Prehistoric Europe

Early Prehistory
Lower Paleolithic	Homo antecessor[1][2] Homo heidelbergensis
Middle Paleolithic	Homo neanderthalensis
Upper Paleolithic	Homo neanderthalensis,Homo sapiens population of all regions
Mesolithic	Hunter-gatherers
Neolithic	Agriculture, herding, pottery
Late Prehistory
Chalcolithic	Old Europe (archaeology),Indo-Europeans,Varna culture
Bronze Age	Minoan Crete,Mycenaean civilization,Korakou culture,Cycladic culture,Lusatian culture,Yamnaya culture
Iron Age	Ancient Greece,Thracians,Ancient Rome, Iberians,Germanic tribes,Hallstatt culture
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Prehistoric Europe refers toEurope before the start of written records,^[3] beginning in theLower Paleolithic. As history progresses, considerable regional unevenness in cultural development emerges and grows. The region of the eastern Mediterranean is, due to its geographic proximity, greatly influenced and inspired by the classical Middle Eastern civilizations, and adopts and develops the earliest systems of communal organization and writing.^[4] TheHistories of Herodotus (from around 440 BC) is the oldest known European text that seeks to systematically record traditions, public affairs and notable events.^[5]

Widely dispersed, isolated finds of individual fossils of bone fragments (Atapuerca, Mauer mandible), stone artifacts orassemblages suggest that during theLower Paleolithic, spanning from 3 million until 300,000 years ago, palaeo-human presence was rare and typically separated by thousands of years. Thekarstic region of theAtapuerca Mountains in Spain represents the currently earliest known and reliably dated location of residence for more than a single generation and a group of individuals.^[6][7]

Homo neanderthalensis emerged inEurasia between 600,000 and 350,000 years ago as the earliest body of European people that left behind a substantial tradition, a set of evaluable historic data through a rich fossil record in Europe's limestone caves and a patchwork of occupation sites over large areas. These includeMousterian culturalassemblages.^[8][9]Modern humans arrived in Mediterranean Europe during theMiddle Paleolithic between 56,800 and 51,700 years ago^[10], and both species occupied a common habitat for several thousand years. Research has so far produced no universally accepted conclusive explanation as to what caused the Neanderthal's extinction between 40,000 and 28,000 years ago.^[11][12]

Homo sapiens later populated the entire continent during theMesolithic, and advanced north, following the retreating ice sheets of thelast glacial maximum that spanned between 26,500 and 19,000 years ago. A 2015 publication on ancient European DNA collected from Spain to Russia concluded that the original hunter-gatherer population had assimilated a wave of "farmers" who had arrived from theNear East during theNeolithic about 8,000 years ago.^[13]

The Mesolithic era siteLepenski Vir in modern-daySerbia, the earliest documentedsedentary community of Europe with permanent buildings, as well as monumental art, precedes by many centuries sites previously considered to be the oldest known. The community's year-round access to a food surplus prior to the introduction of agriculture was the basis for the sedentary lifestyle.^[14] However, the earliest record for the adoption of elements of farming can be found inStarčevo, a community with close cultural ties.^[15]

Belovode andPločnik, also in Serbia, is currently the oldest reliably dated copper smelting site in Europe (around 7,000 years ago). It is attributed to theVinča culture, which on the contrary provides no links to the initiation of or a transition to theChalcolithic orCopper Age.^[16][17][18]

The process of smelting bronze is an imported technology with debated origins and history of geographic cultural profusion. It was established in Europe about 3200 BC in the Aegean and production was centered around Cyprus, the primary source of copper for the Mediterranean for many centuries.^[19]

The introduction of metallurgy, which initiated unprecedented technological progress, has also been linked with the establishment of social stratification, the distinction between rich and poor, and use of precious metals as the means to fundamentally control the dynamics of culture and society.^[20]

TheEuropean Iron Age culture also originates in the East through the absorption of the technological principles obtained from theHittites about 1200 BC, finally arriving in Northern Europe by 500 BC.^[21]

During the Iron Age, Central, Western and most of Eastern Europe gradually entered the actual historical period. Greek maritime colonization and Roman terrestrial conquest form the basis for the diffusion of literacy in large areas to this day. This tradition continued in an altered form and context for the most remote regions (Greenland andEastern Balts, 13th century) via the universal body of Christian texts, including the incorporation ofEast Slavic peoples and Russia into the Orthodox cultural sphere.Latin andancient Greek languages continued to be the primary and best way to communicate and express ideas inliberal arts education and the sciences all over Europe until the early modern period.^[22]

