Mysteries of Neolithic Europe

From the shores of Lake Ohrid in Macedonia to the banks of the Danube in Serbia, the growing discoveries of Neolithic Europe just keep coming. Stretching further back in time over ten thousand years now and growing richer and deeper in complexity, what we now understand about the Starčevo Culture, the Hamangia, the Vinča and the Varna, is that early Southeastern Europe held a flowering of culture unsurpassed for thousands of years at the dawn of modern times.

While we examine many of these early cultures, it's impossible to be comprehensive. The Neolithic era spans thousands of years, with innumerable cultures rising and falling in turn, until the eventual end of what has been referred to as Old Europe at the hands of the Proto-Indo-Europeans at the onset of the Eneolithic.

[paulapridy]

Thanks to you, Mr Draffen, we are all able to share a legacy. I always enjoy learning from your continued efforts. Thank you.

[kimberlyperrotis]

What a boon to Western archaeology the fall of the Iron Curtain has been. It’s taken nearly three decades, but we are finally able to learn from the terrific work of a century of Soviet-bloc archaeological studies. When I was young, say in the 80s and 90s (my 20s and 30s) very little about Eastern Europe’s archeology was known. It wasn’t just the language barrier, Western archaeologists had little access to these countries, or their reports, for a century. Their discoveries have reshaped, and greatly expanded, our knowledge of early humans in Eurasia.

[hugodesrosiers-plaisance]

Now that is a seriously amazing piece of work, Mr Draffin. Thanks for uploading!

[nmd]

This must be the most comprehensive video i've watched about the Neolithic period in Europe, it puzzled many pieces together for me. Thank you

[Davlavi]

Nick would be proud his passion project continues.

[theosisinstituteofhealinga]

Wonderful. Even indicates more and more how incredible Göbekli Tepe and the other Tepes are. Whoever constructed those sites were leaps and bounds ahead of all other human endeavours yet known to us.

[lawilder]

The masterful nature of this film is a great tribute to Nick. I enjoyed the pace of the narration which made a lot of information easy to absorb. Life is short. Looking at this wonderful work with commentary on generations that lived and passed creates a sensitivity to our human spirit and collective experience.

[Amadeu.Macedo]

Outstanding documentary! You are certainly keeping Nick's legacy alive...

[grugg]

This was an absolute gem, very well done massive topic covered with All the subject matter one could wonder about hit I’m sure Nick would be very proud god rest his soul.

[kimberlyperrotis]

Great, thank you, it’s such an interesting period of human pre-history. I don’t think the early archaeologists were especially interested in this period, and would have walked right past remains of ancient wooden or mud-brick settlements. They were only one step removed from treasure-hunters, who wanted to find works of art, great stone-built cities, and above all, gold treasure. Archaeology didn’t really become a science until the very late 19th or early 20th C, it was more like adventuring.

[YaMumsSpecialFriend]

Fabulous, one of, if not the best documentaries on the subject I’ve seen, thank you 🙏🏻

[kaarlimakela]

Its amazing the dendrochronology could be done.
The value of anaerobic muck.
What a phenominal episode! I've wondered about this stuff for decades.

[danielnielsen]

Incredibly pleased with these continued works and efforts. Thank you!🔥 Nick, you live on eternally.🌱

[nemanja]

at 33:57 the village Divostin (and Draca which is few km from Divostin) in Serbia, there are multiple farm fields where the farmers are growing stuff, and when they prepare for the planting, you can walk there and see all the Vinca artifacts across the fields, you literary can walk there and pick up a stone axe which is a few thousand years old, the issue is that there is so much of the stuff there that they can't pick up all of it xD you have to imagine how that civilization was big at that time, and this is just one of many sights of Vinca in Serbia.

[CostaCola]

A man's life is too brief; especially when looking back across those unfathomable ages. May we live our time as nobly.

[lorilea]

17:37 I am watching this from the middle of Turtle Island, on top of the karst "island" where the glaciers did not come. The Ho Chunk, who have remembered the stories, call it the Refuge. Once prairie savannah, managed by humans and bison, beaver and wolf, etc, diverse beyond imagination.
My ancestors came here from what was becoming northern Germany, where they lived with cattle, sheep, swine, horses cut down the trees, killed the living soil and created deserts. We brought that land use pattern here, as settler colonists.
I am grateful to find this video and hope others are carrying on this research.

[danielm]

What a great episode! It's well researched and wonderfully presented one. Well done!

[kaarlimakela]

Hello! Still using all the cool mugs of this channel that I haven't broken yet!
I will always maintain my set. ❤

[Mrcool]

Home run on this vid! More please of Europe’s old civilizations too

[lours]

In Paris, in 2002, during the excavations for Parc Bercy, a human settlement attested to by 6 long, dug-out canoes perfectly preserved in peat mud, dating from 6500 years ago. You can see them preserved in the Musée Carnivale in the Marais, Paris. Fun fact, the symbol of the city of Paris is a boat and the name comes from the pre-Romain inhabitants, the Parisii - ‘The boat people.’