Erda culture
The Erda culture [ɜ:də], Modern Arithide [ɛʁðə], Dethrian [ɛrðə]) is the name given by archaeologists to the group of early Areth settlements excavated in Erdia along the lower course of the Or river, dating to more than 6,000 years ago. The first representative settlement found of the culture was a hamlet approximately 6 keth (21km) northwest of modern-day Kyris.
Despite being the oldest culture found in the area, the Erda is considered the most advanced, with evidence found of rice and wheat cultivation (including what resembles a precursor to the granary), domestication of sheep and cattle, and extensive fishing activities. Diverse, highly worked stone tools have also been found, suggesting a society already self-sufficient enough to engage in trade specialisation.
Scholarly debate
- Main article: Origins of the Areth
It is widely accepted that the Areth originated from the Erda culture, though the notion is still contested by certain individuals who believe that the Areth came to Erdia from Arophania rather than the other way round, citing as grounds for their stand the fact that artefacts excavated in Arophania date further back than any found thus far on Marcasia. While other settlements discovered around the Erda sites (such as the Nuroi, Pisa and Duvai cultures) are generally agreed to have been successor cultures remnant after the Hibundivagos ("Southerly Movement", the migration en masse of the Areth to Arophania) emptied Erdia
The age of the Erda settlements was approximated from the condition of the soil layers in which they were found and which accumulated on top of them. There never has actually been found Erda pottery shards or any other datable artefact of the Erda culture, but it is deduced to have been comparatively elaborate and richly differentiated, making use of a variety of different clays and decorated variously by carving or painting—i.e. almost identical to the kind found in northern Arophania.
Other discovered settlements—notably—have been linked to the Erda as successor cultures despite their relative backwardness
