Early Slavs

Early Slavs were Slavic-speaking populations of central, eastern, and southeastern Europe during the early medieval period, before and during their expansion across the region.

Slavic languages: A branch of Indo-European languages spoken across eastern, central, and southeastern Europe and parts of Asia. Shared linguistic ancestry helps define the populations called Slavic despite sparse early written records.
Sclaveni: A name used by Byzantine writers for groups associated with Slavic-speaking populations, especially in the Balkans. Byzantine accounts describe their raids, settlements, and dealings with imperial forces.
Procopius: A sixth-century Byzantine historian whose works describe Justinian’s wars and peoples along the empire’s frontiers. His histories provide detailed early testimony about Sclaveni and Antes.
Slavic settlement of the Balkans: The migration and establishment of Slavic-speaking communities in southeastern Europe from late antiquity into the early Middle Ages. It was one of the most consequential regional outcomes of early Slavic expansion.
Prague culture: An archaeological culture of the sixth and seventh centuries associated with early Slavic settlement in central Europe. Its settlement remains are among the archaeological evidence linked to early Slavic expansion.
Antes: A people recorded by late antique writers in the region north of the Black Sea and associated with early Slavic history. Their political and military activity forms part of accounts of early Slavic-era populations.
Theophylact Simocatta: A Byzantine historian of the early seventh century who wrote about imperial wars and frontier peoples. His narrative records Slavic groups during the period of Balkan incursions.
Slavicization of the Balkans: The historical spread of Slavic languages and cultural practices among populations in the Balkan Peninsula. It describes long-term linguistic and cultural change following early medieval settlement.
Korchak culture: An archaeological culture of the fifth through seventh centuries in parts of present-day Ukraine and neighboring regions. Its sites illuminate communities in areas often connected with early Slavic origins.
Avar Khaganate: A powerful Eurasian polity centered in the Carpathian Basin from the sixth to ninth centuries. Avar power shaped Slavic settlement, military service, and political organization in central Europe.

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