Europe more advanced than Mesopotamia: was writing born in the Danube Valley?
Archaeologists attribute the invention of writing to the Sumerians, the first modern civilization to appear in Mesopotamia. However, analyzing symbolic systems found in Eastern Europe, seems that the true inventors of written language were the Danube Valley Civilization.
The term “Danube Valley Civilization” refers to several advanced cultures that arose in southeastern Europe and surrounding areas that are connected to the Danube Valley.
Its birth dates back to around 7000 BC, it reached the peak of its development around 5000 BC, and then declined around 3000 BC, showing a cultural continuity that lasted more than 4 thousand years.
Before the invention of writing, and before the first cities of Mesopotamia and Egypt were established, the Danube Valley Civilization was among the most sophisticated and technologically advanced cultures in the world.
The social organization showed a hierarchical structure and the populations lived in prosperous and densely inhabited agricultural cities, some of which reached considerable dimensions, up to 15 thousand inhabitants. Excavations carried out at the Nebelivka site show buildings up to three stories high, positioned next to each other as in a modern city.
The master coppersmiths of old Europe were the most advanced metal craftsmen in the world. In their tombs, the bodies of European leaders were adorned with large quantities of gold and copper, providing evidence that metals were being worked at high temperatures in Europe as early as 5500 BC.
At the height of its development, the Danube Valley Civilization played a very important cultural role, especially for what may have been the first writing system.
Although some archaeologists believe that what is believed to be "writing" is nothing more than a series of geometric figures and symbols, others believe that the sequence of symbols appears as a real system of written language. If this theory proves correct, it would be the oldest written language ever found, predating the Sumerians in Mesopotamia, and perhaps even the Dispilius Tablet, dated to around 5260 BC
Harald Haarmann, a German linguistics scientist and vice-president of the Institute of Archaeomythology, firmly maintains that the Danube tables are the oldest writing system in the world. According to him, the glyphs and symbols (called 'Vinca') engraved on ceramic tablets dating back to 5500 BC represent a language yet to be deciphered.
Clearly, the implications are enormous. It could mean that the Danube Valley Civilization far precedes all other civilizations known so far. Confirmation would also come from the thousands of artefacts found.
However, the majority of Mesopotamian scholars reject Haaemann's proposal, suggesting that the symbols on the tablets are only decorative, despite there being around 700 different symbols similar to those used in Egyptian hieroglyphics. They believe that the Danube Civilization copied signs and symbols from Mesopotamian civilizations, despite the fact that the ceramic supports are older than those of the Fertile Crescent.
Probably, researchers of Mesopotamian cultures fear losing the primacy of their appearance on the stage of history. Certainly, Haarmann's proposal deserves further research in order to confirm whether the Danube symbols truly represent the world's oldest written language.
One thing is clear: much earlier than previously thought, Southeastern Europe achieved a level of technological proficiency, artistic creativity, and social sophistication that we are only just beginning to understand and that decisively challenges our standard cultural categories.
