CONCLUSION

CONCLUSION

According to contemporary archeology, the Balkan Peninsula was considered to be the cradle of “Old European” culture. A million years or so ago the Balkan region was a system of islands and archipelagoes located in an ocean called Tetis, situated between Africa and Europe. But over time and with geological changes, the Balkans began to transform and larger land masses began to appear between the Mediterranean Sea on the south and the Pannonian Sea on the north. And as the Carpathian Mountains rose they blocked the Pannonian rivers from emptying into the Black Sea. Then, as the rivers found new paths to their destinations, new rivers and new land masses began to appear. After their geological transformation these territories became exceptional grounds of material wealth which could be reconstructed to reveal significant stages in the evolution of land vegetation and animal species.

The withdrawal of the last glacial plate, which covered the Balkans about 12,000 years ago, from places like Sredno Podunavie, created favourable conditions for the survival of humans. The first human communities to settle this region after the melt of the ice were fishermen, and later farmers who developed the Lipinski Vir Culture, one of the oldest spiritual manifestations in Europe. Starting with the hypothesis that the archaeological artifacts found in Lipinski Vir were the oldest evidence of a human community material culture in the Balkans, we widened our investigation to look for more evidence including spiritual achievements.

We used Jung’s (1990) methodology of scientific research for entities of complex psychology: archetypal, collective unconscious. This model was used to explore the onomastics, mythology and prehistory. From the onomastics of Sredno Podunavie we investigated the hydronyms and horonyms found on military geographic maps 1:200,000. Our linguistic methods were etymology and semantics.

We used the so-called ancient Greek vocabulary as well as linguistic studies in Greek, German and others that claimed that the ancient Greek language contained substrates that were not of Greek origins but belonged to the prehistoric native people of the region. After years of research we found the following:

In the Sredno Podunavie in Serbia and in Macedonia, a large number of hydronyms and toponyms belonged to one or another Paleo-glossology of the Balkans belonging to the family of proto-Indo-European languages.

The onomastic “Danube” (which, when translated personifies Zeus), its tributaries and adi (islands) belong to the Paleo-glossology and is an allegory of the mythological system of which Homer and Hesiod wrote about (Olympic pantheon of gods).

Hesiod’s cosmogony symbolizes the eternal struggle between the water and the rocks and the perception of this process in the human consciousness. The geophysical struggle that took place between the Pannonian Sea waters and the Carpathian rocks resulted in the creation of Gerdap – Tartarus. The victory of the waters, i.e. Danube-Zeus, over the rocks, elevated Zeus to king over the other gods.

The greatest battle of all, however, took place between the second and third generation gods in what was termed “Gigantomahia” (war of the giants) fought in Serbia in “Flegreon pedion”, which when translated means “Pozharevachko Pole” (Burned field). The battle was fought by throwing bolts of lightning, huge rocks, trees on fire and everything was burning like in hell. Zeus won the battle.

After people died their souls were sent along the Stiga (Mlava) River waters to the Underworld (Homolskaa cave), which was ruled by Hades, god of the Underworld. Guarding the Underworld was his dog Cerberus.

The Islands or Adi, found on the Danube, were called Ada-Kale Eritia, Forkotumats and Chaklian near Belgrade, etc. By following Hercules’s adventures and the route he took, we were able to create a mythological roadmap along the Danube. Included among Hercules’s adventures were: the theft of Gerion’s herds, capturing Cerberus, stealing Hera’s golden apples from the Hesperidini, etc. After that we made mention of the Argonaut Expeditions and the theft of the golden fleece from Kolhida.

Through onomastics we were able to identify toponyms where various prehistoric Aeolian tribes lived. Included among the tribes that belonged to the Aeolian family were the Hyperboreans among whom were the Danuni, Mishani, Macedonians, Minitsi, Lapiti, Brigi, Mosiniki and Kaki. Due to the migration of new Indo-European peoples such as the Dorians, Scythians, Illyrians, etc. in the XIII century BC, the Danube world once again left its native soil and took its archetypal culture south, east and west. With that came new changes in the civilization centres in Athens, Pella and the Italian Peninsula. The Aeolians, the true creators of the so-called “Greek miracle”, participated in the Trojan War.

Despite being overrun by the various migrations, many indigenous people survived and integrated themselves into the new societies. Among the Scythian (Proto-Slavs of the Central Balkans) tribes lived the Singi, Peoni, Dardani, Linkesti, Triballis, Illyrians, etc., who continued life among the newcomers and, over generations and over centuries exchanged customs, traditions, stories, and linguistic characteristics. There was also the colonization of the Balkans in prehistory by the Egyptian Danai, Phoenicians, Achaeans and Kolhigians.

The Balkan archetypal paleo-glossology belongs to the cultures of “Old Europe” and is preserved in the names of places in the Balkans, in the so-called ancient Greek language. Alexander’s “Koine”, which dominated the ancient world for about 1000 years, is representative of the infrastructure of the modern languages in the Balkan.

The results of this study have provided us with many elements of our ancient heritage which brings us closer rather than separating us. Our intention was to guide the reader to the regions of Serbia, Macedonia and other parts of the Balkans where there is a treasure trove of information which belongs to everyone and which needs to be further explored in order to bring a better understanding of our mutual past. By undertaking this study not only did we deepen our understanding of the region but we also confirmed that the Central Balkans was the cradle of Aegean culture and the peoples from this region have a common history and a future together.