Old European cultures

The Neolithic, (Greek νέος (neos) = new + λίθος (lithos) = stone, or "New" Stone Age) was a period in the development of human technology that is traditionally the last part of the Stone Age. The name was invented by John Lubbock in 1865 as a refinement of the three-age system. The term is more commonly used in the Old World and its application to cultures in the Americas and Oceania is problematic. It follows the terminal Pleistocene Epipalaeolithic and early Holocene Mesolithic periods, beginning ...

Including:

• Neolithic - Origins and regional development
• Neolithic - Social organization
• Neolithic - Farming
• Neolithic - Technology

Read more here: » Neolithic: Encyclopedia - Neolithic

The Old European Script (also known as the Vinča alphabet, Vinča script or Vinča-Tordos script) is a name sometimes given to the markings on prehistoric artefacts found in south-eastern Europe. Some believe the markings to be a writing system of the Vinča culture, which inhabited the region around 6000-4000 BC. Others doubt that the markings represent writing at all, citing the brevity of the purported inscriptions and the dearth of repeated symbols in the purported script. Old European Script - ...

Including:

• Old European Script - The discovery of the script
• Old European Script - Meaning of the symbols
• Old European Script - Controversial issues

Read more here: » Old European Script: Encyclopedia - Old European Script

A significant and far-reaching shift in human subsistence and lifestyle was to be brought about in those areas where crop farming and cultivation were first developed, then gradually improved. In these areas, the previous reliance upon a more nomadic hunter-gatherer subsistence technique was at first supplemented, and then increasingly replaced by, a reliance upon the yield produced from cultivated lands. These developments are also believed to have greatly encouraged the growth of settlements, since it may be supposed that the increased nee ...

See also:

Neolithic, Neolithic - Origins and regional development, Neolithic - Social organization, Neolithic - Farming, Neolithic - Technology

Read more here: » Neolithic: Encyclopedia II - Neolithic - Farming

In 1875, archaeological excavations led by the archeologist Zsófia Torma (1840–1899) at Turdaş (Tordos), near Orăştie in Transylvania (now Romania) unearthed a cache of objects inscribed with previously unknown symbols. A similar cache was found during excavations conducted in 1908 in Vinča, a suburb of the Serbian city of Belgrade, some 120km from Tordos. Later, more such fragments were found in Banjica, another part of Belgrade. Thus the culture represented is called the Vinca-Tordos culture, and the script often called the < ...

See also:

Old European Script, Old European Script - The discovery of the script, Old European Script - Meaning of the symbols, Old European Script - Controversial issues

Read more here: » Old European Script: Encyclopedia II - Old European Script - The discovery of the script

(7th millennium BC – 6th millennium BC – 5th millennium BC – other millennia) 6th millennium BC - Events. c. 5760 BC – The volcano Puy-de-Dôme erupts. c. 5600 BC – Beginning of the desertification of north Africa, which ultimately lead to the creation of the Sahara desert. It's possible this process pushed some natives into migrating to the region of the Nile in the east, thereby laying the groundwork for the rise of Egyptian civilization. c. 5600 BC – The Red Paint Peop ...

Including:

• 6th millennium BC - Events
• 6th millennium BC - Environmental changes
• 6th millennium BC - Inventions discoveries introductions
• 6th millennium BC - Cultural landmarks

Read more here: » 6th millennium BC: Encyclopedia - 6th millennium BC

The nature and purpose of the symbols is still something of a mystery. It is not even clear whether they constitute a writing system. If they do, it is not known whether they represent an alphabet, syllabary, ideograms or some other form of writing. Although attempts have been made to decipher the symbols, there is no generally accepted translation or agreement as to what they mean. At first it was thought that the symbols were simply used as property marks, with no more meaning than "this belongs to X"; a prominent holder of this vie ...

See also:

Old European Script, Old European Script - The discovery of the script, Old European Script - Meaning of the symbols, Old European Script - Controversial issues

Read more here: » Old European Script: Encyclopedia II - Old European Script - Meaning of the symbols

Neolithic peoples were skilled farmers, manufacturing a range of tools necessary for the tending, harvesting and processing of crops (such as sickle blades and grinding stones) and food production (e.g. pottery, bone implements). They were also skilled manufacturers of a range of other types of stone tool and ornaments, including projectile points, beads, and statuettes. Neolithic peoples in the Levant, Anatolia, Syria, northern Mesopotamia and Central Asia were also accomplished builders, utilising mud-brick to construct houses and villages ...

See also:

Neolithic, Neolithic - Origins and regional development, Neolithic - Social organization, Neolithic - Farming, Neolithic - Technology

Read more here: » Neolithic: Encyclopedia II - Neolithic - Technology

The Vinča markings have not attracted as much linguistic attention as recognized but undeciphered scripts such as Crete's Linear A and Easter Island's Rongorongo. However, the Vinča material has still managed to stir some controversies of its own. The primary advocate of the idea that the markings represent writing, and the person who coined the name "Old European Script", was Marija Gimbutas (1921-1994), an important 20th century archaeologist and premier advocate of the notion that the Kurgan culture of Central Asia was an early I ...

See also:

Old European Script, Old European Script - The discovery of the script, Old European Script - Meaning of the symbols, Old European Script - Controversial issues

Read more here: » Old European Script: Encyclopedia II - Old European Script - Controversial issues