Proto-Indo-Europeans
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| - | :''[[Proto-Indo-Europeans]]'' | + | The '''Proto-Indo-Europeans''' were the [[prehistory|prehistoric]] people of [[Eurasia]] who spoke [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] (PIE), the ancestor of the [[Indo-European languages]] according to [[linguistic reconstruction]]. |
| - | Only small fragments of [[Proto-Indo-European poetry]] may be recovered. What survives of their poetry are stock phrases of two or three words, like ''undying fame'' and ''[[immortal]] gods'', that are found in diverse ancient sources. These seem to have been standard building blocks for song lyrics. | + | |
| - | Inferring chiefly from the [[Vedas]], there would have been sacrificial hymns, creation myths (such as myths of a [[world tree]]), and hero tales (the slaying of a serpent or a [[dragon]], ''*kʷr̥mis'' by a heroic man or god). | + | Knowledge of them comes chiefly from that reconstruction, along with material evidence from [[archaeology]] and [[archaeogenetics]]. The Proto-Indo-Europeans likely lived during the late [[Neolithic]], or roughly the 4th millennium BC. Mainstream scholarship places them in the forest-steppe zone immediately to the north of the western end of the [[Pontic-Caspian steppe]] in [[Eastern Europe]]. Some archaeologists would extend the time depth of PIE to the middle Neolithic (5500 to 4500 BC) or even the early Neolithic (7500 to 5500 BC), and suggest [[Proto-Indo-European Urheimat hypotheses|alternative location hypotheses]]. |
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| + | By the early second millennium BC, offshoots of the Proto-Indo-Europeans had reached far and wide across Eurasia, including [[Anatolia]] ([[Hittites]]), the [[Aegean Sea|Aegean]] (the ancestors of [[Mycenaean Greece]]), the north of [[Europe]] ([[Corded Ware culture]]), the edges of [[Central Asia]] ([[Yamnaya culture]]), and southern [[Siberia]] ([[Afanasievo culture]]). | ||
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| + | ==See also== | ||
| + | *[[Archaeogenetics]] | ||
| + | *[[Indo-Aryan migration]] | ||
| + | *[[Comparative linguistics]] | ||
| + | *[[Historical linguistics]] | ||
| + | *[[Paleolithic Continuity Theory]] | ||
| + | *[[Old European culture]] | ||
| + | *[[Proto-Indo-European language]] | ||
| + | *[[Proto-Indo-European religion]] | ||
| + | *[[Proto-Indo-European society]] | ||
| + | *[[Haplogroup I (Y-DNA)]] | ||
| + | *[[Origin of the Romanians#Paleogenetics]] | ||
| + | *[[Gravettian]] | ||
| - | Probably of the greatest importance to the Indo-Europeans themselves were songs extolling great deeds by heroic warriors. In addition to perpetuating their glory (''*ḱléwos''), such songs would also temper the warriors' behavior, since each needed to consider whether his ''undying fame'' would be honorable or shameful. See also ''[[bard]]'', ''[[fili]]'', ''[[skald]]'', ''[[rhapsode]]''. | ||
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The Proto-Indo-Europeans were the prehistoric people of Eurasia who spoke Proto-Indo-European (PIE), the ancestor of the Indo-European languages according to linguistic reconstruction.
Knowledge of them comes chiefly from that reconstruction, along with material evidence from archaeology and archaeogenetics. The Proto-Indo-Europeans likely lived during the late Neolithic, or roughly the 4th millennium BC. Mainstream scholarship places them in the forest-steppe zone immediately to the north of the western end of the Pontic-Caspian steppe in Eastern Europe. Some archaeologists would extend the time depth of PIE to the middle Neolithic (5500 to 4500 BC) or even the early Neolithic (7500 to 5500 BC), and suggest alternative location hypotheses.
By the early second millennium BC, offshoots of the Proto-Indo-Europeans had reached far and wide across Eurasia, including Anatolia (Hittites), the Aegean (the ancestors of Mycenaean Greece), the north of Europe (Corded Ware culture), the edges of Central Asia (Yamnaya culture), and southern Siberia (Afanasievo culture).
See also
- Archaeogenetics
- Indo-Aryan migration
- Comparative linguistics
- Historical linguistics
- Paleolithic Continuity Theory
- Old European culture
- Proto-Indo-European language
- Proto-Indo-European religion
- Proto-Indo-European society
- Haplogroup I (Y-DNA)
- Origin of the Romanians#Paleogenetics
- Gravettian
