Old Europe 2
De eldste europeiske byene
Ötzi – ismannen fra steinalderen
Balkan
Sesklo
Dimini
Varna kulturen
Vinča culture
Cernavoda kulturen
Karanovo culture
Gumelniţa–Karanovo culture
Cucuteni-Trypillian
Hamangia
The Boian Culture
Linear Pottery Culture
Cicilia
Northwest Block Culture
Bell-Beaker Culture
Los Millares
Skara Brae
De eldste europeiske byene:
Here is a list of towns and cities in Europe that were founded at least 3000 years ago (prior to 1000 BC), and the probable corresponding main haplogroup(s) of the people who founded the city:
The oldest towns outside the Aegean follow the Neolithic expansion of haplogroup E-V13 and J2 from Thessaly along the Danube basin (see map below). Unsurprisingly E-V13 is most commonly found from northern Greece to Serbia, with Kosovo peaking at 45% of the population. It reaches 19% in Macedonian Greeks, 23% in Albania, 24% in Serbia, and 40% in the Sesklo/Dimini region of Thessaly.
Bulgaria Boasts Europe’s Oldest City?
Top 10 Oldest Cities in the World
List of cities by time of continuous habitation – Wikipedia
- 7,000 BCE : Choirokoitia (Cyprus) => G2a, J2 and E1b1b
- 6,500 BCE : Sesklo (Thessaly, Greece) => E1b1b, G2a and J2
- 6,000 BCE : Starčevo (Serbia) => E1b1b, G2a and J2
- 5,500 BCE : Pločnik (Serbia) => E1b1b, G2a and J2
- 5,000 BCE : Varna (Bulgaria) => E1b1b, G2a and J2
- 5,000 BCE : Hallstatt (Austria) => E1b1b, G2a and J2 (and I2b ?)
- 5,000 BCE : Bratislava (Slovakia) => E1b1b, G2a and J2 (and I2b ?)
- 4,800 BCE : Dimini (Thessaly, Greece) => E1b1b, G2a and J2
- c. 4,500 BCE : Lerna (Peloponnese, Greece) => E1b1b, G2a and J2
- 4,500 BCE : Glauberg (Hesse, Germany) => E1b1b, G2a and J2 (and I2b ?)
- 4,000 BCE : Plovdiv (Bulgaria) => E1b1b, G2a and J2
- 4,000 BCE : Phaistos (Crete, Greece) => J2
- 3,900 BCE : Michelsberg (Baden, Germany) => E1b1b, G2a and J2 (and I2b ?)
- 3,800 BCE : Dobrovody (Ukraine) => I2a2, E1b1b , G2a and J2
- 3,700 BCE : Talianki (Ukraine) => I2a2, E1b1b , G2a and J2
- 3,700 BCE : Maydanets (Ukraine) => I2a2, E1b1b , G2a and J2
- 3,250 BCE : Kasenovka (Ukraine) => I2a2, E1b1b , G2a and J2
- 3,200 BCE : Skara Brae (Scotland) => G2a and I2b
- 3,000 BCE : Troy (Turkey) => R1b and J2
- 3,000 BCE : Myrtos Pyrgos (Crete, Greece) => J2
- 3,000 BCE : Akrotiri (Cyprus) => , G2a, J2 and E1b1b
- 3,000 BCE : Athens (Greece) => E1b1b, G2a, I2, J2
- 2,700 BCE : Knossos (Crete, Greece) => J2
- 2,500 BCE : Kastri, (Kythera, Greece) => J2
- 2,300 BCE : Gournia (Crete, Greece) => J2 (and R1b ?)
- 2,300 BCE : Manika (Euboea, Greece) => E1b1b, G2a and J2
- 2,000 BCE : Mantua (Italy) => E1b1b G2a, I2a
- 1,900 BCE : Mycenae (Greece) => R1a (or R1b)
- 1,900 BCE : Mallia (Crete, Greece) => J2 (and R1b ?)
- 1,900 BCE : Kato Zakros (Crete, Greece) => J2 (and R1b ?)
- 1,600 BCE : Hagia Triada (Crete, Greece) => J2 (and R1b ?)
- 1,600 BCE : Chania (Crete, Greece) => J2 (and R1b ?)