The climatic record of the Paleolithic is characterised by thePleistocene pattern of cyclic warmer and colder periods, including eight major cycles and numerous shorter episodes. The northern maximum of human occupation fluctuated in response to the changing conditions, and successful settlement required constant adaption capabilities and problem solving. Most of Scandinavia, theNorth European Plain and Russia remained off limits for occupation during the Paleolithic and Mesolithic.^[29] Populations were sparse and small throughout the Palaeolithic.^[30]

Associated evidence, such as stone tools, artifacts and settlement localities, numbers more than fossilised remains of the hominin occupants themselves. The simplest pebble tools with a few flakes struck off to create an edge were found inDmanisi, Georgia, and in Spain at sites in theGuadix-Baza basin and nearAtapuerca. TheOldowan tool discoveries, calledMode 1-type assemblages are gradually replaced by a more complex tradition that included a range of hand axes and flake tools, theAcheulean,Mode 2-type assemblages. Both types of tool sets are attributed toHomo erectus, the earliest and for a very long time the only human in Europe and more likely to be found in the southern part of the continent. However, the Acheulean fossil record also links to the emergence ofHomo heidelbergensis, particularly its specificlithic tools and handaxes. The presence ofHomo heidelbergensis is documented since 600,000 BC in numerous sites in Germany, Great Britain and northern France.^[31]

Althoughpalaeoanthropologists generally agree thatHomo erectus andHomo heidelbergensis immigrated to Europe, debates remain about migration routes and the chronology.^[32]

The fact thatHomo neanderthalensis is found only in a contiguous range inEurasia and the general acceptance of theOut of Africa hypothesis both suggest that the species has evolved locally. Again, consensus prevails on the matter, but widely debated are origin and evolution patterns.^{[33][34][35][36]}

The Neanderthal fossil record ranges from Western Europe to theAltai Mountains in Central Asia and theUral Mountains in the North to theLevant in the South. Unlike its predecessors, they were biologically and culturally adapted to survival in cold environments and successfully extended their range to the glacial environments of Central Europe and the Russian plains. The great number and, in some cases, exceptional state of preservation of Neanderthal fossils and culturalassemblages enables researchers to provide a detailed and accurate data on behaviour and culture.^[37][9] Neanderthals are associated with theMousterian culture (Mode 3), stone tools that first appeared approximately 160,000 years ago.^[38][39]

Homo sapiens arrived in Europe around 46,000 and 43,000 years ago via theLevant and entered the continent through theDanubian corridor, as the fossils at the sites ofBacho Kiro cave andPeștera cu Oase suggest.^[40] With an approximate age of 46,000 years,^[41] theHomo sapiens fossils found in Bacho Kiro cave consist of a pair of fragmentedmandibles including at least onemolar^[42][43] This site yielded the oldest known ornaments in Europe,radiocarbon dated to over 43,000 years ago.^[44]

The fossils' genetic structure indicates a recent Neanderthal ancestry and the discovery of a fragment of a skull in Israel in 2008 support the notion that humans interbred with Neanderthals in the Levant.^[45]

After the slow processes of the previous hundreds of thousands of years, a turbulent period of Neanderthal–Homo sapiens coexistence demonstrated that cultural evolution had replaced biological evolution as the primary force of adaptation and change in human societies.^[46][47]

Generally small and widely dispersed fossil sites suggest that Neanderthals lived in less numerous and more socially isolated groups thanHomo sapiens. Tools andLevallois points are remarkably sophisticated from the outset, but they have a slow rate of variability, and general technological inertia is noticeable during the entire fossil period. Artifacts are of utilitarian nature, and symbolic behavioral traits are undocumented before the arrival of modern humans. TheAurignacian culture, introduced by modern humans, is characterized by cutbone orantler points, fine flintblades and bladelets struck from preparedcores, rather than using crudeflakes. The oldest examples and subsequent widespread tradition of prehistoric art originate from theAurignacian.^{[48][49][50][51]}

After more than 100,000 years of uniformity, around 45,000 years ago, the Neanderthal fossil record changed abruptly. The Mousterian had quickly become more versatile and was named theChatelperronian culture, which signifies the diffusion of Aurignacian elements into Neanderthal culture. Although debated, the fact proved that Neanderthals had, to some extent, adopted the culture of modernHomo sapiens.^[52] However, the Neanderthal fossil record completely vanished after 40,000 years BC, but genetic studies show mixing may have been common in the prehistoric period, and modern Europeans all have Neanderthal DNA.^[53].

Around 32,000 years ago, theGravettian culture appeared in theCrimean Mountains (southernUkraine).^[55][56] By 24,000 BC, theSolutrean and Gravettian cultures were present in Southwestern Europe. Gravettian technology and culture have been theorised to have come with migrations of people from the Middle East, Anatolia and the Balkans, and might be linked with the transitional cultures mentioned earlier since their techniques have some similarities and are both very different from Aurignacian ones, but this issue is very obscure. The Gravettian also appeared in theCaucasus andZagros Mountains but soon disappeared from southwestern Europe, with the notable exception of the Mediterranean coasts of Iberia.

