Würm Ice Age (110 000 – 10 000 BCE)

Würm Ice Age : Chronology

Würm Ice Age : Climate Record

Würm : map

Holocene : Climate Record

The Three Diffusion Models of the IE Languages

Ursprache (proto-language)

Urvolk (first people)

Urheimat (homeland)

Hypothesis I : Invasionist

Hypothesis II : Farming

Hypothesis III : Continuity

Archaeologic Cultures in Western Europe during the Holocene

Model I : Invasionist (Kossinna)

• Theoretician : Gustav Kossinna - 1911

• Homeland : Northern Germany • Date : 4000 BCE• Expansion Mode : Military

Conquest → Horse + Bronze Weapons + Wheel– Indigeneous Population

(AltEuropäische) = peasants + matriarcal (Mother Goddess)

– Proto-Indo-Europeans : Nomadic Warriors + patriarcal

Model I : Invasionist (Kossinna) - map

Model I : Invasionist (Gimbutas)

• Theoretician : Marija Gimbutas• Homeland : Ukraine 1960• Date : 3000 BCE• Expansion Mode : Military

Conquest → Horse + Bronze Weapons – Indigeneous Population

(AltEuropäische) = peasants + matriarcal (Mother Goddess)

– Proto-Indo-Europeans : Nomadic Warriors + patriarcal

Model I : Invasionist (Gimbutas) - map

Objections

Which proofs does the Invasionist Model requires ?• An archaeologic culture stretching from the homeland to

western Europe and India. No.• Items attesting the use of horses in combat. No.• Archeologic attestation of significant battles. No.• A good reason to move from the homeland : why should

they bother to go anywhere else ? No. « The need for conquest ».

• A highly hierarchized society allowing the constitution of a warrior caste. No.

What do we actually have ?

• A common lexical stock BUT

– Very few words are common to ALL the IE languages (around 10)

– Some words may have been borrowed from neighbouring languages (ex; the numbers) : inheritance vs. borrowing.

• Common grammatical features (verb and noun flexion, affixation) : very little chance of borrowing

Model II: Neolithic Dispersal Theory (Colin Renfrew)

• An archaeologic culture stretching from the homeland to western Europe and India : the spread of farming from the Fertile Crescent to North-Western Europe (-7000/-3000 BCE)

• Items attesting the use of horses in combat. No combat

• Archeologic attestation of significant battles. No battles

• A good reason to move from the homeland : the demographic rise occasioned by agriculture.

• A highly hierarchized society allowing the constitution of a warrior caste. No hierarchized society needed.

Model II: Neolithic Dispersal Theory : principlesModel II: Neolithic Dispersal Theory : principles

- Hunter-Gatherers : 10km² = 1 Hunter-Gatherers : 10km² = 1 people. One side = 3,3km. 30 people. One side = 3,3km. 30 people = 30 x 10 = 300km². One people = 30 x 10 = 300km². One side = 17kmside = 17km

- Farming : 1km² = 10 people. Farming : 1km² = 10 people. 300km² = 3000 people300km² = 3000 people

Objections :Objections :

- Many PIE roots are connected with Many PIE roots are connected with farming. Renfrew’s urvolk did not farming. Renfrew’s urvolk did not know farming originallyknow farming originally

- No IE toponymy in the Near-East.No IE toponymy in the Near-East.- No correlation between the No correlation between the

alleged migrations and the alleged migrations and the languages phylogenylanguages phylogeny

*aretrom (plough): aratrum, arazr, ardhr (VI), arklas (Lit), ralo (Pl)

*gwrawon (millstone): yugam (Sk), breo (Br.), kvern (Is), zrunuvi (OS)

*yugom (yoke): yugam (Sk), igo (OS), juk (Got), ieo (Br), yukan (Hit).

Model III: Palaeolithic Continuity Theory

• Theoretician : Mario Alinei 1990

• Homeland : Refugees in Ice Age Europe (Spain, Balkans, Ukraine)

• Date : 20 000 BCE• Expansion Mode : No

expansion

• Objection :- Where do the substrata

languages (Iberian, Basque, Etruscan, Minoan, etc.) come from ?

Summary

• I- Invasionist : 3000 BCE in Ukraine, military conquest of Europe and Asia (Kossinna – Gimbutas)

• II- Neolithic Dispersal Theory: 6000 BCE in the Near East, pacific spread of farmers (Renfrew)

• III- Palaeolithic Continuity Theory : 20 000 BCE in Europe, without migration.