- 1,400 BCE : Larnaca (Cyprus) => G2a, J2 and E1b1b
- 1,300 BCE : Heuneburg (Württemberg, Germany) => R1b
- 1,200 BCE : Lisbon (Portugal) => G2a and I2 and R1b
- 1,100 BCE : Cadiz (Spain) => J2, E1b1b, G2a
- 1,100 BCE : Chios (North Aegean, Greece) => J2, E1b1b (and R1b ?)
- 1,000 BCE : Würzburg (Bavaria, Germany) => R1b
Here is a list of late Neolithic to early Bronze Age fortified villages and small towns from Iberia:
- c. 3,500 BCE : Leceia (Estremadura, Portugal) => J2, G2a and E1b1b
- c. 3,200 BCE : Los Millares (Andalusia, Spain) => J2, G2a and E1b1b
- c. 3,000 BCE : Castelo Velho de Freixo de Numão (North Portugal) => J2, G2a and E1b1b
- c. 3,000 BCE : Almizaraque (Andalusia, Spain) => J2, G2a and E1b1b
- c. 2,800 BCE : Zambujal (Portugal) => J2, G2a and E1b1b
- c. 2,600 BCE : Vila Nova de São Pedro (Estremadura, Portugal) => J2, G2a and E1b1b
- c. 2,500 BCE : Santa Justa (Algarve, Portugal) => J2, G2a and E1b1b
- c. 2,500 BCE : Monte da Tumba (Setubal, Portugal) => J2, G2a and E1b1b
- c. 2,400 BCE : Pragança (Estremadura, Portugal) => J2, G2a and E1b1b
- c. 1,800 BCE : Antas (Andalusia, Spain) => E1b1b, G2a, J2, I2a and R1b ?
- c. 1,800 BCE : El Argar (Murcia, Spain) => E1b1b, G2a, J2, I2a and R1b ?
- c. 1,800 BCE : Lugarico Viejo (Andalusia, Spain) => E1b1b, G2a, J2, I2a2 and R1b ?
- c. 1,800 BCE : Ifre (Murcia, Spain) => E1b1b, G2a, J2, I2a and R1b ?
- c. 1,800 BCE : Zapata (Murcia, Spain) => E1b1b, G2a, J2, I2a and R1b ?
- c. 1,800 BCE : Puntarrón Chico (Murcia, Spain) => E1b1b, G2a, J2, I2a and R1b ?
- c. 1,800 BCE : Cabezo Redondo (Murcia, Spain) => E1b1b, G2a and J2
- c. 1,800 BCE : Gatas (Andalusia, Spain) => E1b1b, G2a, J2, I2a and R1b ?
- c. 1,800 BCE : Cerro de la Virgen de Orce (Andalusia, Spain) => E1b1b, G2a, J2, I2a and R1b ?
- c. 1,800 BCE : Cerro de la Encina (Andalusia, Spain) => E1b1b, G2a, J2, I2a and R1b ?
- c. 1,700 BCE : Cuesta del Negro (Andalusia, Spain) => E1b1b, G2a and J2
- c. 1,550 BCE : Fuente Álamo (Andalusia, Spain) => E1b1b, G2a, J2, I2a and R1b ?
Haplogroup J (Y-DNA) – Wikipedia
Haplogroup J2 (Y-DNA) – Wikipedia
Haplogroup G (Y-DNA) – Wikipedia
Haplogroup I (Y-DNA) – Wikipedia
Haplogroup I2 (Y-DNA) – Wikipedia
Haplogroup R (Y-DNA) – Wikipedia
Haplogroup R1b (Y-DNA) – Wikipedia
Haplogroup E (Y-DNA) – Wikipedia
Haplogroup E1b1b (Y-DNA) – Wikipedia
Haplogroup T (Y-DNA) – Wikipedia
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YDNA Haplogroup Descriptions & Information Links
Learn about Y-chromosome Haplogroup I
Distribution of haplogroup G in general
Ötzi, the Tyrolean Iceman belonged to Y-haplogroup G2a4
Ötzi – ismannen fra steinalderen
Balkan:
Major archaeological site of the Balkans, the Hârsova tell is representative of the cultures that succeed one another at the end of the Neolithic and during the Chacolithic (Hamangia, Boian, Gumelnita, Cernavoda I) in the lower Danube basin, between the end of the sixth and the second half of the fourth millennium BC.