The Solutrean culture, extended from northern Spain to southeastern France, includes not only astone technology but also the first significant development of cave painting and the use of the needle and possibly that of the bow and arrow. The more widespread Gravettian culture is no less advanced, at least in artistic terms: sculpture (mainlyvenuses) is the most outstanding form of creative expression of such peoples.

Around 19,000 BC, Europe witnesses the appearance of a new culture, known asMagdalenian, possibly rooted in the old Aurignacian one, which soon superseded the Solutrean area and also the Gravettian of Central Europe. However, in Mediterranean Iberia, Italy, the Balkans and Anatolia,Epigravettian cultures continued to evolve locally.

With the Magdalenian culture, the Paleolithic development in Europe reaches its peak and this is reflected in art, owing to previous traditions of paintings and sculpture.

Around 12,500 BC, theWürm Glacial Age ended. Slowly, through the following millennia, temperatures and sea levels rose, changing the environment of prehistoric people. Ireland and Great Britain became islands, and Scandinavia became separated from the main part of the European Peninsula. (They had all once been connected by a now-submerged region of the continental shelf known asDoggerland.) Nevertheless, the Magdalenian culture persisted until 10,000 BC, when it quickly evolved into twomicrolith cultures:Azilian, in Spain and southern France, andSauveterrian, in northern France and Central Europe. Despite some differences, both cultures shared several traits: the creation of very small stone tools calledmicroliths and the scarcity of figurative art, which seems to have vanished almost completely, which was replaced by abstract decoration of tools.^[57]

In the late phase of the epi-Paleolithic period, the Sauveterrean culture evolved into the so-calledTardenoisian and strongly influenced its southern neighbour, clearly replacing it in Mediterranean Spain and Portugal. The recession of the glaciers allowed human colonisation in Northern Europe for the first time. TheMaglemosian culture, derived from the Sauveterre-Tardenois culture but with a strong personality, colonised Denmark and the nearby regions, including parts of Britain.

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  Bone flute,Aurignacian,Geissenklösterle cave, 43,000 BC
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  Adorant from the Geißenklösterle cave, Aurignacian, 42,000 to 40,000 BC
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  Lion-man, Aurignacian, c. 41,000 to 35,000 BC
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  Aurignacian cave paintings,Chauvet Cave, c. 30,000 BC
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  Venus of Dolní Věstonice,Gravettian, c. 29,000 BC
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  Venus of Laussel, Gravettian, c. 23,000 BC
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  Venus of Brassempouy, c. 23,000 BC
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  Antler carving, Magdalenian, 15,000 BC

A transition period in the development of human technology between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic, theBalkan Mesolithic began around 15,000 years ago. In Western Europe, the Early Mesolithic, orAzilian, began about 14,000 years ago, in theFranco-Cantabrian region of northern Spain and southern France. In other parts of Europe, the Mesolithic began by 11,500 years ago (the beginningHolocene) and ended with theintroduction of farming, which, depending on the region, occurred 8,500 to 5,500 years ago.

In areas with limited glacial impact, the term "Epipaleolithic" is sometimes preferred for the period. Regions that experienced greater environmental effects as the Last Glacial Period ended had a much more apparent Mesolithic era that lasted millennia. In Northern Europe, societies were able to live well on rich food supplies from the marshlands, which had been created by the warmer climate. Such conditions produced distinctive human behaviours that are preserved in the material record, such as the Maglemosian and Azilian cultures. Such conditions delayed the coming of the Neolithic to as late as 5,500 years ago in Northern Europe.

As whatVere Gordon Childe termed the "Neolithic Package" (including agriculture, herding, polished stone axes, timber longhouses and pottery) spread into Europe, the Mesolithic way of life was marginalised and eventually disappeared.^[59] Controversy over the means of that dispersal is discussed below in theNeolithic section. A "Ceramic Mesolithic" can be distinguished between 7,200 and 5,850 years ago and ranged from Southern to Northern Europe.

