BALKANS
South-West
Indo-Europeans (Balkans Tribes) :
c.3000 - 1000 BC :
According
to David Anthony (generally supported by academia), the Yamnaya
horizon exploded across the Pontic-Caspian steppe from around 3300
BC, this being the primary vector through which proto-Indo-Europeans
could spread westwards. The various interrelated cultural expressions
that formed the basis of this 'horizon' were created by early proto-Indo-Europeans
who belonged to semi-nomadic, pastoral tribes which could, more
or less, understand each other. After beginning their migration,
these people reached the Carpathian Mountains and the River Danube
near modern Budapest, where this folk migration appeared to halt
for quite some time, gradually intermixing with the Neolithic farmer
population in what is now Romania and Hungary (see feature link
for more on the Indo-European migrations).
The
proto-Mycenaeans followed this westwards migration trail, crossing
the River Prut to enter Romania on the eastern side of the Carpathian
Mountains. The close relationship between Mycenaean and proto-Indo-Iranian
languages shows that these two branches divided fairly late, sometime
between 2500-2000 BC. Therefore it is likely that proto-Mycenaeans
were amongst the last to arrive in Romania as the Yamnaya horizon
had already faded out by then. Seemingly they did not stop long
in established territory (or their Indo-Iranian influences would
have been watered down). Instead, perhaps finding that all the best
land had been taken, they carried on heading south, entering into
what is now Greece between 1900-1650 BC.
There
they swiftly became dominant over the local Neolithic farmers of
'Old Europe', and then over Minoan Crete, while also occupying many
of the Greek isles and possibly even the Anatolian coast in the
form of the Ahhiyawa. It is fairly common for a newly-arrived warrior
culture to impose a fresh layer of ruling nobility on any existing
society, and Indo-Europeans seemed especially good at this when
the preceding culture was Neolithic. Their last hurrah seemingly
came with the conquest of Troy, calculated here to have taken place
around 1183 BC. By then climate-induced drought had not only resulted
in tremendous political instability in the entire eastern Mediterranean
region (making the attack on Troy possible in the first place),
it had also brought about the fall of the Hittite empire (Troy's
major ally), and triggered migrations by the West-Indo-European
settlers along the Danube and the South-West Indo-European settlers
of Romania and - by now - the northern Balkans. They began pushing
southwards in a tremendous wave of advance, perhaps as early as
about 1250 BC. The possibility exists that the rise of the Urnfield
culture from around 1300 BC (locally represented by the Gava culture
- see map below) could also have been instrumental in initiating
this migration.
These
people were in the process of forming into historically-recognisable
tribes by this time, or at least did so as a result of their migrations.
The proto-Illyrians (not a single homogenous group in itself, but
seemingly all sorts of odds-and-ends from the Danubian communities)
and proto-Epirotes soon occupied the entire western Balkan coast
north of Greece itself. The former perhaps did not find enough land
or resources, as they soon spilled over the Adriatic and into south-western
Italy in the form of the Iapyges (seemingly between the eleventh
and tenth centuries BC). The proto-Thracians took the south-eastern
corner of the Balkans, everything between the Balkans Mountains
(which run through the centre of modern Bulgaria) and the area around
Thessalonica. The proto-Dacians - closely related to the Thracians
at least - took (or remained in) territory to the north of the Thracians,
in Romania and Moldova. The proto-Phrygians took a similar route
but carried on going until they had crossed into Anatolia - in fact
they may have begun this movement as early as 1450 BC. The story
for proto-Armenians is far less certain, but they were also part
of this general grouping at some point. The proto-Macedonians took
the bulk of the mountainous territory between the Thracians and
the Epirotes, while the proto-Dorians, Aeolians, and Ionians continued
on into Mycenaean Greece and the islands of the Aegean, seemingly
in superior numbers and with aggression enough to see off even the
Mycenaeans.
Recent
DNA tests on Mycenaean bodies found during well over a century of
archaeological digs have been compared with findings from modern
Greeks. Those findings were startling - there was no appreciable
difference. The Mycenaeans were as Greek as today's population.
The Dorians were not mentioned, but it is accepted fact that they
took over much of Mycenaean Greece (all bar Athens, plus various
areas that were still dominated by the earlier Pelasgians). Given
that fact, even if they only provided a superficial layer of nobility
to control the general Mycenaean population, then they should show
up in the results. With the Mycenaeans unable to preserve their
dominance of Greece in the face of the Dorian advance, the Dorian
numbers must have been higher than a layer of added ruling nobility,
thereby providing an even greater influence on modern DNA results.
The only answer is that there was no difference between the Dorians
and Mycenaeans (and also the later Minoans) - both had the same
DNA or were highly similar. Mycenaean language has also been shown
to have provided the basis for modern Greek, so it is also more
likely that the Dorian language was very similar, if not the same
- after all the two groups had only been separated for a little
over half a millennium and may not have been separated at all if
trading and low-level migration links had been maintained with the
north. The Dorians found it easy to take over Greece because they
were essentially the same people as the Mycenaeans.
(Information
by Peter Kessler and Edward Dawson, with additional information
from Europe Before History, Kristian Kristiansen, from The Iliad,
Homer (Translated by E V Rieu, Penguin, 1950), from The Roman History:
From Romulus and the Foundation of Rome to the Reign of the Emperor
Tiberius, Velleius Paterculus, J C Yardley, and Anthony A Barrett,
from A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, William
Smith (Ed), from An Historical Geography of Europe, Norman J G Pounds
(Abridged Version), from The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How
Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World,
David W Anthony, from Researches into the Physical History of Mankind,
Vol 3, Issue 1, James Cowles Prichard, from History of Humanity
- Scientific and Cultural Development: From the Third Millennium
to the Seventh Century BC (Vol II), Ahmad Hasan Dani, Jean-Pierre
Mohen, J L Lorenzo, & V M Masson (Unesco 1996), and from External
Links: The Beaker phenomenon and the genomic transformation of northwest
Europe (Nature), and Massive migration from the steppe was a source
for Indo-European languages in Europe (Nature), and Indo-European
Etymological Dictionary, J Pokorny, and Haplogroup R1a (Eupedia
Genetics), and DNA clue to origins of early Greek civilization (BBC
News), and The Greeks really do have near-mythical origins, ancient
DNA reveals (Science).)
