The Making of the Slavs: History and Archaeology of the Lower Danube Region, c.500-700

494 Pages·2001·9.06 MB·English

by  Florin Curta

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The Making of the Slavs
This book offers a new approach to the problem of Slavic ethnicity in south-
eastern Europe between c.  and c. , from the perspective of current
anthropological theories.
The conceptual emphasis here is on the relation between material culture and
ethnicity. The author demonstrates that the history of the Sclavenes and the
Antes begins only at around  . He also points to the significance of the
archaeological evidence, which suggests that specific artifacts may have been
used as identity markers. This evidence also indicates the role of local leaders in
building group boundaries and in leading successful raids across the Danube. The
names of many powerful leaders appear in written sources, some being styled
“kings.”Because ofthese military and political developments, Byzantine authors
began employing names such as Sclavenes and Antes in order to make sense of
the process of group identification that was taking place north of the Danube
frontier. Slavic ethnicity is therefore shown to be a Byzantine invention.
  is Assistant Professor ofMedieval History, University ofFlorida

Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought
THE MAKING OF THE SLAVS
Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought
Fourth Series
General Editor:
. . 
Research Professor of Medieval History, University of Sheffield
Advisory Editors:
 
Reader in Medieval English History, University of Cambridge, and Fellow of New Hall
 
Professor of Medieval History, University of Cambridge, and Fellow of Newnham College
The series Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought was
inaugurated by G. G. Coulton in ; Professor D. E. Luscombe now
acts as General Editor of the Fourth Series, with Dr Christine Carpenter
and Professor Rosamond McKitterick as Advisory Editors. The series
brings together outstanding work by medieval scholars over a wide
range of human endeavour extending from political economy to the
history of ideas.
For a list of titles in the series, see end of book.
THE MAKING OF THE SLAVS
History and Archaeology of the Lower Danube Region,
 
c. –
FLORIN CURTA
         
The Pitt Building, Trumpington Street, Cambridge, United Kingdom
  
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK
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http://www.cambridge.org
©Florin Curta 2004
First published in printed format 2001
ISBN 0-511-03248-X eBook(Adobe Reader)
ISBN 0-521-80202-4 hardback
CONTENTS
List of figures page ix
List of tables xiii
Acknowledgments xiv
List of abbreviations xv
Introduction 
 Slavic ethnicity and the ethnie of the Slavs: concepts and
approaches 
 Sources for the history of the early Slavs (c. –) 
 The Slavs in early medieval sources (c. –) 
 The Balkans and the Danube limes during the sixth and
seventh centuries 
 Barbarians on the sixth-century Danube frontier: an
archaeological survey 
 Elites and group identity north of the Danube frontier: the
archaeological evidence 
 “Kings”and “ democracy”: power in early Slavic society 
Conclusion: the making of the Slavs 
Appendix A 
Appendix B 
References 
Index 
vii