Abbreviated Timeline of Early European History

800 AD           800 Charlemagne crowned Holy Roman Emporer; Carolingian Dyn.

Eighth C        746  Alemannic dukes rebel: defeated and executed by Carloman

700                 Language  and culture Latin in south, west; German north, east

Seventh C     Alemanii give up pagan burial grounds

600                 Alemanii graves show increasing Christian influence

                        Establishing of bishop centers and cloisters, Irish monk influence

Sixth C           536  Southern Alemanii come under Frankish rule

500     Alemanii - Franks mix and share:  social status, jewelry, weapons, religion        

Fifth C                        496 Battle of Tolbiac:  Frankish king Clovis defeats Alemanii

                        Alemanii expand north and west, increasing contact with Franks

400                 loose bands of Alemmanic tribes, signs of conflict and violent injury

Fourth C        380  Christianity becomes official religion in Roman areas

300                 313  Edict of Milan, Constantine grants religious freedom

Third C           Germanic tribes migrate and take over as Roman rule loosens

200                 Roman rule extends across Europe to ‘Limes”

Second C      Roman Empire:  organized army, administration, money, language,

100                 cult of emperor, secure trade roots:  oil, wine, fish, etc.

First  C           Extensive trading networks

0                      Romans consolidate control from south to north

                        Romans advance up Rhone & Rhine;

-100 BC         Celtic oppida abandoned over next decades as Romans advance

                        Celtic retraction begins

-200 BC         Luxury goods imported from south: wine, slaves, metal

-300 BC         Celtic tribes expand north and west

                        Oppida or fortified towns, wide trading network, writing

                        Celtic artists increasingly adapt and enhance Greek & Etruscan art

-400 BC         Celtic tribes spread across Europe: Italy, Greece, Asia Minor, UK

-450 BC         Princely settlements diminish.  Heuneburg dies out.

                        Celtic Iron Age transition from Hallstat to La Tene Culture

-500 BC         Celts first mentioned by the Greeks – Heunenberg?

                        Elaborate burial mounds of nobility

-600 BC         Greeks found Massala, trade up Rhone.  Heuneburg.

                        Start of large tumuli burial mounds for nobles with luxury goods

                        Chariot burials of elite modeled after Greek and Etruscans

-700 BC         Time of trade and social differentiation:

                        Fortified centers on trade routes with Greeks, Etruscans,

-800 BC         Hallstat Period of Celtic Iron Age begins as trade brings in materials

                        & technology:  Bronze still used; gold, pottery, weapons, jewelry. 

-1,000 BC      Iron Age spreads to Greece & Italy from Hittites of Anatolia

-2,300            BC     Bronze Age spreads to Europe from east:  trade in copper and tin

                        sharing of religious traditions, stratified society, conflict

-3,500            BC     Copper Age spreads north and west from Middle East & Cyprus

-5,000 BC      Agriculture, farming and livestock, trade, jewelry, wheels spread

                        through the Swiss plateau and north; including farm animals

-10,000 BC   Agriculture emerges in the Middle East, spreads north & west