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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.Indo-European
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 originsThe 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 termed the 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 Renfrews’s agricultural settlers moving north and west, partialy spilt off to eventually became Gimbatus’s 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
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