EN
The period from the sixth to the beginning of the eleventh century is called the Early Middle Ages. The paper evaluates the development of views on this period. There have been several stages in the development of views on the problem of the Early Middle Ages. The first extended from the beginning of the 19th century until after the origin of the first Czechoslovak Republic. The second stage lasted from the 1920s to the 1940s. Another stage began in February 1948 and ended in November 1989. The latter date was followed by the present stage. The study presents a conception of the division of the older phase of the Early Middle Ages. It is defined by the beginning of the sixth and the end of the eighth centuries. It is divided into the Early Slavonic period from the beginning of the sixth to about the middle of the seventh century, and the period of the Avar Kaganate in the southern marginal zones of Slovakia, from about 650 to 800 AD. In the rest of the territory of Slovakia, development continued from the settlement by the Slavs to the time of the origin of the first supra-tribal units around the year 800. The study also presents views on the barrow method of burial and the change of funeral rite from cremation to inhumation. The authors suppose that our territory was not settled by one, unnamed Slavonic group. The Slavs in the territory of Slovakia were not as important and dangerous as the Slavonic tribes settled in the immediate vicinity of important power-political units, which recognized them as hostile groups and so named them.