The southern expansion of agriculture was carried out mostly by the migration of farmers from the Near East to Iberia, following the Mediterranean coastlines, while the northern Danubian diffusion of farming was achieved by native Mesolithic Europeans who acquired Neolithic techniques by contact with farmers from Thessaly and Albania (Sesklo culture), and only blending to a small extent.
E1b1b1a1 (or E-M78, formerly E3b1a) is the most common variety of haplogroup E among Europeans and Near Easterners. E-M78 is thought to have migrated out of Egypt in the Mesolithic or Neolithic to colonise the Middle East, where it mixed with the indigenous inhabitants belonging to haplogroups J and G.
The Phoenicians, from the Levant, also contributed to the spread of E1b1b1a (as well as J2, Q and T) to places such as Cyprus, Malata, Sardinia, Ibiza and southern Iberia. The lower incidence of E1b1b1a in Syria and Anatolia is almost certainly due to the competition from the other major Neolithic haplogroups : G2 and J2.
E-V13 is one of the major markers of the Neolithic diffusion of farming from the Levant. Like all the other subclades of E1b1b1a, E-V13 originated in North-East Africa around the end of the last Ice Age. Its frequency is now far higher in Greece, South Italy and the Balkans than anywhere else due to a founder effect, i.e. the migration of a small group of settlers carrying mostly this lineage (but also a small amount of other North-East African lineages, notably E-M123 and T).
Archeological evidence shows that the region of Thessaly, in northern Greece, was the starting point (circa 6,000 BCE) for the diffusion of agriculture through the Balkans and the Danube basin, as far as northern France to the west and Russia to the east. The modern distribution of E-V13 hints at a strong correlation with the Neolithic and Chalcolithic cultures of Old Europe, such as the Vinča, Boian, Maritsa and Karanovo, cultures. However, the genetic testing of three male samples from the LBK culture only revealed the presence of haplogroups F and G2a. The sample is obviously too small to rule out that E1b1b also entered Europe during the Neolithic period though.
E-V13 is also associated with the ancient Greek expansion and colonisation. Outside of the Balkans and Central Europe, it is particularly common in Southern Italy, Cyprus and Southern France, all part of the Classcical ancient Greek world.
It is still unclear when haplogroup E entered Europe. Recent DNA tests from Neolithic sites in southern Germany and southern France lacked all trace of E1b1b. This suggests a later arrival, either towards the end of the Neolithic/Chalcolithic or during the Bronze Age. In the absence of Y-DNA from Neolithic Greece, South italy and Iberia, nothing rules out the possibility that E1b1b was present to these regions since the Neolithic, Mesolithic or even the late Paleolithic.
North Africans carriers of E1b1b could have crossed the Mediterranean (probably in several independent waves) anytime between the Last Glacial Maximum (circa 20,000 years ago) and the last desertification of the Sahara that started when the monsoon retreated south 6,200 years ago.
E1b1b1a3 (E-M123) and its main branch E1b1b1c1 (E-M34) is also associated with the diffusion of agriculture and ancient Middle-Eastern civilizations. This haplogroup peaks in Ethiopia (approximately 8 to 10%) and in the southern Levant (10-12% in Palestine and Lebanon), from where it expands in all directions over the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and South-East Europe.
Within Europe, E-M123 is most common in Italy, especially in Sicily and Sardinia, and in southern France. There are also peaks in south-central Anatolia, west Anatolia, Tunisia and north-east Algeria. The distribution of E-M123 matches almost exactly the expansion of farming (see map below) during the Neolithic period.
E-M123 seems to go hand in hand with haplogroup G2a, with the difference that G2a reaches its maximum frequency around the Caucasus and Anatolia, where cattle, pigs and goats where first domesticated. Inside Europe, E-M123 follows more or less the distribution of E-V13, with the highest frequency (1 to 5%) observed in Greece, South Italy, the Balkans and the Danube basin, then fading towards Germany, Poland, Ukraine and Russia, where its frequency is under 1%.
A newer study by Semino et al. has studied two samples of Greeks of size 84 and 59 (Macedonian Greeks). The focus was on two specific haplogroups E and J which are frequent in the Mediterranean region and can be used to detect population movements between Europe, Africa and the Near East. 2.4% of Greeks belong in haplogroup E-M123 and 21.4% in E-M78. Clades of E prevalent in Northern or Sub-Saharan Africa were not found.
