Does a lack of records mean an uncivilized society?

Does the lack of surviving records about the Cimbri and Teutones mean that they were an uncivilized society?

No. Their military performance, diplomacy, and knowledge of Roman institutions show substantial organization even though their own records did not survive.

Limited written records do not make a society primitive. A community may fail to leave archives that later states preserve and still possess sophisticated organization and information exchange. The Cimbri and Teutones fought capably, coordinated a large migration, and negotiated with Roman authorities. Their knowledge of Roman legal and religious options suggests that information about foreign institutions circulated beyond a narrow merchant class. The absence of their own surviving narrative should make historians more cautious about Roman stereotypes.