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  Venus of Monruz, Switzerland, c. 9000 BC
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  Shigir Idol, Russia, c. 10,000 BC
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  Roca dels Moros, Spain
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  Magura Cave drawings, Bulgaria, c. 8,000- 6,000 BC
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  Pesse canoe, Netherlands, c. 8000 BC
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  Elk's Head of Huittinen, Finland, c. 6500 BC
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  Lepenski Vir sculpture, Serbia, c. 7000 BC
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  Amber animal figurine,Denmark, c. 12,000 BC
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  Star Carr pendant, Britain, c. 9000 BC

The EuropeanNeolithic is assumed to have arrived from the Near East viaAsia Minor, theMediterranean and theCaucasus. There has been a long discussion betweenmigrationists, who claim that the Near Eastern farmers almost totally displaced the European native hunter-gatherers, anddiffusionists, who claim that the process was slow enough to have occurred mostly throughcultural transmission. A relationship has been suggested between the spread of agriculture and the diffusion ofIndo-European languages, with several models of migrations trying to establish a relationship, like theAnatolian hypothesis, which sets the origin of Indo-European agricultural terminology in Anatolia.^[60]

Apparently related with the Anatolian culture ofHacilar, the Greek region ofThessaly was the first place in Europe known to have acquired agriculture, cattle-herding and pottery. The early stages are known aspre-Sesklo culture. The Thessalian Neolithic culture soon evolved into the more coherentSesklo culture (6000 BC), which was the origin of the main branches of Neolithic expansion in Europe. TheKaranovo culture on the territory of modern day Bulgaria, was another earlyNeolithic culture (Karanovo I-III ca. 62nd to 55th centuries BC) which was part of theDanube civilization and it is considered the largest and most important of the Azmak River Valley agrarian settlements.^[61] The Karanovo I is considered a continuation of Near Eastern settlement type.^[62] TheStarčevo culture is dating to the period betweenc. 6200 and 4500BCE.^[63][64] It originates in the spread of theNeolithic package of peoples and technological innovations including farming and ceramics fromAnatolia. The Starčevo culture marks its spread to the inland Balkan peninsula as theCardial ware culture did along the Adriatic coastline. It forms part of the widerStarčevo–Körös–Criş culture. Practically all of theBalkan Peninsula was colonized in the 6th millennium from there. The expansion, reaching the easternmost Tardenoisian outposts of the upperTisza, gave birth to theProto-Linear Pottery culture, a significant modification of the Balkan Neolithic that was the origin of one of the most important branches of European Neolithic: theDanubian group of cultures. In parallel, the coasts of theAdriatic and of southern Italy witnessed the expansion of another Neolithic current with less clear origins. Settling initially inDalmatia, the bearers of theCardium pottery culture may have come from Thessaly (some of the pre-Sesklo settlements show related traits) or even from Lebanon (Byblos). They were sailors, fishermen and sheep and goat herders, and the archaeological findings show that they mixed with natives in most places. Other early Neolithic cultures can be found inUkraine and Southern Russia, where the Epigravettian locals assimilated cultural influxes from beyond the Caucasus (e.g. theDniepr-Donets culture and related cultures) and inAndalusia (Spain), where the rare Neolithic ofLa Almagra Pottery appeared without known origins very early (c. 7800 BC).

This phase, starting 7000 years ago was marked by the consolidation of the Neolithic expansion towards western and northern Europe but also by the rise of new cultures in the Balkans, notably theDimini (Thessaly) and relatedVinca (Serbia and Romania) andKaranovo cultures (Bulgaria and nearby areas). Meanwhile, the Proto-Linear Pottery culture gave birth to two very dynamic branches: the Western and EasternLinear Pottery Cultures. The western branch expanded quickly, assimilating Germany, the Czech Republic, Poland and even large parts of western Ukraine, historicalMoldavia, the lowlands of Romania, and regions of France, Belgium and the Netherlands, all in less than 1000 years. With this expansion came diversification and a number of local Danubian cultures started forming at the end of the 5th millennium. In the Mediterranean, the Cardium pottery fishermen showed no less dynamism and colonised or assimilated all of Italy and the Mediterranean regions of France and Spain. Even in the Atlantic, some groups among the native hunter-gatherers started the slow incorporation of the new technologies. Among them, the most noticeable regions seem to be southwestern Iberia, which was influenced by the Mediterranean but especially by the Andalusian Neolithic, which soon developed the firstMegalithic burials (dolmens), and the area around Denmark (Ertebölle culture), influenced by the Danubian complex.

This period occupied the first half of the 6th millennium BC. The tendencies of the previous period consolidated and so there was a fully-formed Neolithic Europe, with five main cultural regions:

1. Danubian culture: from northern France to western Ukraine. Now split into several local cultures, the most relevant being theBoian culture, theRössen culture that was pre-eminent in the west, and theLengyel culture of Austria and western Hungary, which would have a major role in later periods.
2. The area of Dimini-Vinca: Thessaly, Macedonia and Serbia but extending its influence to parts of the mid-Danubian basin (Tisza,Slavonia) and southern Italy.
3. Mediterranean cultures: from the Adriatic to eastern Spain, including Italy and large portions of France and Switzerland. They were also diversified into several groups.
4. Eastern Europe: basically central and easternUkraine and parts of southern Russia andBelarus (Dniepr-Don culture). This area has the earliest evidence for domesticated horses.
5. Atlantic Europe: a mosaic of local cultures, some of them still pre-Neolithic, from Portugal to southern Sweden. In around 5800 BC, western France began to incorporate the Megalithic style of burial.

