Antes (people)

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Cite This Source

The Antes were an ancient tribal union in Eastern Europe who lived north of the lower Danube and the Black Sea in the 6th and 7th century AD and who are associated with the archaeological Pen'kovo culture.

Historiography

Procopius and Jordannes mention the Antes as one of three major groups of Slavic people, who inhabited the left (north) bank of the lower Danube. He remarked that they looked and sounded 'identical' (ie very similar) to the Sclavanoi, who dwelt along the middle Danube.

The word Antes is considered by some linguists to be an Iranic name. They suggest that the Antes were one of the Sarmatio-Alanic tribes that inhabited the region between the Caucasus and Ukrainian steppes, perhaps between the Prut and lower Dneister rivers. As they moved north from the open steppe to the forest steppe, they encountered Slavic tribes. They organised Slavic tribes under their control and the name Antes came to be used for the mixed Slavo-Alanic body. Eventualy they were completely absorbed by the Slavs, but the name was preserved. A comparative theory exists for other Slavic tribes, namely Serbs and Croats.

By the 4th century, the Antes had evolved into a powerful tribal unit. Jordannes described them as the “bravest of these people dwelling in the curve of the Sea of Pontus (Black Sea), spread from the Dneister to the Dneiper”. An Antean "King" called Boz is mentioned. The Antes were involved in conflicts with the Goths, who had migrated to the Ukrainian steppe from Scandinavia. Possibly subject to the Goths, they provided the Slavic elements found in the multi-ethnic Chernyakhov culture. The apogee of Antean power occurred in the 5th century. As the Goths were defeated by the Huns, and the Huns subsequently shifted to the Pannonian basin, the Antes filled the resulting power vacuum.

A sedentary settlement consisting of numerous villages came into being, with cattle breeding and agriculture being the primary occupation, living in typical semi-subterranean dwellings. They practiced bi-ritual flat burials. They were involved in trade on a local scales, but also at an 'international' level- reaching Roman and Byzantine markets. They established several hillforts, known as horodyshcha, where artisans produced pottery and metalwares. Remnants of their settlements have been found by archaeologists, who have attributed the Pen’Kovka culture to the Antes. Some scholars, such as Francis Dvornik, suggest that the Antean tribal league evolved into the first Slavic state; or even an empire stretching from to the Oder river in the west to the Donets in the east.

What is certain is that they were last mentioned in 602. Byzantine chroniclers document an attack by the Avars in this year. The Antean union had largely dissolved as many of its tribes had migrated. By the 500s, many had started raiding, and then settling permanently the eastern Balkans. Subsequently, many Antes were subjugated by the Avars and moved about with the Avars' expeditions of conquest. In Pannonia and Transylvania, there is evidence of extensive symbiosis of Avaro-Slavic cultures. Thus the Antes were dispersed throughout the lands under Avar control, and contributed to the ethnogenesis of South Slavs, Czecho-Slovaks, as well as what would become Hungarians and Romanians. Those who remained in the steppes contributed to formation of East Slavic tribes such as Uliches and Teverians.

References

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia © 2001-2006 Wikipedia contributors (Disclaimer)
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Tuesday March 11, 2008 at 20:10:01 PDT (GMT -0700)
View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation