The Origins and Rise of the Slavs | Dr. Florin Curta

The host, Nick Barksdale, introduces his guest, Dr. Florin Curta, who specializes in the history of the Slavic peoples. Dr. Curta briefly shares his academic background, highlighting his studies and publications, particularly focusing on the origins of the Slavs.

Dr. Curta discusses his role at the University of Florida and his contributions to the study of Eastern Europe and Byzantine history. He emphasizes his efforts to promote Eastern European scholars and young academics in the field.

As the discussion turns to the term 'Slav', Dr. Curta highlights its historical emergence in Greek and Latin sources. He points out the absence of evidence that ancient populations self-identified as 'Slavs', suggesting the term was externally applied.

Dr. Curta clarifies the complexity of identifying Slavs, noting the lack of archaeological indicators directly tied to the Slavs. He emphasizes the constructed nature of associating ethnicity with material culture in archaeology.

Dr. Curta refutes the notion of a singular pre-Slavic identity, challenging ancient historical accounts linking early groups in Eastern Europe to the Slavs. He critiques the tendency to retroactively assign modern national identities to ancient peoples.

The dialogue examines theories on the Slavic homeland, highlighting linguistic studies suggesting an origin near the Pripyat River in Ukraine and Belarus. Dr. Curta critiques archaeological assumptions and migration models based on these theories.

Addressing the linguistic spread of Slavic languages, Dr. Curta argues against migration as the primary mechanism. He suggests social and political interactions facilitated the spread, with non-migratory processes like lingua franca playing a significant role.

Dr. Curta notes Slavic culture's limited spread primarily due to its non-codified nature and discusses the influence of surrounding cultures. He highlights cross-cultural exchanges affecting language, societal structures, and material culture.

The segment covers the ancient ethnic terminology for Slavs and their lack of an internally-generated origin myth. Dr. Curta compares this with external labels such as 'Wends' and mentions the varied historical stories crafted by later Slavic groups.

Dr. Curta addresses the intricate and sometimes flawed role of DNA evidence in tracing Slavic origins. He critiques modern tendencies to correlate contemporary populations with ancient ones, highlighting the limitations of genetic diachronic studies.

External sources, predominantly Byzantine authors, described Slavs through a military lens. Procopius and others documented their warfare styles and cultural perceptions, displaying a general bias originating from geographic and climatic theories.

Frankish and papal sources also depicted Slavs as military threats or geographic entities. Accounts from these sources were often limited to interactions or conflicts, portraying a biased viewpoint reflecting contemporary geopolitical concerns.

The religious beliefs of Slavs pre-Christianity were predominantly animistic, per both textual and archaeological evidence. However, descriptions by Greek and later Christian sources were often interpreted through their theological lens, misrepresenting native myths.