A History of Central Eastern Europe

From Antiquity to the beginning of the second Millennia 4
Certain features
made evident by early
written references, and
archeological and linguistic
research results show
distinctive traits common to
all Slavs with many of these
being shared by the Balts.
They had well-developed
cattle-breeding and
agricultural techniques and
many were occupied by
fishing and hunting as well
as the production of honey,
furs and wax. Their social
organization centered on
the single-family clans
which later joined together
for protection, and only as
changing situations forced them to, as time progressed. As such, their military and
political development lagged behind virtually all of their neighbors. They had no known
belief in a higher power yet the elders presided over what can only be described as
religious ceremonies that were focused on Nature.
The Vénèdes antecedent of the Western Slavs are found in written records
dating to 400 B.C.E. while mention of the Souveni (Latin) or Sloveni (Slavic) people
dates to 160 B.C.E. The Slavic tribes were mainly located in the triangle formed by the
Vistula, Dnieper and Danube Rivers; recent research has confirmed their presence
throughout the basin of the Vistula and most of the basin of the Oder from 2,000 B.C.E.
They had more interaction with their neighbors to the northeast, the Balts, than with any
other Indo-European tribe. The Balts included the central Lithuanians, the northern Letts
or Latvians, and the old Prussians who later lost their name to their German
conquerors. The proto-Slavic tribes had separated into their western, eastern and
southern branches well before they appear in the written record. Hunnic warriors had
invaded the area around 380 C.E., first destroying the early settlements, and record, of
the ANTES before doing the same to the SCLAVINI and VÉNÈDES. The Slavic people
escaped the Huns who rode on horseback by seeking safety in the heavily forested
areas.
THE SECOND HALF OF THE FIRST MILLENNIUM
After these devastating attacks remnants of two tribes of the VÉNÈDES crossed
the Carpathian Mountains through the “Moravian Gate” around 500 C.E. The first tribe
over the mountains was the Czechs followed by the Slovaks. This large migration was
by-no-means the first such move, only the first large-scale move. A separate and
distinct Moravian tribe has been tentatively identified of late; historically they were
treated as a subset of the Czech tribes.
The second group over the Carpathians was the SCLAVINI who headed south and
east; the beginning of their migration dove-tailed with the end of that of the VÉNÈDES.
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