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  Sesklo culture, Greece, c. 6000-5300 BC
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  Karanovo culture, Bulgaria, 6th mill. BC
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  Karanovo culture, Bulgaria, 5th mill. BC
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  Vinča culture figurine, Serbia, c. 5000 BC
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  Linear Pottery culture,Germany, 5000 BC
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  Goseck Circle, Germany, 4900 BC
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  Dimini, walled acropolis, Greece, c. 4800 BC
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  Gavrinis megalithic tomb,France, 4000 BC
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  Locmariaquer megaliths,France, 4500 BC
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  Monte d'Accoddi, Sardinia, c. 3500-3000 BC^[65]
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  Menga Dolmen,Spain, c. 3700 BC
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  Newgrange,Ireland, 3200 BC
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  Hamangia culture,Bulgaria
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  Tisza culture,Hungary, 5300 BC^[66]
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  Bonu Ighinu culture, Sardinia, 4500 BC
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  Okolište, Bosnia and Herzegovina, c. 5000 BC

Also known as "Copper Age", the EuropeanChalcolithic was a time of significant changes, the first of which was the invention ofcopper metallurgy. This is first attested in theVinca culture in the 6th millennium BC. The Balkans became a major centre for copper extraction and metallurgical production in the 5th millennium BC. Copper artefacts were traded across the region, eventually reaching eastwards across the steppes of eastern Europe as far as theKhavalynsk culture. The 5th millennium BC also saw the appearance of economic stratification and the rise of ruling elites in the Balkan region, most notably in theVarna culture (c. 4500 BC) in Bulgaria, which developed the first known gold metallurgy in the world.

The economy of the Chalcolithic was no longer that of peasant communities and tribes, since some materials began to be produced in specific locations and distributed to wide regions.Mining of metal and stone was particularly developed in some areas, along with the processing of those materials into valuable goods.^[67]

Early Chalcolithic, 5500-4000 BC

From 5500 BC onwards, Eastern Europe was apparently infiltrated by people originating from beyond the Volga, creating a plural complex known asSredny Stog culture, which substituted the previousDnieper-Donets culture in Ukraine, pushing the natives to migrate northwest to the Baltic and to Denmark, where they mixed with the natives (TRBK A and C). The emergence of the Sredny Stog culture may be correlated with the expansion of Indo-European languages, according to theKurgan hypothesis. Near the end of the period, around 4000 BC, another westward migration of supposed Indo-European speakers left many traces in the lower Danube area (culture ofCernavodă I) in what seems to have been an invasion.^[68]

Solnitsata ("The Saltworks"), a prehistoric town located in present-dayBulgaria, is believed by archaeologists to be the oldest town inEurope - a fortified stone settlement - citadelle, inner and outer city with pottery production site and the site of asalt production facility approximately six millennia ago;^[69] it flourished ca 4700–4200 BC.^[70][71][72]

Meanwhile, the DanubianLengyel culture absorbed its northern neighbours in the Czech Republic and Poland for some centuries, only to recede in the second half of the period. The hierarchical model of the Varna culture seems to have been replicated later in the Tiszan region with theBodrogkeresztur culture. Labour specialisation, economic stratification and possibly the risk of invasion may have been the reasons behind this development.

In the western Danubian region (the Rhine and Seine basins), theMichelsberg culture displaced its predecessor, theRössen culture. Meanwhile, in the Mediterranean basin, several cultures (most notably theChasséen culture in southeastern France and theLagozza culture in northern Italy) converged into a functional union of which the most significant characteristic was the distribution network of honey-colouredsilex. Despite the unity, the signs of conflicts are clear, as many skeletons show violent injuries. This was the time and area ofÖtzi, the famous man found in the Alps.

Middle Chalcolithic, 4000-3000 BC

This period extends through the first half of the 4th millennium BC. During this period theCucuteni-Trypillia culture in Ukraine experienced a massive expansion, building the largest settlements in the world at the time, described as the first cities in the world by some scholars. The earliest known evidence for wheeled vehicles, in the form of wheeled models, also comes from Cucuteni-Trypillia sites, dated to c. 3900 BC.

