Present-day Slovenia was long inhabited in prehistoric
times, and there is evidence of human habitation around 250,000 years ago. A pierced cave
bear bone, dating from 43100 - 700 BP,
found in 1995 in Divje Babe cave near Cerkno, is
possibly the oldest musical instrument discovered in the world. In 1920s and
1930s, artifacts belonging to the Cro-Magnon
such as pierced bones, bone points, and needle have been found by archeologist Srecko Brodar
in Potok Cave.
In 2002, more than 4,500 years old remains of pile dwellings
were discovered in the Ljubljana Marshes, now protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, along with the
Ljubljana Marshes Wooden Wheel,
the oldest wooden wheel
in the world. It shows that wooden wheels appeared almost simultaneously in
Mesopotamia and Europe. In the transition period between the Bronze age
to the Iron age,
the Urnfield
culture flourished. Archeological remains dating from the Hallstatt
period have been found, particularly in southeastern Slovenia, among
them a number of situlas in Novo Mesto,
the "Town of Situlas". In the Iron Age,
present-day Slovenia was inhabited by Illyrian
and Celtic
tribes until the 1st century BC.
Ancient Romans
When the Ancient Romans
conquered the area, they established the provinces of Pannonia
and Noricum
and present-day western Slovenia was included directly under Roman Italia as part of the X region Venetia
et Histria. The Romans established posts at Emona (Ljubljana), Poetovio
(Ptuj) and Celeia
(Celje), and constructed trade and military roads that ran across Slovene
territory from Italy to Pannonia. In the 5th and 6th centuries, the area was
subject to invasions by the Huns and Germanic tribes during their incursions into Italy.
Slavic settlement
The Slavic tribes migrated to the Alpine area after
the departure of the Lombards (the last Germanic tribe) westwards in 568, and with
aid from Avars
established Slavic settlement of the Eastern Alps.
The King Samo
united the Alpine, Western, and Northern Slavs against the nomadic Eurasian
Avars who ruled from 623 to 626 and established what is referred to
as the Samo's Kingdom. After its disintegration in 658, the ancestors of Slovenes
located in present-day Carinthia formed the independent duchy of
Carantania. Other parts of present-day Slovenia were again ruled by
Avars before Charlemagne's victory over them in 803.
In the mid-8th century, Carantania became a vassal duchy
under the rule of the Bavarians, who began spreading
Christianity. Three decades later, the Carantanians
were incorporated, together with the Bavarians, into the Carolingian Empire. During the same period Carniola,
too, came under the Franks, and was Christianized from Aquileia.
Following the anti-Frankish rebellion of Ljudevit
Posavski at the beginning of the 9th century, the Franks removed
the Carantanian princes, replacing them with their own border dukes.
Consequently, the Frankish feudal system reached the Slovene territory.
The Magyar invasion of the Pannonian
Plain in the late 9th century effectively isolated the
Slovene-inhabited territory from western Slavs.
Thus, the Slavs of Carantania and of Carniola
began developing into an independent Slovene ethnic group. After the victory of
Emperor Otto I
over the Magyars
in 955, Slovene territory was divided into a number of border regions of the Holy Roman
Empire. Carantania, being the most important, was elevated into the Duchy of Carinthia in 976. In the late Middle
Ages, the historic provinces of Carniola, Styria,
Carinthia, Gorizia,
Trieste
and Istria
developed from the border regions and incorporated into the medieval German state.
The consolidation and formation of these historical lands took place in a long
period between the 11th and 14th centuries, being led by a number of important
feudal families, such as the Dukes of Spannheim, the Counts of
Gorizia, the Counts of Celje and finally the House of
Habsburg. In a parallel process, an intensive German colonization
significantly diminished the extent of Slovene-speaking areas; by the 15th
century, the Slovene ethnic territory was reduced to its
present size.
In the 14th century, most of the territory of Slovenia was
taken over by the Habsburgs. The counts of
Celje, a feudal family from this area who in 1436 acquired the title
of state princes, were their powerful competitors for some time. This large
dynasty, important at a European political level, had its seat in Slovene
territory but died out in 1456. Its numerous large estates subsequently became
the property of the Habsburgs, who retained control of the area right up until
the beginning of the 20th century.
Interesting.-Grandma Linda
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