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This paper offers an exploration of a European linguistic area at the dawn of history and of shifting convergence zones (Sprachbünde) in Europe since prehistoric times. Its main focus is on the development of Adjective-Phrase Definiteness marking in Germanic, Baltic, and Slavic (§1). Traditionally this commonality among the three language groups has been considered a coincidence. But in recent years several comparativists have proclaimed it a result of areal convergence. This is an attractive idea for several reasons (§2), not least because Definiteness is a category that easily spreads through language contact, as the Standard Average European development shows (§3). The paper addresses the question how Adjective-Phrase Definiteness marking might have arisen or been propagated among these three language groups, and several hypothetical contact scenarios are worked out in detail (§§4-5). An excursus highlights the conceptual apparatus applied here and some outstanding issues (§6). The conclusion evaluates the alternative hypothetical scenarios of change (§7).