According to Cruciani et al. most Greeks and other Balkan people belong to a specific cluster a within haplogroup E-M78 that is found in lower frequencies outside the Balkans and marks migrations from the Balkan area. E-M123 and its daughter haplogroup E-M34 originated in the Near East in prehistoric times.
As for haplogroup J, most Greeks (22.8% Greeks/14.3% Macedonian Greeks) belong to J-M172 and its subclades which is associated with Neolithic population movements. Only 1.8%/2.2% of Macedonian Greeks/Greeks belonged to haplogroup J-M267 which could potentially (althought not certainly) reflect more recent Near Eastern admixture.
The development of primitive man in Ukraine. The first farmers and herders in Ukraine
The earliest farmers and herders in Ukraine
Sesklo:
Sesklo (Greek: Σέσκλο) is a village near the city of Volos, in Thessaly (central Greece), in the regional unit of Magnesia. It is part of the municipal unit Aisonia. Nearby, a Neolithic settlement was discovered at the end of the 19th century and the first excavations were made by Greek archaeologist, Christos Tsountas.
This settlement gives its name to the first Neolithic culture of Europe, which inhabited Thessaly and parts of Macedonia (Greece). The oldest fragments researched at Sesklo place the civilization’s development as far back as 6850 BC with a +/- 660 year margin of error. The first settlements, which predate the 6th millennium BCE, are known as proto-Sesklo (main group) and pre-Sesklo (secondary groups with differentiated characteristics) and they show an advanced agriculture and a very early use of pottery that rivals in age those of the Near East, in an area geographically close to the Petralona cave and the Archanthropus living environment.
The peoples of Sesklo built their villages on hillsides near fertile valleys, where they grew wheat and barley, also keeping herds of mainly sheep and goats, though they also had cows, pigs and dogs. Their houses were small, with one or two rooms, built of wood or mudbrick in the early period. Later the construction technique becomes more homogeneous and all homes are built of adobe with stone foundations. In the 6th millennium BCE, the first houses with two levels are found and there is also a clear intentional urbanism.
The lower levels of proto-Sesklo lack pottery, but the Sesklo people soon developed very fine glazed earthenware (cups and bowls) that they decorated with geometric paintings in red or brown colours. In the Sesklo period new types of ware are incorporated. At the end of the period the decoration evolves to flame motifs. Pottery of this ‘classic’ Sesklo style was also used in Western Macedonia as at Servia.
When investigating whether these settlers could be migrants from Asia Minor, there are many similarities between the rare Asia Minor pottery and Greek Early Neolithic pottery, but these similarities seem to exist between all early pottery from Near Eastern regions. The repertoire of shapes is not very different, but the Asia Minor vessels seem to be deeper than their Thessalian counterparts. Shallow, slightly open bowls are characteristic of the Sesklo culture and absent in Minor Asia settlements. The ring base was almost unknown in Anatolia, whereas flat and plano-convex bases were common there. Altogether the appearance of the vessels is different. The appearance of the earliest figurines is additionally completely different.
The very rare pottery from levels XII and XI at Çatal Hüyük closely resembles in shape the very coarse ware of Early Neolithic I from Sesklo, but the paste is quite different, having a partly vegetable temper. This pottery is contemporaneous with the better made ware and not a predecessor of the Thessalian material. On the whole, the artefactual data argues in favour of a largely independent indigenous development of the Greek Neolithic settlements.
The data available also indicates that the domestication of cattle has taken place at Argissa as early as 6300 BC during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic. The non-pottery bearing levels at Sesklo contained bone fragments of domesticated cattle too. The earliest occurrence reported in the Near East is at Çatal Hüyük, in stratum VI, dating around 5750 BC, though it may have been present in stratum XII too – somewhere around 6100 BC. This indicates that the domestication of cattle was indigenous on the Greek mainland.
One significant characteristic of this culture is the abundance of statuettes of women, often pregnant, probably connected to the widely hypothesized prehistoric fertility cult. Whichever the case, these abundant sculptures are present in all the Balcanic and most of the Danubian Neolithic complex form many millennia, though they can’t be considered exclusive of this area.
