The Old European / Danube Script:
Neo-Eneolithic Writing in Southeastern Europe
The idea that the earliest agrarian societies of Europe developed a script as early as the late sixth millennium BC challenges the typically held canon that writing began in Mesopotamia two thousand years later. In order to engage in meaningful dialogue about the development of writing technology in Neolithic Europe, it is essential to examine prevailing concepts about what constitutes writing and to approach an investigation of the development of writing in Southeastern Europe from a variety of perspectives.
This issue of the Journal of Archaeomythology presents selected papers from the international symposium, “The Danube Script: Neo-Eneolithic Writing in Southeastern Europe,” held on May 18-20, 2008 at the Museum of History, Casa Altemberger, of the Brukenthal National Museum, Sibu, Romania. The symposium was co-sponsored by the Institute of Archaeomythology and is the second international symposium to be organized on the subject of the Old European/Danube script. An exhibition of large, high-definition photographs of inscribed Neolithic sculptures accompanied the symposium, creating a dynamic backdrop for the delivery of papers and roundtable discussions.