Research

Harald Haarmann has continued the work of Lithuanian-American archaeologist Marija Gimbutas who had coined the name Old Europe as an overarching name for the Neolithic cultures in southeastern Europe, with extension into western Ukraine and Moldova. The validity of Old Europe as a concept for describing this ancient civilization has been independently acknowledged, among others by the well-known American anthropologist David Anthony and members of the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World (New York)¹. Haarmann introduced the alternative name of Danube civilization in the 1990s, since all ancient civilizations flourished along big waterways, as in Mesopotamia, in ancient Egypt, in India or in China.

Haarmann’s research work focuses on phenomena of continuity and fusion of the Old European cultural heritage in subsequent cultures, into Greek antiquity and beyond. His publications in this field have prompted mixed reactions. There are those who are aware that the traditional and conventional clichés of cultural history along the lines of “ex oriente lux”² have to be disposed and replaced by a new view which corresponds to “ex occidente lux.”³ Representatives of the conservative mainstream, adhering to the traditional view of cultural history, have remained reserved or skeptical regarding Haarmann’s new interpretations.

Modern genetic research has given proof for the validity of Gimbutas’ Kurgan hypothesis, confirming her view that pastoralists from the Eurasian steppe migrated into southeastern Europe, introducing patriarchal structures in community life of the ancient indigenous population with their egalitarian society. For instance, geneticists confirm “massive migration from the steppe”⁴. The previous mainstream advocated the notion that agriculturalists from Anatolia had introduced the ‘agrarian package’ to southeastern Europe and had colonised the region. However, modern genetic studies have provided evidence that this notion is outdated. The genetic profile of the ancient population (aDNA) in the area is of local coinage, and the influx of gene flow from the steppe region dates to a later period.

Influential scholars such as Joan Marler, Charlene Spretnak, Marco Merlini, Uwe Hinrichs, Harald Seubert, Kaarina Kailo, Rossen Milev, Valentin Dergachev and others share Haarmann’s innovative approach to the study of cultural history, and this new orientation has even been addressed by commentators as revolutionary, e.g. “Indeed, a Copernican turn in our understanding of European history!”⁵ There have been suggestions to introduce the study of the Danube civilisation in school education: “This should be new required reading in school!”⁶

In order to make progress in the field of research on Old Europe, an interdisciplinary approach is called for. This means that investigating methods of various scientific disciplines have to be coordinated and results to be evaluated on an interdisciplinary level. Major disciplines participating in the research on Old Europe are archaeology, cultural history, history of religion, mythology, classical studies and civilisation research. When critics raise their voices, it can be often noticed that their criticism collides with interdisciplinary requirements and remains within the confines of a particular discipline without taking into consideration the organic whole. Representatives of science with such an orientation have remained reserved and call for further elaboration and documentation, e.g. the critical review of the book on the Danube civilisation by professor of archaeology, Florian Klimscha⁷.

¹ Anthony, David (ed.) (2010). The Lost World of Old Europe. The Danube valley, 5000–3500 BC. Princeton & Oxford.
² Light from the east; achievements of high culture emerged in Mesopotamia and spread from there into other parts of the world.
³ Light from the west; the advancement of the Danube civilization is much older than development in Asia or northern Africa.
⁴ W. Haak et al., 2015, in NATURE 14317 www.nature.com
⁵ Gerulf Stix, March 2016 in GENIUS www.genius.co.at; referring to “Das Rätsel der Donauzivilisation / The Mystery of the Danube Civilisation”, first ed. 2011, fourth ed. 2020.
⁶ Patricia Woodruff, May 2022 www.goodreads.com
⁷ DAS ALTERTUM 57 (2012): 146–156 (Florian Klimscha)