some prominent scholars in the origins of the
Indo-Europeans, is Lithuanian-born American Marija Gimbautas
and British archaeologist C. Renfrew. One possible homeland
of the Indo-Europeans mentioned in research work, among several
others, is Anatolia, one of the original homes of agriculture
beginning 8000 BC.
The expansion of the Indo-Europeans from their
original homeland was probably one of a slowly growing population
of farmers rather than of military conquests and deliberate
migrations, leaving behind archaeological relics and artefacts
such as pottery trails as they moved.
'Footsteps' of the Indo-Europeans: West migrating
Indo-European archaeological pottery trails:
| - Early painted ware cultures (Greece &
Crete) |
| - Ware cultures (Balkans) |
| - Balkan painted & impressed (Balkans/South-East
Europe) |
| - Danubian linear incised pottery cultures
(East/Central/West Europe) |
| - Impressed ware cultures (France & Spain) |
| - Bowl cultures (France & British Isles) |
2.0 Slavic Ethnographic Colonisation of Eastern
Europe:
2.1 Study of the Origins of the Slavs:
Study of the early Slavs has always been one
of the most important topics in Eastern European historiography.
Investigating the origins of the Slavs can be performed by conducting
comparative research in the areas of history, linguistics and
archaeology. Of the latter two, the most useful are 'linguistic
palaeontology' and studying physical archaeological artefacts,
especially considering that the historical ethnic boundaries
of peoples were marked by items of material culture. In the
area of Slavic origins, linguistics and archaeology are commonly
used hand in hand, more often that not, archaeology was used
to illustrate conclusions already drawn from the analysis of
the linguistic material.
Ethnicity. No other term in the whole field
of Social Studies is more ambiguous, yet more potent. Throughout
the ages it has meant many things. In context of the origins
of peoples one can view the meaning in this light; Individuals
are born with ethnicity, and are linked to it though cultural
constructions of biology. It is far deeper than mere 'cultural
difference', as acclaimed Slavic antiquity researcher Florin
Curta (2001) suggests.
2.2 Early Historical Sources:
The historical sources about the early Slavs
are classified into three categories according to the position
of their authors: eyewitness, possible contact and second-hand
information. Some early sources, indeed eyewitnesses, knew about
the first Slavs and partially intuited the importance they would
have for the known world. This is the real deal; raw information
on the early Slavs that cannot be denied. These included figures
such as the Roman historian Pliny the Elder, contemporary to
Nero (23 - 79 AD), who was known for his work Natural History,
in which he described the early Slavs, the Baltic coast, and
the amber trade to the Mediterranean.
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In his Guide to Geography, 2nd
century Greek astronomer and geographer Ptolemy, mentioned
Calisia (Kalisz). At the time it was probably an important
settlement on the Amber Trail that linked the Adriatic
with the Baltic coast. The course followed by this route
has been established from finds which contained objects
of Roman provenance, such as bronze pitchers, pails, pots
and pans, glass cups, silver coins and figurines. Another
early source from this period is Tacitus (55 - 120 AD).
Images
from the documentary film 'The Slavs' (1984).
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Sources during and after the mass-migration
include Jordanes, a Goth historian of the 6th century known
for his work Getica, and an anonymous chronicler who
is known as The Bavarian Geographer. More to do with the origins
of Poland and Polish history, but also describing the early
Slavs are Ibrahim ibn Jakub, a 10th century scribe and Moorish
Jew slaver from Tortosa in Spain.

Images
from the documentary film 'The Slavs' (1984).
The writer of the first ever chronicle of Poland
was the 'The Anonymous Gaul', named Gaullus Anonymus of the
12th century. He was a French Benedictine monk, and wrote the
chronicle for Boleslaw III Krzywousty. Here is a passage from
his precious work describing the country of Poland: "A land
where the air is healthy, the ground is fertile, the waters
team with fish, and the men are warriors." He also documented
two narratives concerning the Polanian tribe of Wiekopolska
the origin of the Piasts.
