|
Indo-European is a collective name for cultures speaking related languages, being of related traditional religions and sharing a
similar geographical origin. A patriarchal system and patrilineal inheritance, along with other cultural similarities, appear to be
fundamental to the general scope. Hypothetically, these cultures arose from the expansion of an ancient people, the
Proto-Indo-Europeans, c. 4000 B.C., somewhere around the Black
Sea region. (See Indo-European religion and
Indo-European languages)
Their existence has been supported by extensive research in comparative linguistics, by scholars such as Ferdinand
de Saussure, in religious studies by scholars such as Georges
Dumézil, and in philosophical studies by Friedrich
Nietzsche. The reconstructed Proto-Indo-European language (PIE) is hypothesized to have been the common language of the
Proto-Indo-Europeans.
There have been many attempts to claim that particular prehistorical cultures can be identified with the PIE-speaking peoples,
but all have been speculative. This is because there are no written records of PIE, so the only way to identify an actual people
with the language is to match the archeological remains of non-literate peoples to the supposed prehistory of known languages.
This depends on reconstructing the early language, and identifying concepts in it that may be associated with particular cultures
(such as the use of metals, agriculture or pastoralism, geographically distinctive plants and animals, etc).
The search for Indo European origins
The ideas of nineteenth century scholars of linguistics who first postulated the existence of the Proto-Indo-Europeans were
made during a time dominated by a imperialist and racist mind set. It was naturally assumed that the spread of the language was due to invasion by a superior
Aryan race into Europe. These discredited ideas still have a wide popular
following. They tied this European invasion into speculations about the Aryan invasion of India, which would have occurred around 1500 BC. The question of where exactly was the
Proto-Indo-European homeland from which they invaded Europe and India resulted in much speculation.
In the twentieth century Marija Gimbutas created a modern
variation on the traditional invasion theory (the Kurgan hypothesis, see Kurgan) in
which the Indo-Europeans were a nomadic tribe in southern Russia and expanded on horseback sometime around 2000 BC. Their expansion coincided with the taming of the horse. Leaving archaelogical signs of their presence (see battle-axe people), they crushed the peaceful European Neolithic farmers of Gimbutas's Old Europe. This theory in the form modified by James Mallory who dated it earlier to
around 4000 BC is still widely held. Colin Renfrew is the main propagator
for a newer theory dating from 1987 in which the Indo-Europeans were farmers in Asia Minor who expanded peacefully in South east europe from around 7000 BC.
However recent developments in archaeology have caused problems for both these theories. Modern archaeological evidence and
improved dating techniques, indicates very strong cultural continuity in Europe since the Neolithic, which undermines claims of any outside invasion. The rise of Archaeogenetic evidence which uses genetic analysis to trace migration patterns also added new elements to
the puzzle. Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza, one of the
first in this field, recently used genetic evidence to in some ways combine Gimbatus and Colin Renfrew theory together. Here
Renfrew's agricultural settlers moving north and west, partially split off to eventually became Gimbatus' Kurgan culture which
moves into Europe.
However even more recently Brian Sykes extensive data shows the vast majority, that is 80%, of the genetic stock of Europeans
goes back to the Paleolithic, tying in with the archeological data showing European continuity. Yet another controversial recent
study combing genetics and language locates Indo European origins in Anatolia supporting Renfrew.
One new attempt to explain this new evidence is the Paleolithic Continuity Theory (PCT) which suggests the Indo European
languages actually originated in Europe and have existed there since the Paleolithic.
The Proto-Indo-Europeans were exploited for political means by the Nazi
Party (see Aryan race). Mainly for political reasons, their very existence
is also questioned by scholars who maintain that their own culture and language have always been present in the area (see
Indus valley civilisation, Vedic civilization, Aryan, and
Aryan invasion theory) (cf. the controversy
about the Rus' (people)).
See also:
External link
further reading
- C. Renfrew, Archaeology and language, the puzzle of Indo-European origins (London, Penguin 1987).
- Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza, Genes, Peoples, and Languages (translated by Mark Seielstad) (New York, Penguin 2000).
- J. P Mallory, In Search of Indo-Europeans (London 1989).
- Brian Sykes, The seven daughters of Eve (London, Corgi Books 2001)
|