The Beginnings of Slovak history

Before The Slavs Stone Age  The most important discovery from that era is a cast of Neanderthal skull (100,000 BC), discovered near Gánovce Mammoth bone statue from Moravany nad Váhom- Venus of Moravany (22,800BC) Bronze&Iron Age- 2000 to 800 BC Production of copper, building complex fortifications Iron Age- Celtic tribes (Cotini and Boii), built oppida in Bratislava and Liptov – silver coins with the names of Celtic kings=Biatecs 

Before The Slavs Roman Era Roman military camps- Gerulata(Rusovce)  The Roman epoch began with the arrival of Roman legions on this territory that led to a war against the Marcomanni and Quadi tribes(Germanic tribes) Roman military camps- Gerulata(Rusovce)    2nd century- Marcus Aurelius  On the banks of the Hron he wrote his philosophical work Meditations   In 179 AD, a Roman legion engraved on the rock of the Trenčín Castle the ancient name of Trenčín (Laugaritio), marking the furthest northern point of their presence in the Central Europe  The Kingdom of Vannius  a barbarian kingdom founded by the Quadi, existed in western and central Slovakia from 20 to 50 AD It was the first political unit in the area that is now Slovakia Later other Germanic tribes and Avars

The Slavs

The Slavs The Slavic autonym is usually considered a derivation from slovo ("word"), originally denoting "people who speak (the same language)," i.e. people who understand each other, in contrast to the Slavic word denoting "foreign people" –  němci, meaning "silent, mute people„ The Slavs under name of the Antes and the Sclaveni make their first appearance in Byzantine records in the early 6th century. Present-day Slavic people are classified into West Slavs, East Slavs and South Slavs Slovaks? The name Slovak is derived from *Slověninъ, plural *Slověně, the old name of the Slavs Nowdays there are an estimated 360 million Slavs worldwide.

The Slavic migration

The Slavic Cradle About 1500 BC area of land which now corresponds with south-eastern Poland / north-eastern Ukraine and Belarus became home of the early Slavic tribes Proto-Slavic tribes dwelt in their homeland for many centuries speaking one common language produce the modern Slavic languages of today

Slavic migration Migration of the Slavs from 'Slavic Cradle' to the west, east and south of Europe   began at end of the 2nd century AD to the middle of the 7th century AD 8th – 10th centuries = Slavs began to form nations.  Roman Catholic missionaries converted the Western Slavs  Eastern Slavs became heavily influenced by Byzantium and Eastern Orthodox Christianity.