The horse, the wheel, and language : how bronze-age riders from the Eurasian steppes shaped the modern world
"Roughly half the world's population speaks languages derived from a shared linguistic source known as Proto-Indo-European. But who were the early speakers of this ancient mother tongue, and how did they manage to spread it around the globe? Until now their identity has remained a tantalizing mystery to linguists, archaeologists, and even Nazis seeking the roots of the Aryan race. The Horse, the Wheel, and Language lifts the veil that has long shrouded these original Indo-European speakers, and reveals how their domestication of horses and use of the wheel spread language and transformed civilization. Linking prehistoric archaeological remains with the development of language, David Anthony identifies the prehistoric peoples of central Eurasia's steppe grasslands as the original speakers of Proto-Indo-European, and shows how their innovative use of the ox wagon, horseback riding, and the warrior's chariot turned the Eurasian steppes into a thriving transcontinental corridor of communication, commerce, and cultural exchange. He explains how they spread their traditions and gave rise to important advances in copper mining, warfare, and patron-client political institutions, thereby ushering in an era of vibrant social change. Anthony also describes his fascinating discovery of how the wear from bits on ancient horse teeth reveals the origins of horseback riding. The Horse, the Wheel, and Language solves a puzzle that has vexed scholars for two centuries--the source of the Indo-European languages and English--and recovers a magnificent and influential civilization from the past."--Jacket
Print Book, English, ©2007
Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J., ©2007
History
xii, 553 pages : illustrations, maps, tables ; 25 cm
9780691058870, 9780691058870, 9780691148182, 0691058873, 0691058873, 069114818X
174129990
pt. 1. Language and archaeology
The promise and politics of the mother tongue
How to reconstruct a dead language
Language and time 1: the last speakers of Proto-Indo-European
Language and time 2 : wool, wheels, and Proto-Indo-European
Language and place : the location of the Proto-Indo-European homeland
The archaeology of language
pt. 2. The opening of the Eurasian steppes
How to reconstruct a dead culture
First farmers and herders : the Pontic-Caspian Neolithic
Cows, copper, and chiefs
The domestication of the horse and the origins of riding : the tale of the teeth
The end of Old Europe and the rise of the steppe
Seeds of change on the steppe borders : Maikop chiefs and Tripolye towns
Wagon dwellers of the steppe : the speakers of Proto-Indo-European
The western Indo-European languages
Chariot warriors of the northern steppes
The opening of the Eurasian steppes
Words and deeds
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