History of Eurasia

Thehistory of Eurasiais the collective history of a continental area with several distinct peripheral coastal regions:Southwest Asia,South Asia,East Asia,Southeast Asia,andWestern Europe,linked by the interior mass of theEurasian steppeofCentral AsiaandEastern Europe.Perhaps beginning with theSteppe Routetrade, the earlySilk Road,the Eurasian view of history seeks establishing genetic, cultural, and linguistic links between Eurasian cultures of antiquity. Much interest in this area lies with the presumed origin of the speakers of theProto-Indo-European languageandchariot warfareinCentral Eurasia.^[1]

Prehistory

Lower Paleolithic

Fossilized remains ofHomo ergasterandHomo erectusbetween 1.8 and 1.0 million years old have been found in Europe (Georgia (Dmanisi), Spain), Indonesia (e.g.,SangiranandTrinil), Vietnam, and China (e.g., Shaanxi). (See also:Multiregional hypothesis.) The first remains are ofOlduwanculture, later ofAcheuleanandClactonianculture. Finds of later fossils, such asHomo cepranensis,are local in nature, so the extent of human residence in Eurasia during 1,000,000 - 300,000 ybp remains a mystery.

Middle Paleolithic

Geologic temperature recordsindicate two intense ice ages dated around650000 ybpand450000 ybp.These would have presented any humans outside thetropicsunprecedented difficulties. Indeed, fossils from this period are very few, and little can be said of human habitats in Eurasia during this period. The few finds are ofHomo antecessorandHomo heidelbergensis,andLantian Manin China.

After this,Homo neanderthalensis,with hisMousteriantechnology, emerged, in areas from Europe to western Asia and continued to be the dominant group of humans in Europe and the Middle East up until 40000-28000 ybp.Peking manhas also been dated to this period. During theEemian Stage,humans probably (e.g.Wolf Cave) spread wherever their technology and skills allowed. TheSahara driedup, forming a difficult area for peoples to cross.

The birth of the first modern humans (Homo sapiens idaltu) has been dated between 200000 and 130000 ybp (see:Mitochondrial Eve,Single-origin hypothesis), that is, to the coldest phase of theRiss glaciation.Remains ofAterianculture appear in the archaeological evidence.

Population bottleneck

In the beginning of thelast ice ageasupervolcanoerupted in Indonesia. Theory states the effects of the eruption caused global climatic changes for many years, effectively obliterating most of the earlier cultures.Y-chromosomal Adam(90000 - 60000 BP,dated data) was initially dated here.Neanderthalssurvived this abrupt change in the environment, so it's possible for other human groups too. According to the theory humans survived in Africa, and began to resettle areas north, as the effects of the eruption slowly vanished.Upper Paleolithic revolutionbegan after this extreme event, the earliest finds are dated c.50000 BCE.

A divergence in genetical evidence occurs during the early phase of the glaciation. Descendants of femalehaplogroups M,Nand maleCTare the ones found among Eurasian peoples today.

Upper Paleolithic

TheSouthern Dispersalscenario postulates the arrival ofanatomically modern humansto Eurasia beginning about 70,000 BC. Moving along the southern coast of Asia, they reachedMaritime Southeast Asiaby about 65,000 years ago. The establishment of population centers in Western Asia, the Indian subcontinent and in East Asia is attested by about 50,000 years ago. The Eurasian Upper Paleolithic proper is taken after c. 45,000 years ago, with theCro-Magnonexpansion into Europe (Mousterian), and the expansion into theMammoth steppeof Northern Asia.

Migrations

Tracing back minute differences in thegenomesof modern humans by methods ofgenetic genealogy,can and have been used to produce models ofhistorical migration.Though these give indications of the routes taken by ancestral humans, genetic marker dating is becoming more accurate. The earliest migrations (dated c. 75.000 BP) from theRed Seashores have been most likely along southern coast of Asia. After this, tracking and timing genetical markers gets increasingly difficult. What is known, is that on areas, of what is now Iraq, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan, genetic markers diversify (from about 60000 BCE), and subsequent migrations emerge to all directions (even back to theLevant) and North Africa. From the foothills of theZagros,big game huntingcultures developed which spread across theEurasian steppe.Crossing theCaucasusand the Ural Mountains were the ancestors of Samoyeds and the ancestors of Uralic peoples, developing sleds, skis and canoes. ThroughKazakhstanmoved the ancestors of the Indigenous Americans (dated 50000 - 40000 BCE). Eastbound (maybe throughDzungariaand theTarim Basinwent the ancestors of the northern Chinese and Koreans. It is possible that the routes taken by theIndo-Europeanancestors travelled across the Bosphorus. Genetic evidence suggests a number of separate migrations (1.Anatoleans 2. Tocharians, 3 Celto-Illyrians, 4.Germanic and Slav, - possibly in this order). Archaeological evidence has not been identified for a number of different groups. On historical linguistic evidence, see for exampleclassification of Thracian.The traditional view of associating early Celts with theHallstatt culture,and theNordic Bronze Agewith Germanic peoples. The Roman Empire spread after the first widespread use of iron outside Central Europe from theVillanovan culturearea. Most likely there was trade also in these periods, e.g. withamberandsaltbeing major products.