2500
- 2000 BC :
The
close relationship between Mycenaean and proto-Indo-Iranian languages
shows that these two branches divide around this time period, fairly
late by any standard. Archaeologically, Mycenaean chariots, spearheads,
daggers, and other bronze objects show striking similarities to
the Seima-Turbino culture. The proto-Mycenaeans begin their migration
from the Pontic steppe, heading along a well-trod route towards
the western coast of the Black Sea.
1900
- 1650 BC :
Arriving
on the west bank of the River Prut (generally speaking, the modern
border between Romania and Moldova), the proto-Mycenaeans likely
meet other, closely related Indo-European groups of the south-west
branch between there and the eastern side of the Carpathian Mountains.
Similar groups would already be lining the Danube through Romania
and into Hungary, with some eventually entering the region on the
western side of the Carpathians. Of those, some seemingly ventured
northwards around the Carpathians to reach the Vistula and become
the Venedi.
Those
groups along the Danube may themselves have begun to fan out into
what is now northern Serbia and Croatia, although a belt of much
more difficult terrain beyond that, in line with the Balkans Mountains
which cut horizontally through Bulgaria, would inhibit any further
southwards drift for some time.
![](Map_EasternEurope1900BC_full.jpg)
The
proto-Mycenaeans seem to have been amongst the last of the western
Indo-European centum-speakers to take to the road, following a path
that had been trodden by related tribes for the past thousand years
It
is likely that, rather than settle with similar Indo-European groups
along the Danube or in Romania, the Mycenaeans keep moving, descending
into what is now Greece (the modern E4 walking route along the western
edge of Romania and through Bulgaria offers one potential path of
least resistance through the mountains). There they intermingle
with and dominate the Neolithic locals of the former farming cultures
of 'Old Europe' to create a new, unique Greek culture. Naturally,
as the new dominant force in the region, their language also dominates.
1200
- 1140 BC :
The
international system in the Near East has recently been creaking
under the strain of increasing waves of peasants and the poor leaving
the cities and abandoning crops. Around the end of the thirteenth
century the entire region is also hit by drought and the loss of
surviving crops. Food supplies dwindle and the number of raids by
various patchwork groups such as the habiru and other peoples who
have banded together greatly increases until, by about 1200 BC,
this flood has turned into a tidal wave of destruction, abandonment,
and migration.
The
same climate-induced hardships also hit the descendants of Indo-European
settlers along the Danube and in Romania, descendants who have already
expanded into the northern Balkans. They begin to migrate southwards
in search of food and better circumstances, perhaps also helped
on by the growing dominance of the Urnfield culture (in the local
form of the Gava culture) to their north.
The
proto-Illyrians and proto-Epirotes head towards the western Balkan
coast. Labelling all the people of this long and interesting coastline
as Illyrians though would be to miss out on a more accurate portrait
of them as a new social layer which assumes a position atop previous
ones, mostly involving Neolithic farmer communities of the former
'Old Europe'. The Illyrians themselves are far from being one single
group of people who are all the same - many regional and cultural
variations exist amongst them, not least those involving which have
been more heavily influenced by the proto-Italics and which, perhaps,
by the proto-Mycenaeans or Dorians who may have left some influence
of their own.
![](Map_EasternEurope1200BC_full.jpg)
Climate-induced
drought in the thirteenth century BC created great instability in
the entire eastern Mediterranean region, resulting in mass migration
in the Balkans, as well as the fall of city states and kingdoms
further east
The
proto-Thracians take the south-eastern corner of the Balkans, covering
everything between the Balkans Mountains (which run through the
centre of modern Bulgaria) to the area around Thessalonica. The
proto-Dacians - closely related to the Thracians at least - take
(or remain in) territory to the north of the Thracians, in Romania
and Moldova. The proto-Phrygians and possibly also the proto-Armenians
take a similar route but carry on going until they have crossed
into Anatolia. The proto-Macedonians take the bulk of the territory
between the Thracians and the Epirotes, while the proto-Dorians
continue on into Mycenaean Greece, seemingly in superior numbers
and with aggression enough to see off even the Mycenaeans.
c.900
BC :
Iron Age burials from this point onwards, in the Kerameikos and
other locations, are often richly provided for and demonstrate that
Athens has already become one of the leading centres of trade and
prosperity in former Mycenaean lands. This may be due to its secure
stronghold on the Acropolis and its access to the sea which give
it a distinct advantage over inland cities such as Sparta and Thebes.
The
beginnings of Classical Greece can be pinpointed to about this time,
although it will take at least two more centuries before it properly
realises its potential. To the north, the Illyrians have already
found good reason to send some of their number across the Adriatic
at its narrowest point to secure a foothold in south-eastern Iron
Age Italy and to create (or perpetuate) the tribe of the Iapyges.
The Chaonians may have done the same, becoming the Chones tribe
of Italy. The Macedonians, Dacians, and Thracians remain uncultured
and somewhat wild for several more centuries before developing recognisable
kingdoms of their own. The bulk of the Balkans remains largely unexplored
by literate people until the coming of the Romans.
Source
:
https://www.historyfiles.co.uk/
KingListsEurope/BarbarianBalkans.htm