The Danube Valley Civilization is one of the oldest known civilizations in Europe. It existed from about 5,500 to 3,500 BC in the Balkans and covered a large area from what is now Northern Greece to Slovakia (South to North) and Croatia to Romania (West to East).
During the height of the Danube Valley civilization, it played an important role in Southeast Europe through the development of bronze tools, writing systems, advanced architecture, including Two-story houses and the construction of furniture such as chairs and tables all occurred when much of Europe was in the middle of the Stone Age. They developed skills such as spinning, weaving, leather working, clothing manufacturing, working with wood, clay and stone and they invented the wheel. They have an economic, religious and social structure.
One of the more fascinating and hotly debated aspects of the Danube Valley civilization is their presumed written language. While some archaeologists assert that ‘writing’ is actually just a series of geometric shapes and symbols, others assert that it has the characteristics of a true writing system. If this theory is correct, it would make writing the oldest written language ever found, predating the Sumerian writings of Mesopotamia, and possibly even the Dispilio tablet, which dates to dating back to 5260 BC.
Danube Valley Civilization Artifacts (image source)
Harald Haarmann, a German linguistic and cultural scientist, currently vice president of the Institute of Mythological Archeology, and a leading expert on ancient scripts and ancient languages, firmly supports the view that The Danube script is the oldest script in the world. The tablets found date back to 5,500 BC, and the inscriptions on the tablets, according to Haarmann, are a form of language that has not yet been deciphered. The symbols, also known as Vinca symbols, have been found in many archaeological sites throughout the Danube Valley region, engraved on pottery, figurines, spindles, and other clay artifacts .
Vinca symbol (Source: Wikipedia)
The significance is huge. That could mean that the Danube Valley Civilization predated all civilizations known today. Evidence also comes from thousands of artifacts that have been found, such as the odd drawing shown to the left. However, most Mesopotamian scholars rejected Haarmann’s proposal, arguing that the symbols on the tablet were just decorations. This is despite the fact that there are about 700 different characters, the same number of symbols used in Egyptian hieroglyphs. Other scholars have even suggested that the Danube Civilization must have copied signs and symbols from Mesopotamian civilizations, despite the fact that some Danube tablets are believed to be as old as than the Mesopotamian tablets.
It seems like this is another case of a theory based on solid research being completely dismissed without proper consideration. Could this be because it contradicts the accepted view of which country claims to have ‘the first civilisation’? At the very least, Haarmann’s proposal deserves further study and serious analysis to confirm whether this is indeed the oldest known written language in the world.