Influences from northern Africa viaGibraltarandSiciliacannot be readily discounted. Many other questions remain open, too; for example, Neanderthals were still present at this time. More genetic data is being gathered by various research programs.

Early Holocene

Primary cultural areas in Europe c.4500 BC

As the ice age ended, major environmental changes happened, such assea level rise(est. 120m), vegetation changes, and animals disappearing in theHolocene extinction event.At the same timeNeolithic Revolutionbegan and humans started to makepottery,began to cultivate crops anddomesticatedsome animal species.

Neolithic cultures in Eurasia are many, and best discussed in separate articles. Some of the articles on this subject include:Natufian culture,Jōmonculture,List of Neolithic cultures of ChinaandMehrgarh.European sites are many, they are discussed inPrehistoric Europe.The finding ofÖtzi the Iceman(dated 3300 BC) provides an important insight toChalcolithicperiod in Europe.Proto-languagesof various peoples have been forming in this period, though no literal evidence can (by definition) be found. Later migrations further complicate the study of migrations in this period.

Emergence of civilizations

Due to the similarities betweenIndo-European languagesspoken throughout Europe, Iran, and India, it is widely believed that a group originating in thePontic steppein the 5th millennium BC spread both east and west, gradually making their way towards the Indian subcontinent andChinain the east and western Europe in the west. TheseProto-Indo-Europeansspread their languages into the Middle East, India, Europe, and to the borders of China.

Early forms ofcivilizationin Southwest Asia began as early as the8th millennium BC,in proto-urban centers such asÇatalhöyük.Urban civilizations began to emerge in theChalcolithic.The earliest urban civilizations in Mesopotamia, India, and China all developed alongriver valleys.TheUruk periodofMesopotamiadates from about 4000 to 3100 BCE and provides the earliest signs of the existence of states in theNear East.Civilizations grew along theIndus Riveraround 3300 BCE inBronze Age Indiaand in 1700 BCE along theYellow Riverin China.^[2]The valleys provided plentiful water and the enrichment of the soil due to annual floods, which made it possible to grow excess crops beyond what was needed to sustain an agricultural village. This allowed for some members of the community to engage in non-agricultural activities, such as the construction of buildings, trade, and social organization.^[3]^[4]Boats on the river provided an easy and efficient way to transport people and goods, allowing for the development of trade and facilitating central control of outlying areas.^[5]Writing likely developed independently in multiple Eurasian civilizations, includingMesopotamia(between 3400 and 3100 BCE) andChina(1200 BCE).^[6]

In southern Europe, theMinoan civilizationof theAegean Islandsbegan around 3500 BC, with the complex urban civilization beginning around 2000 BC.^[7]It left behind a number of massive building complexes,sophisticated art,and writing systems. Its economy benefited from a network of trade around much of theMediterranean.By the 2nd millennium BC, the eastern coastlines of the Mediterranean were dominated by theHittiteandEgyptianempires, competing for control over the city states in theLevant.

TheBlack Seaarea was another cradle of European civilization. The prehistoric fortified stone settlement ofSolnitsata(5500 BC - 4200 BC) is one of the oldest known towns in Europe.^[8]^[9]TheBronze Agearose in this region during the final centuries of the 4th millennium.

TheBronze Age collapseended theLate Bronze Agein much of Europe and the Mediterranean region, leading to theEarly Iron Age.^[10]The Bronze Age collapse may be seen in the context of a technological history that saw the slow, comparatively continuous spread of iron-working technology in the region, beginning in the 13th and 12th centuries BC.^[11]The cultural collapse of theMycenaean kingdoms,theHittite EmpireinAnatoliaandSyria,and theEgyptian EmpireinSyriaandIsrael,the scission of long-distancetradecontacts and sudden eclipse of literacy occurred between 1206 and 1150 BC. The gradual end of the Dark Age that ensued saw the rise of settledNeo-Hittite Aramaeankingdoms of the mid-10th century BC, and the rise of theNeo-Assyrian Empire.

Phoenicianexpansion from the Levant beginning in the 12th century BC resulted in a "world-economy". The high point of Phoenician culture and sea power is usually placed ca. 1200–800 BC. The Phoenicians and the Assyrians transported elements of the Late Bronze Age culture of the Near East to Iron AgeGreeceandItaly,but also further afield toNorthwestern Africaand toIberia,initiating the beginning of Mediterranean history now known asClassical Antiquity.They notably spreadAlpha betic writing,which would become the hallmark of the Mediterranean civilizations of the Iron Age, in contrast to thecuneiformwriting of Assyria and thelogographicsystem in the Far East (and later theabugidasystems of India).

