[gothic-l] The Scandinavian Origin of the Goths and Other Germanic Peoples

[Bertil Häggman]

The two oldest archaelogical finds in Sweden
is from around 8000 BC (Segebro outside Malmoe
and Ageroed's Bog near the Ring Lake (Ringsjoen)
also in southern Sweden in Scania). That was obviously
remains from people who followed the melting ice as
it retreated northwards.

The Stone Age 2500 - 1800 BC is in Sweden charachterized
as the War Axe or Boat Axe era. It is a change which
seems to indicate that a foreign people conquered
the Scandinavian peninsula and introduced a society
of class differences and powerful chiefs. One wonders
who these conquerers were?

The Bronze Age in Sweden, particularly in southern was
a cultural period of greatness. Very rich finds of bronze
and gold from graves are present.

(Joergen Weibull, _Sveriges historia_, Swedish Institute,
Stockholm, 1993).

I would place the origin of the Germanic peoples in
northern Germany, Jutland and the Danish Islands and
Scania (Oscar Montelius, "Germanernas hem"). The
dating would be around 2000 BC. That coincides well
with the War Axe/Boat Axe people.

Around 200 BC Cimbrians, Teutones, and Ambrones
migrate to the south threatening the Roman empire.

Around BC Goths migrate from Goetaland.

Gothically

Bertil

> there is a slight misunderstanding. I do not say that it would
> preclude the Scandinavian origin of the Goths. In fact, I said
> explicitly that the Goths most likely left Scandinavia in the first
> century BC. My statement was targeted at a much earlier time. I am
> saying that most scholars seem to think that Germanic people came to
> Scandinavia in 700-1000 BC. There is linguistic, archaelogical and
> apparently genetic evidence for the  that. (See Cavallo Sforza,
> "History and Geography of human genes" 1994.) This is in tune with
> theories that place the 'origin' of the Germanic people (if one can
> truely speak of origin) to what is now Central Germany.

Other contributor (anon):

> It would likeliest have been via Denmark. Migrating to Scandinavia via
> Finland overland would have needed going round the north of the Gulf
> of Bothnia through much land which was only fit for reindeer herding
> or forest hunting.
>
> Entry via Denmark may have needed less crossing of water than now. At
> various times in the past since the last Ice Age ended, the Danish
> Straits were dry and the Baltic Sea was a big freshwater lake that
> drained to the North Sea by a big river running along the dry bed of
> the Storebaelt.



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