Wincenty Kadlubek, the Bishop of Krakow (1150
- 1223 AD), was the first native chronicler of Poland. "The
Romans never conquered Poland", a source of pride to Kablubek
(2001, Lukowski & Zawadzki). He also acknowledged and documented
the Slavic peoples mass-migrations from their ancestral homeland
in his version of the 'Lech, Czech & Rus' epic narrative, and
mentioned stories concerning the Wistulans of Malopolska.
Jan Dlugosz (1415 - 1480 AD) was a significant
Polish political and religious figure, historian and chronicler
in medieval Slavic and Eastern European history. He wrote his
great chronicle Annales seu cronicae incliti regni Poloniae
in Latin or The Annals of Jan Dlugosz, in the later years
of his life. It is described as a contemporary history of the
half-forgotten lands between the rivers Oder and Dnieper: Byelorus,
Bohemia, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland and the Ukraine from 965
to 1480 AD.
He describes the various Slavic peoples and
origins of Polish statehood including the Polanians in Wiekopolaska.
Other sources are Greek and Roman historians such as the Greek
Prokopije and Byzantine figures such as Constantine Porphyrogenitus,
and countless other historians and chroniclers, of both Slavic
and non-Slavic origin.
All of these eyewitnesses had one thing in common;
they thought of the Slavs as a separate people, differentiating
from the other peoples in Europe. Different not just in language
and culture, but also physical appearance, attitude and temperament.
2.3 The source of the Slavic stock:
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By about 1500 BC, the area of land which
now corresponds with south-eastern Poland and north-eastern
Ukraine became home of the early Slavic tribes, which
are commonly known as the Proto-Slavs. Studies and excavations
of this area of land, that could be called the 'Slavic
Cradle', prove that the present day Slavs are the descendants
of these tribes. The Proto-Slavic tribes dwelt in their
homeland for many centuries, speaking one common language;
which in time would produce the modern Slavic languages
of today as well as extinct languages.
Taking in all of the history of all the
peoples of Europe, I am committed in my belief (and many
others are), based on factual historical evidence and
observation, that the physical appearance of the Slavs
are very discernible from non-Slavs. I must say that there
is Slavic look, as Slavs have unique characteristics that
cannot be seen in other peoples. If you put Slavs of any
nation in a room full of non-Slavs peoples you could more
than likely pick the Slav out no problem whatsoever. Both
Slavic stock and language came from the womb, which was
the 'Slavic Cradle', and who lived in the 'Slavic Cradle'
I ask? The Proto-Slavs, the ancestors of the Slavs of
today.
All Slavs are descendants from the Proto-Slavic
tribes. The Slavs of today are the branches of the Slavic
tree that was spouted from the singular Proto-Slavic seed.
Of course there are differences between the three Slavic
groups due to gradients occurring and braches intertwining
with other peoples in and around of the geographical regions
in which they settled. I don't think anyone is disputing
that. But the mixing of the Slavic stock with other peoples
throughout their history, especially after the mass migrations,
does not make the Slavic stock magically disappear into
thin air does it?
Models displayed in a
Ukranian museum of what an early Proto-Slavic settlement
would have looked like nearly 4000 years ago. Images
from the documentary film 'The Slavs' (1984).
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The "Slavic tribe" was and is part of the Indo-European
family, and as consequence, the antiquity of the Slavs goes
beyond the time of their first mention by historical sources,
for "all modern nations must have had ancestors in the ancient
world"- Czech historian Safarik, All-Slavic Conference, Prague
(Curta 2001, p. 7).
The Slavs are a distinct ethnographic and linguistic
branch of Indo-European people in the same manner that the Germanic,
Italic, Baltic, Celtic peoples are. Call it race, call it sub-race,
call it a distinct branch. It really depends on what terminology
one uses. If one is to use the word 'race' for labelling the
branches of Indo-European peoples e.g. 'the Gemanic race', or
'the Celtic race', then one must label the Slavs in this manner
as well. In this context the Slavs are a race of people. Either
way, the Slavs are a distinct indeed Indo-European, no doubt
about that.