TheIron Agemade large stands of timber essential to a nation's success because smelting iron required so much fuel, and the pinnacles of human civilizations gradually moved as forests were destroyed. In Europe the Mediterranean region was supplanted by the German and Frankish lands. In the Middle East the main power center becameAnatoliawith the once dominant Mesopotamia its vassal. In China, the economical, agricultural, and industrial center moved from the northern Yellow River to the southern Yangtze, though the political center remained in the north. In part this is linked to technological developments, such as the mouldboardplough,that made life in once undeveloped areas more bearable.

In theAxial Age,China,India,and theMediterraneanformed a continuous belt of civilizations stretching from the Pacific to the Atlantic and connected by theSilk Road.Later development of Eurasian history is told in other articles.

References

^Beckwith, for instance, gives an overall view of Central Eurasian history
^McCannon, John (2008).Barron's AP World History.Barron's Educational Series Inc. pp. 57–60.ISBN 978-0-7641-3822-5.
^Rivers and Civilization: What's the Link?.Mindsparks. 2007. p. 8.ISBN 978-1-57596-251-1.
^Mountjoy, Shane (2005).Rivers in World History: The Indus River.Chelsea House Publishers. p. 15.ISBN 9781438120034.
^"Indus River Valley Civilization".The River Valley Civilization Guide.Retrieved27 September2017.
^Boltz, William (1994).The origin and early development of the Chinese writing system.American Oriental Society. p. 31.
^This chronology of Minoan Crete is (with minor simplifications) theone used by Andonis Vasilakisin his book on Minoan Crete, but other chronologies will vary, sometimes quite considerably (EM periods especially). Sets of different dates from other authors are set out atMinoan chronology.
^Maugh II, Thomas H. (1 November 2012)."Bulgarians find oldest European town, a salt production center".The Los Angeles Times.Retrieved1 November2012.
^Squires, Nick (31 October 2012)."Archaeologists find Europe's most prehistoric town".The Daily Telegraph.Retrieved1 November2012.
^Drews, Robert(1995).The End of the Bronze Age: Changes in Warfare and the Catastrophe CA 1200 B.C.United States:Princeton University Press.p. 264.ISBN 978-0-691-02591-9.
^See A. Stoia and the other essays in M.L. Stig Sørensen and R. Thomas, eds.,The Bronze Age—Iron Age Transition in Europe(Oxford) 1989, andT.A. Wertimeand J.D. Muhly,The Coming of the Age of Iron(New Haven) 1980.

Beckwith, Christopher I.(2009):Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present.Princeton: Princeton University Press.ISBN 978-0-691-13589-2.
Schafer, Edward H.The Golden Peaches of Samarkand.Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985 (1963).ISBN 978-0-520-05462-2.

External links

Media related toHistory of Eurasiaat Wikimedia Commons

[1] Beckwith, for instance, gives an overall view of Central Eurasian history

[2] McCannon, John (2008).Barron's AP World History.Barron's Educational Series Inc. pp. 57–60.ISBN 978-0-7641-3822-5.

[3] Rivers and Civilization: What's the Link?.Mindsparks. 2007. p. 8.ISBN 978-1-57596-251-1.

[4] Mountjoy, Shane (2005).Rivers in World History: The Indus River.Chelsea House Publishers. p. 15.ISBN 9781438120034.

[5] "Indus River Valley Civilization".The River Valley Civilization Guide.Retrieved27 September2017.

[6] Boltz, William (1994).The origin and early development of the Chinese writing system.American Oriental Society. p. 31.

[:5-7] This chronology of Minoan Crete is (with minor simplifications) theone used by Andonis Vasilakisin his book on Minoan Crete, but other chronologies will vary, sometimes quite considerably (EM periods especially). Sets of different dates from other authors are set out atMinoan chronology.

[Maugh-8] Maugh II, Thomas H. (1 November 2012)."Bulgarians find oldest European town, a salt production center".The Los Angeles Times.Retrieved1 November2012.

[Squires-9] Squires, Nick (31 October 2012)."Archaeologists find Europe's most prehistoric town".The Daily Telegraph.Retrieved1 November2012.

[10] Drews, Robert(1995).The End of the Bronze Age: Changes in Warfare and the Catastrophe CA 1200 B.C.United States:Princeton University Press.p. 264.ISBN 978-0-691-02591-9.

[11] See A. Stoia and the other essays in M.L. Stig Sørensen and R. Thomas, eds.,The Bronze Age—Iron Age Transition in Europe(Oxford) 1989, andT.A. Wertimeand J.D. Muhly,The Coming of the Age of Iron(New Haven) 1980.

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