In the Danubian region the powerfulBaden culture emerged circa 3500 BC, extending more or less across the region ofAustria-Hungary. The rest of the Balkans was profoundly restructured after the invasions of the previous period, with theCoțofeni culture in the central Balkans showing pronounced eastern (or presumably Indo-European) traits. The newEzero culture in Bulgaria (3300 BC), shows the first evidence of pseudo-bronze (orarsenical bronze), as does the Baden culture and theCycladic culture (in the Aegean) after 2800 BC.^[73]

In Eastern Europe, theYamnaya culture took over southern Russia and Ukraine. Inwestern Europe, the only sign of unity came from the Megalithicsuper-culture, which extended from southern Sweden to southern Spain, including large parts of southern Germany as well. However, the Mediterranean and Danubian groupings of the previous period appear to have fragmented into many smaller pieces, some of them apparently backward in technological matters. From 2800 BC, the DanubianSeine-Oise-Marne culture pushed directly or indirectly southwards and destroyed most of the rich Megalithic culture of western France. After 2600 BC, several phenomena prefigured the changes of the upcoming period:^[74]

Large towns with stone walls appeared in two different areas of the Iberian Peninsula: one in the Portuguese region ofEstremadura (culture ofVila Nova de Sao Pedro), strongly embedded in the Atlantic Megalithic culture; the other nearAlmería (southeastern Spain), centred around the large town ofLos Millares, of Mediterranean character, probably affected by eastern cultural influxes (tholoi). Despite the many differences, both civilisations seem to have had friendly contact and to have maintained productive exchanges. In the area ofDordogne (Aquitaine, France), a new unexpected culture ofbowmen appears: theArtenac culture soon takes control of western and even northern France and Belgium. In Poland and nearby regions, the putative Indo-Europeans reorganised and reconsolidated with the culture of the Globular Amphoras. Nevertheless, the influence of many centuries in direct contact with the still-powerful Danubian peoples had greatly modified their culture.^[73][75]

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  Varna culture, Bulgaria, 4500 BC
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  Cucuteni-Trypillia pottery, Ukraine
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  Maidanetske, Ukraine, c. 3800 BC
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  Bodrogkeresztúr culture, Hungary, 4000-3600 BC
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  Ħaġar Qim temple,Malta, 3600-3200 BC
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  Ħal Saflieni figurine, Malta, 3300–3000 BC
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  Dimini culture, Greece, c. 4000 BC
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  Baden culture, Hungary, 3300 BC
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  Funnelbeaker culture, Denmark, 3200 BC
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  Ljubljana Wheel,Slovenia, 3150 BC
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  Los Millares, Spain, c. 3100 BC
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  Yamnaya stone stele, Ukraine, c. 2600 BC
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  Bell Beaker culture burial, Spain, c. 2500 BC
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  Stonehenge,Britain, 2500 BC
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  Silbury Hill, Britain, c. 2400 BC
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  Gold lunula, Ireland, c. 2400 BC

Use of Bronze begins in theAegean around 3200 BC. From 2500 BC the newCatacomb culture, whose origins were obscure but were also Indo-Europeans, displaced the Yamna peoples in the regions north and east of the Black Sea, confining them to their original area east of the Volga. Around 2400 BC, theCorded Ware culture replaced their predecessors and expanded to Danubian and Nordic areas of western Germany. One related branch invaded Denmark and southern Sweden (Scandinavian Single Grave culture), and the mid-Danubian basin, though showing more continuity, had clear traits of new Indo-European elites (Vučedol culture). Simultaneously, in the West, the Artenac peoples reached Belgium. With the partial exception of Vučedol, the Danubian cultures, which had been so buoyant just a few centuries ago, were wiped off the map of Europe. The rest of the period was the story of a mysterious phenomenon: theBeaker people, which seemed to be of a mercantile character and to have preferred being buried according to a very specific, almost invariable, ritual. Nevertheless, out of their original area of western Central Europe, they appeared only within local cultures and so they never invaded and assimilated but went to live among those peoples and kept their way of life, which is why they are believed to be merchants.

The rest of Europe remained mostly unchanged and apparently peaceful. In 2300 BC, the first Beaker Pottery appeared in Bohemia and expanded in many directions but particularly westward, along the Rhone and the seas, reaching the culture of Vila Nova (Portugal) and Catalonia (Spain) as their limits. Simultaneously but unrelatedly, in 2200 BC in the Aegean region, theCycladic culture decayed and was substituted by the new palatine phase of theMinoan culture ofCrete.

The second phase of Beaker Pottery, from 2100 BC onwards, is marked by the displacement of the centre of the phenomenon to Portugal, within the culture of Vila Nova. The new centre's influence reached to all of southern and western France but was absent in southern and western Iberia, with the notable exception of Los Millares. After 1900 BC, the centre of the Beaker Pottery returned to Bohemia, and in Iberia, a decentralisation of the phenomenon occurred, with centres in Portugal but also in Los Millares andCiempozuelos.

Though the use ofbronze started much earlier in the Aegean area (c. 3.200 BC), c. 2300 BC can be considered typical for the start of the Bronze Age in Europe in general.