The culture of Sesklo is crucial in the expansion of the Neolithic into Europe. Dating and research points to the influence of this culture to other Balcanic (Karanovo I-II and Starčevo-Körös) which seem to originate here, and will be these which will stimulate the birth of the important Danubian Neolithic current. Also, it is thoughtthat the differentiated settlements of pre-Sesklo can be, at least partly, responsible for the origin of the Mediterranean Neolithic (Cardium pottery). So it can be said that, with some geographically isolated exceptions, European Neolithic seem to originate here: in the Thessalia of Sesklo.
Dimini:
Dimini (Greek: Διμήνι; older form: Diminion) is a village near the city of Volos, in Thessaly (central Greece), in Magnesia. It was the seat of the municipality of Aisonia. The name Aisonia dates back to ancient times and it is the westernmost place in the Volos area. The Dimini area contains both a Mycenean settlement and a Neolithic settlement. The Neolithic settlement in Dimini was discovered near the end of 19th century and was first excavated by the archaeologists Christos Tsountas and Valerios Stais.
The palace of ancient Iolcos is believed to be located in modern-day Dimini, where a Mycenaean city and palace complex was excavated recently. A stone weight and a sherd inscribed with Linear B writing were also uncovered.
The “invasion theory” states that the people of the Neolithic Dimini culture were responsible for the violent conquest of the Sesklo culture at around 5000 BC. Moreover, the theory considers the “Diminians” and the “Seskloans” as two separate cultural entities. However, I. Lyritzis provides a different story pertaining to the relations between the Dimini and the Sesklo cultures. He, along with R. Galloway, compared ceramic materials from both Sesklo and Dimini utilizing thermoluminescence dating methods. He discovered that the inhabitants of the settlement in Dimini appeared around 4800 BC, four centuries before the fall of the Sesklo civilization (ca. 4400 BC). Lyritzis concluded that the “Seskloans” and “Diminians” coexisted for a period of time.
Varna kulturen (4400-4100 BC):
The Varna culture belongs to the late Neolithic of northern Bulgaria. It is conventionally dated between 4400-4100 BC cal, that is, contemporary with Karanovo in the South. It is characterised by polychrome pottery and rich cemeteries, the most famous of which are Varna Necropolis, the eponymous site, and the Durankulak complex, which comprises the largest prehistoric cemetery in southeastern Europe, with an adjoining coeval Neolithic settlement (published) and an unpublished and incompletely excavated Chalcolithic settlement.
Vinča kulturen (6000-3000 f.vt.):
The Vinča culture, also known as Turdaș culture or Turdaș-Vinča culture, is a Neolithic archaeological culture in Southeastern Europe, dated to the period 5500–4500 BCE. Named for its type site, Vinča-Belo Brdo, a large tell settlement discovered by Serbian archaeologist Miloje Vasić in 1908, it represents the material remains of a prehistoric society mainly distinguished by its settlement pattern and ritual behaviour.
Farming technology first introduced to the region during the First Temperate Neolithic was developed further by the Vinča culture, fuelling a population boom and producing some of the largest settlements in prehistoric Europe. These settlements maintained a high degree of cultural uniformity through the long-distance exchange of ritual items, but were probably not politically unified.
Various styles of zoomorphic and anthropomorphic figurines are hallmarks of the culture, as are the Vinča symbols, which some conjecture to be an early form of proto-writing. Though not conventionally considered part of the Chalcolithic or “Copper Age”, the Vinča culture provides the earliest known example of copper metallurgy.
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Cernavoda kulturen (4000-3200 f.vt.):
The Cernavodă culture, ca. 4000—3200 BC, was a late Copper Age archaeological culture. It was along the lower Eastern Bug River and Danube and along the coast of the Black Sea and somewhat inland, generally in present-day Romania and Bulgaria. It is named after the Romanian town of Cernavodă.
It is a successor to and occupies much the same area as the earlier neolithic Karanovo culture, for which a destruction horizon seems to be evident. It is part of the “Balkan-Danubian complex” that stretches up the entire length of the river and into northern Germany via the Elbe and the Baden culture; its northeastern portion is thought to be ancestral to the Usatovo culture.
It is characterized by defensive hilltop settlements. The pottery shares traits with that found further east on the southern Russian steppes; burials similarly bear a resemblance to those further east.