2.4 Linquistic studies & the orginal
homeland of the Slavs:
The word 'Slav' or 'Slowianin' derives from
the Slavic term for word; 'Slowo'. Thus, to the Slavs their
name testified to their mastery over spoken words. It could
be put as 'the ones we understand'. The Slavs called themselves
'Slovjeni' or 'Slaveni' do to the fact that their people 'understood'
one another. Their neighbours to the west, in particular the
Germans who spoke a different tongue, were not understood, and
thus the Slavs came to call them 'Nijemcima' meaning mutes,
dumb, speechless and silent. It could be put as 'the ones we
do not understand'. The name has stood the test of time; Germans
are still called 'Niemci' or 'the land of the dumb' today by
the Slavic peoples.
Language is "the defining factor in the formation
of a particular culture type and world view" - Herder.
In 1833, the Slavic languages were identified
and categorised as an Indo-European language by linguists. Language
and ethnicity go hand in hand, as language is one of the quintessential
aspects of ethnicity. The Proto-Slavs spoke the same language
of Proto-Slavic, which later evolved, from the result of latter
migratory separation of the Slavic people, into the Slavic languages
of today.
The womb, the cradle, original homeland. What,
when, where, how? History, linguistics and archaeology hold
the answers. One way of determining where the original homeland
of the Slavs is to undertake linguistic palaeontology.
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Polish botanist J. Rostafinski pushed
linguistic evidence even further. He argued that the original
homeland of the Slavs was devoid of beech, larch and yew
trees, because in all Slavic languages, the words for
those trees are all foreign loan words of Germanic origin.
On the basis of distribution of those trees, Rostafinski
was able to locate the ancestral homeland of the Slavs
in the marshes along the Pripet River in Polesie, generally
in the south-eastern Poland and north-eastern Ukraine
area, as this area was devoid of such trees. Polish historian
Jan Peisker, elaborated this view stating "the Slav was
the son and product of the marsh" (Curta 2001, p. 8).
Images
from the documentary film 'The Slavs' (1984).
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2.5 Early life & initial migrations of
the Slavs:
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During the years 1500 BC to 100 AD (before
the great mass-migrations), the Proto-Slavs began their
first movings and initial minor migrations, most of it
in their own Slavic cradle. Why? The hostile environment
of Pripet marshes forced the Slavs to migrate early on
in all directions. The experts refer to the Proto-Slavs
as nomadic peasants who practised primitive forms of agriculture.
They were also hunters who pursued herds of prey for months.
Hunting expeditions called for tenacity and courage and
the use of every possible kind of weapon or trap.
As the early Slavs were agriculturalists,
their migration as this stage was not one of violent conquest
by warriors, but of peaceful colonization by peasants
moving about with the tents in family groups. The early
Slavs of the Slavic cradle also had a deep sense of religion,
even though it involved pagan nature worship and ritual
sacrifices.
Images
from the documentary film 'The Slavs' (1984).
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Significant Czech historian and endorser of
Rostafinski's work, Lubor Niederle, believed that both climate
and soil, shaped civilization. Since the natural conditions
of the Pripet Marshes were unfavourable, the early Slavs developed
forms of social organization based on co-operation between large
families (zadruga), social equality, and the democracy which
curtailed any attempts at centralization of economic or political
power. The harsh climate of the Pripet marshes also was responsible
in forcing the Slavs into a poor level of civilization (Curta
2001, p. 9), compared to the other peoples of early Europe.
Images
from the documentary film 'The Slavs' (1984).
One of the early Proto-Slavic cultures in this
early period was the Lusation culture of the Proto-Slavs, which
began to take shape in the 13th century BC, in the regions of
Lusatia, Silesia, and Wielkopolska, gradually spreading in every
direction. Archaeological evidence such as these old funerary
earns pictured, and one the great early Slavic achievements;
the fortified village of Biskupin (450 BC) can be attributed
to this culture of the Proto-Slavs, which peaked in the 7th
and 6th centuies BC.
