Editing Czech Republic (section)

=== Prehistory ===
{{multiple image
| align             = right
| total_width       = 320
| direction         = horizontal
| image1            = Vestonicka venuse edit.jpg
| alt1              = Ceramic sculpture
| image2            = The stone head of a Celt.jpg
| alt2              = Stone Sculpture
| footer            = '''Left''': [[Venus of Dolní Věstonice]], dated to 29,000–25,000 [[Common Era|BCE]], is the oldest ceramic figurine in the world.<ref>{{cite web |title=Oldest ceramic figurine |url=https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/682622-oldest-ceramic-figurine |publisher=Guinness World Records |access-date=20 May 2024}}</ref><br />'''Right''': the [[Mšecké Žehrovice Head|stone head of a Celt]] is the most valuable Celtic sculpture in Europe and dates to the 3rd century BCE.<ref>{{cite news |title=Hlava Kelta z Mšeckých Žehrovic – nejcennější keltská plastika v Evropě |url=https://www.kudyznudy.cz/ceska-nej/historicke/hlava-kelta-z-mseckych-zehrovic-nejcennejsi-keltsk |access-date=20 May 2024 |publisher=Kudyznudy.cz/}}</ref>
| caption1          = 
| caption2          = 
}}
Archaeological evidence indicates that the area now known as the Czech Republic has been inhabited since the [[Paleolithic|Paleolithic era]]. Notably, the [[Venus of Dolní Věstonice]], a ceramic figurine dated to approximately 29,000–25,000 BCE, was discovered in this region.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=2013-12-24 |title=Fingerprint on the venus of Dolní Vestonice I |journal=Anthropologie |volume=40 |issue=2 |url=https://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=15129276 |access-date=2025-04-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131224110818/https://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=15129276 |archive-date=24 December 2013 }}</ref> This artifact is considered the oldest known ceramic figurine in the world.<ref>Pamela B. Vandiver, Olga Soffer, Bohuslav Klima and Jiři Svoboda, "The Origins of Ceramic Technology at Dolni Věstonice, Czechoslovakia", ''Science'', New Series, '''246''', No. 4933 (November 24, 1989: pp. 1002–1008)</ref>

In the [[Classical antiquity|classical era]], as a result of the 3rd century BC [[Celts|Celtic]] migrations, Bohemia became associated with the [[Boii]].<ref name="Rankin2002">{{cite book|first=David|last=Rankin|title=Celts and the Classical World|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6oqFAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA16|date=2002|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-74722-1|page=16}}</ref> The Boii founded an [[oppidum]] near the site of modern Prague.<ref name="(Firm)1997">{{cite book|author=Kartografie Praha (Firm)|title=Praha, plán města|year=1997|publisher=Kartografie Praha|isbn=978-80-7011-468-1|page=17}}</ref> Later in the 1st century, the Germanic tribes of the [[Marcomanni]] and [[Quadi]] settled there.<ref name="Salvia2007">{{cite book|author=Vasco La Salvia|title=Iron Making During the Migration Period: The Case of the Lombards|year=2007|publisher=Archaeopress|isbn=978-1-4073-0159-4|page=43}}</ref>

[[Slavs]] from the [[Black Sea]]–[[Carpathian Mountains|Carpathian]] region settled in the area (their migration was pushed by an invasion of peoples from [[Siberia]] and Eastern Europe into their area:<ref name="Agnew2004">{{cite book|author=Hugh LeCaine Agnew|title=The Czechs and the Lands of the Bohemian Crown|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Db76shTEM60C&pg=PT37|year=2004|publisher=Hoover Press|isbn=978-0-8179-4492-6|page=37}}</ref> [[Huns]], [[Pannonian Avars|Avars]], [[Bulgars]] and [[Hungarians|Magyars]]).<ref name="HahnNadel2014"/> In the sixth century, the Huns had moved westwards into Bohemia, Moravia, and some of present-day Austria and Germany.<ref name="HahnNadel2014">{{cite book|first1=Sylvia|last1=Hahn|first2=Stanley|last2=Nadel|title=Asian Migrants in Europe: Transcultural Connections|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zwq9BAAAQBAJ&pg=PA7|year=2014|publisher=V&R unipress GmbH|isbn=978-3-8471-0254-0|pages=7–8}}</ref>

During the 7th century, the Frankish merchant [[Samo]], supporting the Slavs fighting against nearby settled [[Pannonian Avars|Avars]],<ref name="BartlŠkvarna2002">{{cite book|first1=Július|last1=Bartl|first2=Dušan|last2=Škvarna|title=Slovak History: Chronology & Lexicon|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3orG2yZ9mBkC&pg=PA18|year=2002|publisher=Bolchazy-Carducci Publishers|isbn=978-0-86516-444-4|page=18}}</ref> became the ruler of the first documented Slavic state in Central Europe, [[Samo's Empire]].<ref>''Lexikon des Mittelalters''. Verlag J.B. Metzler, Vol. 7, cols 1342-1343</ref> The principality of [[Great Moravia]], controlled by [[Moymirid dynasty|Moymir dynasty]], arose in the 8th century.<ref name="Champion2005">{{cite book|first=Tim|last=Champion|title=Centre and Periphery: Comparative Studies in Archaeology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mZ2IAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA233|year=2005|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-80679-9|page=233}}</ref> It reached its zenith in the 9th (during the reign of [[Svatopluk I of Moravia]]), holding off the influence of the Franks. Great Moravia was Christianized, with a role being played by the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] mission of [[Cyril and Methodius]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Svatopluk {{!}} prince of Moravia {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Svatopluk |access-date=2025-04-07 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref> They codified the [[Old Church Slavonic]] language, the first literary and liturgical language of the [[Slavs]], and the [[Glagolitic script]].<ref name="BenedettoDuke2008">{{cite book|first1=Robert|last1=Benedetto|first2=James O.|last2=Duke|title=The New Westminster Dictionary of Church History: The early, medieval, and Reformation eras|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=g46euaF7HAsC&pg=PA474|year=2008|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|isbn=978-0-664-22416-5|page=474}}</ref>