• c. 2300 BC, the Central European cultures ofUnetice,Adlerberg,Straubing and pre-Lausitz started working bronze, a technique that reached them through the Balkans and Danube.
• c. 1800 BC, the culture ofLos Millares, in Southwestern Spain, was substituted by that ofEl Argar, fully of the Bronze Age, which may well have been a centralised state.
• c. 1700 BC is considered a reasonable date to place the start ofMycenaean Greece, after centuries of infiltration of Indo-European Greeks of an unknown origin.
• c. 1600 BC, most of these Central European cultures were unified in the powerfulTumulus culture. Simultaneously but unrelatedly, the culture ofEl Argar started Phase B, which was characterised by a detectable Aegean influence (pithoi burials). About then, it is believed thatMinoan Crete fell under the rule of theMycenaean Greeks.
• Around 1300 BC, the Indo-European cultures of Central Europe, such asCelts,Italics and certainlyIllyrians, changed the cultural phase conforming to the expansionistUrnfield culture, starting a quick expansion that brought them to occupy most of the Balkans, Asia Minor, where they destroyed theHittite Empire (conquering the secret ofironsmelting), northeastern Italy, parts of France, Belgium, the Netherlands, northeastern Spain and southwestern England.

Derivations of the sudden expansion were theSea Peoples, who attacked Egypt unsuccessfully for some time, including thePhilistines (Pelasgians?) and theDorians, most likely Hellenised members of the group that ended invading Greek itself and destroying the might ofMycene and laterTroy.

Simultaneously, around then, the culture ofVila Nova de Sao Pedro, which lasted 1300 years in its urban form, vanishes into a less spectacular one but finally with bronze. The centre of gravity of the Atlantic cultures (theAtlantic Bronze Age complex) was now displaced towards Great Britain. Also about then, theVillanovan culture, the possible precursor of theEtruscan civilisation, appeared in central Italy, possibly with an Aegean origin.

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  Minoan palace atKnossos, Crete, c. 1700 BC
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  Mycenaean diadem, Greece, c. 1600 BC
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  Treasury of Atreus, Greece, c. 1300 BC
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  Bush Barrow,Britain, 1900 BC
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  Trundholm Sun Chariot,Denmark, 1500 BC
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  Argaric culture gold diadem, Spain, 1600 BC
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  Nuraghe Santu Antine inTorralba,Sardinia,Italy, c. 1600 BC
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  Nuragic ship model, Sardinia, 1000 BC
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  Valchitran treasure, Bulgaria, c. 1300 BC
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  Sintashta culture chariot, Russia, c. 2000 BC
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  Terramare culture, Italy, 1650–1150 BC
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  Bronze swords,Switzerland, 1000 BC
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  Berlin Gold Hat, Germany, c. 1000 BC
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  Bronze cuirasses, France, c. 900 BC
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  Urnfield culture, Germany, c. 1100 BC
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  Bronze chariot wheel, Romania, c. 13th century BC
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  Ruins ofLa Bastita de Totana, Spain, c. 1600 BC

Though the use ofiron was known to the Aegean peoples about 1100 BC, it failed to reach Central Europe before 800 BC, when it gave way to theHallstatt culture, an Iron Age evolution of theUrnfield culture.

Around then, thePhoenicians, benefitting from the disappearance of the Greek maritime power (Greek Dark Ages) founded their first colony at the entrance of the Atlantic Ocean, in Gadir (modernCádiz), most likely as a merchant outpost to convey the many mineral resources of Iberia and the British Isles.

Nevertheless, from the 7th century BC onwards, the Greeks recovered their power and started their own colonial expansion, founding Massalia (modernMarseille) and the Iberian outpost of Emporion (modernEmpúries). That occurred only after theIberians could reconquerCatalonia and theEbro valley from the Celts, separating physically the Iberian Celts from their continental neighbours.

The second phase of the European Iron Age was defined particularly by the CelticLa Tène culture, which started around 400 BC, followed by a large expansion of them into the Balkans, the British Isles, where they assimilateddruidism, and other regions of France and Italy.

The decline of Celtic power under the expansive pressure ofGermanic tribes (originally fromScandinavia andLower Germany) and the forming of the Roman Empire during the 1st century BC was also that of the end of prehistory, properly speaking; though many regions of Europe remained illiterate and therefore out of reach of written history for many centuries, the boundary must be placed somewhere, and that date, near the start of the calendar, seems to be quite convenient. The remaining is regional prehistory, or, in most cases,protohistory, but no longer European prehistory, as a whole.