Images
from the documentary film 'The Slavs' (1984).
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From what I can gather the
furthest migration the Slavs undertook in this early migratory
period where Ptolumy's version of the 'Venedi' Slavs, which
migrated south and settled in Italy. It is important to
note that the earlier Venedi as described by early eyewitnesses
such as Ptolemy was different than that of Jordanes 'Venedi'
Slavs. Over a long period of time, Ptolumy's Venedi Slavs
had filtered through the passes of the eastern alps. They
made their way as if with the instinct of migratory birds
down towards the Po valley and finally settled in an extremely
fertile and more favourable climate, which still bears the
name derived from theirs, the Veneto region of Italy. |
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The early Slavs
who came south, had the skills needed to make these bronze
plaques in the 6th and 5th centuries BC. Over the centuries
however they merged with the native population and slowly
lost their own identity, taking on the cultural characteristics
of neighbouring peoples, such as the alphabet which they
probably learned from the Estruscans. Because of this process
of evolution, the Venedi grew increasingly differentiated
from their north-eastern cousins, who also in their turn
refined their skills in working materials, casting objects
in metal for instance (1984, Quilici). |
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As with any civilisation
in the making, the development of various crafts marked
important stages in the growth of the Slavs. We can study
these stages not only through the excavated finds exhibited
in museums, but also by watching surviving traditional craftsman.
The finished products and material artefacts created by
the early Slavs are more than adequate for simple farming
use as they were then. Those early Slav farmers perfected
pottery making techniques as well. In this case too the
tradition has been kept after the present day, along with
many other crafts practised by county dwelling Slavs (1984,
Quilici). Curta (2002) points out that the Slavs collectively
used specific types of pottery and bow fibulae to construct
their emblematic style, differentiating themselves from
other peoples. |
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As with any civilisation
in the making, the development of various crafts marked
important stages in the growth of the Slavs. We can study
these stages not only through the excavated finds exhibited
in museums, but also by watching surviving traditional craftsman.
The finished products and material artefacts created by
the early Slavs are more than adequate for simple farming
use as they were then. Those early Slav farmers perfected
pottery making techniques as well. In this case too the
tradition has been kept after the present day, along with
many other crafts practised by county dwelling Slavs (1984,
Quilici). Curta (2002) points out that the Slavs collectively
used specific types of pottery and bow fibulae to construct
their emblematic style, differentiating themselves from
other peoples. |
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Above all wood was the material most commonly
used by these men of north-eastern Europe. They used tree trunks
for their houses, for making agricultural tools and for fashioning
the boats they needed to travel on the many large and small
rivers and torrents and countless lakes that abounded in there
untamed world. For months on end, every winter, those inland
waterways and expanses of water are transformed by ice and snow.
In the hostile season the early Slavs lived out their dark and
silent odysseys in a desperate struggle for survival. But, with
the thaw, vigorously celebrated in the Slavic culture, life
would again thrive (1984, Quilici).
The Slavs were perhaps the quietest or 'purest'
branch of Indo-Europeans, due to the fact the Slav tribes did
not move around or mix with other populations no way near as
much when compared the other groups. Sure, they encountered
bands of marauders, such as the Iranic Scythians (who destroyed
Biskupin around 400BC), but nothing that would cause them to
shift and migrate. Compared to the Slavs, the other peoples
moved greatly. For instance the Romans conquered western and
central Europe, the whole of North Africa, the Near East and
Britian, Germanic tribes like the Sueves reached Spain, and
others reached Scandanavia, and Celts like the Picts and Scots
reached the British Isles.
Whilst all this was happening, the Slavs contently
stayed in their ancestral homeland for over 2000 years. Why?
