The European self-image is mainly based on the »Old World«, the Greek and Roman cultures, which interacted with the Nordic ones. But in fact, Europe has always been in close contact with the Eurasian steppe region, and thus received stimuli, technologies, and goods of all kinds. But time and again, powerful confederations of mounted warriors also came to the West, settling here and establishing contacts with the European entities. While the »empires« of the Bulgarians, Hungarians, and Turks transformed into medieval and early modern states, the Sarmatians, Huns, and Avars disappeared from the map.weiterlesen