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

An alternative approach to Slavic ethnicity in south-eastern Europe c. 500–c. 700.

Florin Curta (Author)

9780521802024, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 12 July 2001

496 pages, 10 tables
23.6 x 16.1 x 3.3 cm, 0.965 kg

'The hypothesis that Curta advances is extremely neat …' International History Review

This book offers an alternative approach to the problem of Slavic ethnicity in south-eastern Europe between c. 500 and c. 700, 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 500 AD. He also points to the significance of the archaeological evidence, which suggests that specific artefacts 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. Because of these military and political developments, Byzantine authors began employing names such as Sclavines 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.

List of figures
List of tables
Acknowledgements
List of abbreviations
Introduction
1. Slavic ethnicity and the ethnie of the Slavs: concepts and approaches
2. Sources for the history of the early Slavs (c. 500–700)
3. The Slavs in early medieval sources (c. 500–700)
4. The Balkans and the Danube limes during the sixth and seventh centuries
5. Barbarians on the sixth-century Danube frontier: an archaeological survey
6. Elites and group identity north of the Danube frontier: the archaeological evidence
7. 'Kings' and 'democracy': power in early Slavic society
Conclusion: the making of the Slavs
Appendices
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Early history: c 500 to c 1450/1500 [HBLC], European history [HBJD]