The early Slavs were not faced with pressure to move from migrations
of other peoples. It is true to say that the Slavs material
and spiritual development was a lot slower and occured much
later than the other Indo-Europeans due to this 'isolation'
and due to the harsh climate of the Pripet marshes, as described
by Lubor Niederle.
2.6 The Great Slavic Mass-Migrations:
In the 1st century (0-100), the early Slavs
were still situated around the 'Slavic Cradle', which now had
expanded encompassing the Baltic to the Carpathians, as a result
of the initial due to the migration from the Pripet Marshes.
The Slavic word for glory; 'Slava' is originally a reference
to the great and proud ancestral homeland. Indeed epic stories
of the great mass-migration away from the Slavic cradle are
embedded in the history and cultural heritage of the Slavs.
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The great mass migration of the Slavs
from the ancient homeland of the 'Slavic Cradle' to the
west, east and south of Europe began around the end of
the 2nd century AD and continued to the middle of the
7th century AD. The name Proto-Slav can be said for the
Slavs before the mass-migrations, and the name Slav for
the Slavs after the expansion. The mass migrations of
the Slavs were instigated by the movements of other ethnic
peoples; namely the Germanic tribes and Asian nomadic
barbarians.
Firstly, the migration was to the west,
peacefully and quietly, tribe after tribe, occupying districts
and regions the Germanic tribes (e.g. Vandals, Visigoths
& Ostrogoths) deserted in order to attack the Roman Empire.
The waves of nomadic barbarians, originating from central
Asia such as the Huns, who arrived in 370 AD, then pushed
the Slavs in all directions following their advance. As
the Hun empire fell in 453 AD, there was a rush of Slavic
migration to the south towards the Black Sea and the mouth
of the river Danube. Slavic warbands and groups broke
through many defences with weapons in hand, throughout
lower Danube in the outer regions of the Byzantine Empire
reaching the Balkans. The first known recording of this
Slavic mass migration was in the year 493 AD.
Images
from the documentary film 'The Slavs' (1984).
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Above
map from the book 'The Times Concise Atlas of World History'.
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Red denotes, in no particular
placement, various non-Slavic peoples of Indo-European
and non Indo-European origin in which gradients have occured
with the Slavic stock and ethnographic mass, especially
post mass-migration.
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In the 6th century, during at the closing stages
of the mass-migrations the Goth historian Jordanes and eyewitness
wrote: "The Slavs are of one blood and live in three groups.
The Venedic (West Slavs), Antic (East Slavs), and Sklavinian
(South Slavs)" (2000, Pogonowski, p.19)."These are
three great tribes of the same people."
2.7 The formation of the various
Slavic Languages:
The Proto-Slavic language was probably still
common to all Slavs possibly as late as the 8th century AD,
but by the 9th century AD, with the mass-migrations largely
completed, the individual Slavic languages had begun to take
place. But by the 9th century all the Slavic peoples could still
understand each other well.
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| Map from the
website 'Indo-European Languages':
http://www.geocities.com/indoeurop/atree.html |
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The Slavic Languages:
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Proto-Slavic:
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| West Slavic: |
South Slavic: |
East Slavic: |
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Czech-Slovak sub-group:
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Western sub-group: |
- Old Russian |
| - Czech |
- Serbo-Croatian |
- Russian |
| - Slovak |
- Slovenian |
- Belorussian |
| Lechitic sub-group (derived
from Lech): |
Eastern sub-group: |
- Ukranian |
| - Polish |
- Old Church Slavonic |
- Rusyn |
| - Kaszubian |
- Bulgarian |
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| - Polabian |
- Macedonian |
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| Sorbian sub-group: |
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| - Upper Sorbian |
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| - Lower Sorbian |
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2.8 The Great Slavic Mass-Migrations in History
and Culture:
The only Slavs that stayed put during the great
mass-migrations are the Slovaks. This is the reason why they
were, and indeed still are, situated almost in the centre of
the Slavic Cradle. Evidence of this fact can be seen in folkloristic
studies. The Slovaks have no stories in their culture of their
people shifting out of the ancestral homeland, unlike the Poles,
Czechs and Croats etc. that have stories of such epic events.