Female statuette, terracotta
Karanovo kulturen (Karanovo I-III – 6200-5500 f.vt.):
The Karanovo culture is a neolithic culture (Karanovo I-III ca. 62nd to 55th centuries BC) named for the Bulgarian village of Karanovo. The site at Karanovo itself was a hilltop settlement of 18 buildings, housing some 100 inhabitants.[1]. This site was inhabited more or less continuously from the early 7th to the early 2nd millennia BC. The layers at Karanovo are employed as a chronological system for Balkans prehistory.
Underside of the model of an oven, 06-01-02/66. The underside shows regular marks which archaeologists call “calendar”.
Vessel in the form of a winged man-bull. Terracotta with red and white paint.
Gumelniţa–Karanovo kulturen:
The Gumelniţa–Karanovo VI culture was a Chalcolithic (5th millennium BC) culture named after the Gumelniţa site on the left—Romanian—bank of the Danube. At his full extent the culture was extending along the Black Sea coast to central Bulgaria and into Thrace. The aggregate “Kodjadermen-Gumelnita-Karanovo VI” evolves out of the earlier Boian, Marita and Karanovo V cultures. It is supplanted by Cernavodă I in the early 4th millennium.
Model of a monumental building. Terracotta.
Cucuteni-Trypillian (4800-3000 f.vt.):
The Cucuteni-Trypillian culture, also known as Cucuteni culture (from Romanian), Trypillian culture (from Ukrainian) or Tripolye culture (from Russian), is a Neolithic–Eneolithic archaeological culture which existed from approximately 4800 to 3000 BC, from the Carpathian Mountains to the Dniester and Dnieper regions in modern-day Romania, Moldova, and Ukraine, encompassing an area of more than 35,000 km2 (14,000 sq mi).
During the Trypillia BII, CI, and CI-II phases, populations belonging to the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture built the largest settlements in Neolithic Europe, some of which contained as many as 1,600 structures. However, the majority of Cucuteni-Trypillian settlements consisted of high-density, small settlements (spaced 3 to 4 kilometers apart), concentrated mainly in the Siret, Prut, and Dniester river valleys.
One of the most notable aspects of this culture was the periodic destruction of settlements, with each single-habitation site having a roughly 60 to 80 year lifetime. The purpose of burning these settlements is a subject of debate among scholars; some of the settlements were reconstructed several times on top of earlier habitational levels, preserving the shape and the orientation of the older buildings. One particular location, the Poduri site (Romania), revealed thirteen habitation levels that were constructed on top of each other over many years.
Hamangia (5250-4550 f.vt.):
The Hamangia culture is a Late Neolithic archaeological culture of Dobruja (Romania and Bulgaria) between the Danube and the Black Sea and Muntenia and in the south. It is named after the site of Baia-Hamangia, discovered in 1952 along Lake Golovita.
The Hamangia culture began around 5250/5200 BC and lasted until around 4550/4500 BC. It was absorbed by the expanding Boian culture in its transition towards the Gumelnitsa.
Its cultural links with Anatolia suggest that it was the result of a settlement by people from Anatolia, unlike the neighbouring cultures, which appear descended from earlier Neolithic settlement.
Boian kulturen (4300-3500 f.vt.):
The Boian culture (dated to 4300–3500 BC), also known as the Giuleşti-Mariţa culture or Mariţa culture, is a Neolithic archaeological culture of Southeast Europe. It is primarily found along the lower course of the Danube in what is now Romania and Bulgaria, and thus may be considered a Danubian culture.
Linear Pottery kulturen (5500–4500 f.vt.):
The Linear Pottery culture is a major archaeological horizon of the European Neolithic, flourishing ca. 5500–4500 BC. It is abbreviated as LBK (from German: Linearbandkeramik), is also known as the Linear Band Ware, Linear Ware, Linear Ceramics or Incised Ware culture, and falls within the Danubian I culture of V. Gordon Childe.
A 2010 study of ancient DNA suggested that the LBK population had affinities to modern-day populations from the Near East and Anatolia. The study also found some unique features, such as the prevailance of the now-rare Y-haplogroup F* and mitochondrial haplogroup frequencies.
Reconstruction of the Linear Pottery Culture village of Darion – Colia (Geer, Liège province) in its landscape, deduced from palynologic data
Two burnt-out houses in the Linear Pottery Culture village of Oleye – Al Zèpe (Waremme, Liège province) during excavation: a large rectangular traditional building, and a smaller home in a trapezoid layout, with different influences. The smaller house, later and highly-evolved, shows influences from the Paris Basin.
