Serbs: Map & History

History

Early Slavs, especially Sclaveni and Antae, including the White Serbs, invaded and settled Southeastern Europe in the 6th and 7th century. Up until the late 560s, their activity consisted primarily of raiding across the Danube, although Slavic settlement remained limited and occurred mainly through Byzantine foederati colonies. The Danube and Sava frontier was overwhelmed by large-scale Slavic settlement in the late 6th and early 7th century. The area that is now central Serbia was an important geostrategic province through which the Via Militaris passed. The numerous Slavs mixed with and assimilated the descendants of the indigenous population Illyrians, Thracians, Dacians, as well as Romans and Celts.

Genetic origins

According to a three genetic systems – paternal, maternal, and autosomal – of available data from large-scale studies on Balto-Slavs and their proximal populations, the whole genome SNP data place Serbs in the middle between a Western South Slavic cluster (Croats, Bosniaks and Slovenes) and Eastern South Slavic cluster (Macedonians and Bulgarians). The western cluster has an inclination toward Hungarians, Czechs, and Slovaks, while the eastern cluster toward Romanians and, to some extent, Greeks.

Y chromosome results show that haplogroups I2a and R1a together account for the majority of the Serb makeup. Recent studies indicate that roughly half of Serbian I2a lineages trace their recent origin to Herzegovina/Old Herzegovina, reflecting strong historical gene flow from that region.

Culture

Serbs are renowned for their contributions to icon painting, literature, music, dance, and medieval architecture. Traditional Serbian visual arts (especially frescoes and icons) and ecclesiastical architecture are strongly influenced by Byzantine traditions, with additional Mediterranean and Western elements. Traditional folk music is rich and varied, with gusle as a national instrument. Gusle is a bowed single-stringed musical instrument (and musical style) always accompanied by singing. The gusle holds a central place in Serbian epic poetry, serving as the traditional accompanying instrument for a centuries-old oral tradition of patriotic songs. The vast majority of these epics centre on the Ottoman occupation and the Serbian struggle for liberation.