• 
  Protogeometric amphora, Greece, c. 975–950 BC
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  Villanovan culture warrior burial,Italy, 730 BC
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  Hallstatt culture armour, Austria, 7th century BC
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  CelticHochdorf Grave,Germany, 530 BC
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  Vix palace, Hallstatt culture,France, 500 BC
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  Panagyurishte Treasure, Bulgaria, 400–300 BC
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  Thracian tomb,Bulgaria, 3rd century BC
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  Scythian gold pectoral, Ukraine, 4th century BC
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  Geto-Dacian gold helmet, Romania, c. 400 BC
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  Battersea Shield,Britain, c. 350–50 BC
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  Broch of Mousa,Scotland, c. 300-100 BC
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  Lady of Elche,Spain, 4th century BC
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  Celticoppidum ofManching, Germany, 2nd century BC
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  Broighter gold boat,Ireland, c. 100 BC
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  Chariot fitting,La Tène culture, France
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  Dejbjerg wagon,Denmark, 1st century BC

The genetic history of Europe has been inferred by observing the patterns of genetic diversity across the continent and in the surrounding areas. Use has been made of both classical genetics and molecular genetics.^[77][78] Analysis of the DNA of the modern population of Europe has mainly been used but use has also been made of ancient DNA.

This analysis has shown that modern man entered Europe from the Near East before the Last Glacial Maximum but retreated to refuges in southern Europe in this cold period. Subsequently, people spread out over the whole continent, with subsequent limited migration from the Near East and Asia.^[79]

According to a study in 2017, the early farmers belonged predominantly to the paternalHaplogroup G-M201.^[80] The maternal haplogroupN1a was also frequent in the farmers.^[81]

Evidence from genome analysis of ancient human remains suggests that the modern native populations of Europe largely descend from three distinct lineages: Mesolithichunter-gatherers, derivative of the Cro-Magnon population of Europe,Early European Farmers (EEF) introduced to Europe during theNeolithic Revolution, andAncient North Eurasians which expanded to Europe in the context of theIndo-European expansion.^[82] The Early European Farmers migrated from Anatolia to the Balkans in large numbers during the 7th millennium BC.^[83] During theChalcolithic and earlyBronze Age, the EEF-derived cultures of Europe were overwhelmed by successive invasions ofWestern Steppe Herders (WSHs) from thePontic–Caspian steppe, who carried about 60%Eastern Hunter-Gatherer (EHG) and 40%Caucasus Hunter-Gatherer (CHG) admixture. These invasions led to EEFpaternal DNA lineages in Europe being almost entirely replaced with EHG/WSH paternal DNA (mainlyR1b andR1a). EEFmaternal DNA (mainly haplogroup N) also declined, being supplanted by steppe lineages,^[84][85] suggesting the migrations involved both males and females from the steppe. EEF mtDNA, however, remained frequent, suggesting admixture between WSH males and EEF females.^[86][87]

A 2025 study conducted by scientists from theUniversity of Ferrara had found that many of the prehistoric Europeans, including genetic remains from the Stonehenge inhabitants, retained dark skin of their African ancestors until theBronze andIron Ages. The analysis suggested that lighter skin had evolved in Europe more sporadically than conventionally believed in academic scholarship.^[88][89] The study had analysed 348 samples pooled from human remains across the British Isles, mainland Europe, Russia, Central Asia, and the Middle East with a chronological range extending from 45,000 to 1,700 years ago.^[90]

The written linguistic record in Europe first begins with theMycenaean record ofearly Greek in the Late Bronze Age.Unattested languages spoken in Europe in the Bronze and Iron Ages are the object of reconstruction inhistorical linguistics, in the case of Europe predominantlyIndo-European linguistics.

Indo-European is assumed to have spread from thePontic steppe at the very beginning of the Bronze Age, reaching Western Europe contemporary with theBeaker culture, after about 5,000 years ago.

Various pre-Indo-European substrates have been postulated, but remain speculative; the "Pelasgian" and "Tyrsenian" substrates of the Mediterranean world, an "Old European" (which may itself have been an early form of Indo-European), a "Vasconic" substrate ancestral to the modernBasque language,^[91] or a more widespread presence of earlyFinno-Ugric languages in northern Europe.^[92]An early presence of Indo-European throughout Europe has also been suggested ("Paleolithic continuity theory").^[93]

Donald Ringe emphasizes the "great linguistic diversity" which would generally have been predominant in any area inhabited by small-scale, tribal pre-state societies.^[94]

Media related toPrehistory of Europe at Wikimedia Commons

Wikivoyage has travel information forPrehistoric Europe.

• Europe's oldest prehistoric town unearthed in Bulgaria
• [Hans Slomp (2011). Europe, a Political Profile: An American Companion to European Politics. ABC-CLIO. pp. 50–.ISBN 978-0-313-39181-1. Europe, a Political Profile]
• Neolithic and Chalcolithic Artifacts from the Balkans
• Central European Neolithic Chronology
• South East Europe pre-history summary to 700 BC
• Prehistoric art of the Pyrenees

Paleolithic sanctuaries:

• [1]
• [2]

• Prehistoric Europe

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