Photograph of “Neolithic burial HAL2” from Halberstadt, Germany. This burial exemplifies the Linear Pottery culture of the first Central European farmers, who lived about 7,500 years ago. The banded pottery and the flexed position of the legs are hallmarks of this farming culture. The skeleton, excavated in 2000, was found in an excellent state of preservation and yielded mitochondrial DNA type “N1a.” The fact that 6 of the 24 skeletons are from this rare human lineage allowed the researchers to investigate the mark the first European farmers left on the genetic makeup of modern Europeans.
Was it mass cannibalism, ritual slaughter or both? Archaeologists who unearthed the remains of 500 Stone Age corpses in the German town of Herxheim say the meat was cut off their bones as if they were livestock. One conclusion is that the people were eaten — after volunteering to be sacrificed.
Sicily:
The original inhabitants of Sicily were three defined groups of the Ancient peoples of Italy. The most prominent and by far the earliest of these was the Sicani, who were claimed by Thucydides to have arrived from the Iberian Peninsula (perhaps Catalonia).
Important historical evidence has been discovered in the form of cave drawings by the Sicani, dated from the end of the Pleistocene epoch, around 8000 BC. The arrival of the first humans is correlated with extinction of dwarf hippos and dwarf elephants. The Elymians, thought to be from the Aegean Sea, were the next tribe to migrate to join the Sicanians on Sicily.
Although there is no evidence of any wars between the tribes, when the Elymians settled in the north-west corner of the island, the Sicanians moved across eastwards. From mainland Italy, thought to originally have been Ligures from Liguria, came the Sicels in 1200 BC; forcing the Sicanians to move back across Sicily settling in the middle of the island.
Other minor Italic groups who settled in Sicily were the Ausones (Aeolian Islands, Milazzo) and the Morgetes (Morgantina). There are many studies of genetic records which show inhabitants of various parts of the Mediterranean Basin mixed with the oldest inhabitants of Sicily. Among these were Egyptian, Phoenician, and Iberian. The Phoenicians also were early settlers before the Greeks.
Y-Dna haplogroups were found at the following frequencies in Sicily: R1 (30.09%), J (29.65%), E1b1b (18.21%), I (7.62%), G (5.93%), T (5.51%), Q (2.54%). R1 and I haplogroups are typical in West European populations while J and E1b1b consist of lineages with differential distribution within Middle East, North Africa and Europe. According to two recent studies in 2008 and 2009, Greek male influence was estimated at 37% while ancient North African male influence was estimated between 6% and 7.5%.
Tribes of Sicily by 11th century BC
Map of approximate area of Elymian settlement, showing major cities
Northwest Block Culture:
The Nordwestblock (English: “Northwest Block”), is a hypothetical cultural region, that several 20th century scholars propose as a prehistoric culture, thought to be roughly bounded by the rivers Meuse, Elbe, Somme and Oise (the present-day Netherlands, Belgium, northern France and western Germany) and possibly the eastern part of England during the Bronze and Iron Ages (3rd to 1st millennia BC, up to the gradual onset of historical sources from the 1st century).
Bell-Beaker Culture (2800–1800 f.vt.):
The Bell-Beaker culture (sometimes shortened to Beaker culture, Beaker people, or Beaker folk; German: Glockenbecherkultur), ca. 2800 – 1800 BC, is the term for a widely scattered cultural phenomenon of prehistoric western Europe starting in the late Neolithic or Chalcolithic running into the early Bronze Age. The term was coined by John Abercromby, based on their distinctive pottery drinking vessels.
Los Millares:
Los Millares is the name of a Chalcolithic occupation site 17 km north of Almería, in the municipality of Santa Fe de Mondújar, Andalusia, Spain. The complex was in use from the end of the fourth millennium to the end of the second millennium BC and probably supported somewhere around 1000 people.
Skara Brae
The site at Skara Brae was continuously occupied for around 600 years (about 3100-2500 bc). It provides us with unique evidence of the daily life in the Orkneys in the late Neolithic era.
Proto-skrift:
List of undeciphered writing systems
Symbols and proto-writing of the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture
Vincan symbols
Cradle of Civilization 
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