History of Risevne

This page discusses the history of the two islands, Masalne and Agalmare, which comprise the country of Risevne.

Prehistory and Early civilisations

Articles: Mengolam Culture, Narusgerya Culture, Histari Culture, Pelisadas Culture, Agalmare A Culture, Agalmare B Culture, Ostunisalme Civilisation

Some of the earliest stone tools to be found on the islands include chisels and hand-held adzes dating from nearly 27,000 BDN, marking the possible beginning of the paleolithic age in Masalne. The Mengolari Culture, discovered in a series of small caves near the present-day town of Mengolari in Lusedon Province, was distinguished by a large number of flint plates in the shape of gingko leaves, speculated to have a ritual purpose; the Agalmare B Culture across the inland sea may be closely related to the Mengolam, and certainly both trade and conflict seems to have happened amongst them.

In 1956 DN excavations for a high-rise housing estate to be built on what was then the outskirts of Isana uncovered several artifacts pointing to a neolithic civilisation in that area, including pottery, polished stone tools and long stilt houses of wood and coastal palm leaves - the remains found in the site, reconstructed, were estimated to be nearly 30 metres long, standing 1.2 metres on stilts, and around 4 metres wide. At first estimated to be around 3,500 years old, later dating placed it at around 3,000 BDN, making it a type site of a culture (now called the Narusgerya Culture after the district of its discovery) now believed to have stretched from 9,000 BDN to around 2,000 BDN.

While the Narusgerya culture was the most advanced, populated and widespread civilisation on Masalne at the time, it was not the only one. Discoveries in Serteni Province in 1932, and later in Basene Province in 1946, reveal the existence of two other cultures, now known respectively as the Histari and Agalmare A Cultures; the first lasted from around 6,000 BDN to 2,200 BDN before the sites were mysteriously abandoned and eventually taken over by the Late Narusgerya, while the civilisation on Agalmare seems to have prospered around the same time as the Narusgerya on Masalne - extensive amounts of artifacts from both civilisations have been found on each other's territories, suggesting a well-developed trade network that survived even the collapse of the Narusgerya culture and its replacement by what is known as the Ostunisalme civilisation (which nonetheless retained much of the cultural aspects of the culture they conquered).

Most important amongst the developments of these multiple cultures was the eventual adoption of a system of writing; some of the earliest markings shown definitively to be writing date from around 2,200 BDN, and within two centuries historical finds containing writing were common finds throughout Masalne and later Agalmare. By around 800 BDN, the scripts of the island had coalesced into two main scripts, known separately as Proto-Semasar A and Proto-Semasar B.