One example is Lech, Czech & Rus, which signifies the Slavic
peoples migration away from the ancestral homeland. I must say
don't dismiss legends, as legends can always be put in historical
context and a certain chronological order in time, and contain
much factual information. Where not our Slavic forefathers trying
to tell us something though the tales of migration they left
behind for us? Also, it is said that one you who speaks 'Slovakian',
has the easiest time understanding the rest of the Slavic languages,
as they are in the middle of the Slavic sea; one of the biggest
'human ethnographic seas', on the face of this earth.
Evidence of the South Slavs, in particular the
Croats migrating from the ancestral home in Poland to Dalmatia
is also displayed in folk narratives, and also in historical
fact. The folk narrative describes five Slavic brothers and
two sisters that lead the Croats from the area around Krakow
in Poland into the Balkans in the 7th century. Are these epic
tales of heroic migrations a coincidence? Not according to historical
fact. It is also interesting to note that it is historical fact
the first kingdom of Croatia, White Croatia, was not situated
in Dalmatia but in Poland, Bohemia and Slovakia. It's capital
was Krakow. Indeed White Croatian figures played a pivotal role
in early history of the Polish and Bohemian Kingdoms. Even the
first canonised patron saint of Poland, St. Wojciech; 'Wojciech
of the Slavs' was indeed a White Croatian.
2.9 The Slavs Post Mass-Migration:
The Slavs evolved during the 6th century mass
migrations from a 'segmentary society' with lack of hierarchy
to a society ruled by chiefs who fought between them. The emergence
of the political organization was the result of the contacts
with the outside people, which hadn't happened until that time.
When Charlemagne was crowned Holy Roman Emperor
in the year 800 AD, he knew less about the area of land in which
the Slavs dwelt than any other part of the European mainland.
His Frankish and Saxon dominions ended on a line roughly equivalent
to the recently defunct Iron Curtain, beyond which stretched
a limitless Slav sea. The Slavs existed in a relative vacuum
up until then. With the conversion of Christianity, the Slavs
propelled their culture, consolidated their dominion, and began
to take an active part in European history and politics. The
Slavs were to play a crucial role in European history, their
kingdoms were to act as a Bulwark for the whole of Christendom
and Europe. And they did. And how!
Selected Bibliography & References:
Barraclough, G. (ed) 1982, The Times Concise
Atlas of World History, Angus & Robertson Publishers, London.
Curta, F. 2001, The Making of the Slavs: History
and Archaeology of the Lower Danube Region c. 500 - 700, Cambridge
Univerity Press, Cambridge.
Gasiorowski, P. 2002, Piotr Gasiorowski's Indo-European
Page [On-line], Available: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/2190/Indo-European.html
[2002, Apr. 8].
Gy, C.K. 2002, Central European Myths of Conquest
[On-line], Available: http://www.hhrf.org/minoritiesresearch/mr05.htm
[2002, Mar. 11].
Lukowski, J., Zawadzki, H. 2001, A Concise History
of Poland, Cambridge Univerity Press, Cambridge.
Pogonowski, I.C. 2000, Poland: An Illustrated
History, Hippocrene Books, New York.
Siuchninski, M. 1979, An Illustrated History
of Poland, Interpress, Warsaw.
Szczytna, L. 2002, Notes on Polish History [On-line],
Available: http://slavic.freeservers.com/Poland1.html [2002,
Sep. 27].
Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology 1959, Paul
Hamlyn Limited, London.
The Slavs (video recording) 1984, ITC Entertainment,
Directed by Folco Quilici.
2001, Early History of the Slavs [On-line],
Available: http://www.campuslife.utoronto.ca/groups/csa/croatia/history/slavs.html
[2001, Aug. 29].
2002, Indo-European Languages [On-line], Available:
http://www.geocities.com/indoeurop/atree.html [2002, Apr. 4].
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