Re: new book on the spread of IE

Has no one commented on this because it got lost in the last flood of
whatchamacallit?

On Feb 6, 12:11 pm, "Peter T. Daniels" <gramma...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
A well-known archeologist has published a book that should be of
interest to many readers of sci.lang. Here's the publisher's blurb;
note the quote from Mallory. Perhaps this will stand as the twenty-
years-on revision of Mallory's archeological survey of the IE
languages.

*******

From <http://press.princeton.edu/titles/8488.html>: [For Table of
Contents, go to <http://press.princeton.edu/TOCs/c8488.html>
==========================================

The Horse, the Wheel, and Language:
How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern
World
David W. Anthony
Cloth | 2007 | $35.00 / £19.95
566 pp. | 6 x 9 | 3 halftones. 86 line illus. 16 tables. 25 maps.

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.

David W. Anthony is professor of anthropology at Hartwick College. He
has conducted extensive archaeological fieldwork in Ukraine, Russia,
and Kazakhstan.

Review:
"In the age of Borat it may come as a surprise to learn that the
grasslands between Ukraine and Kazakhstan were once regarded as an
early crucible of civilisation. This idea is revisited in a major new
study by David Anthony."--Times Higher Education

Endorsements:

"If you want to learn about the early origins of English and related
languages, and of many of our familiar customs such as feasting on
holidays and exchanging gifts, this book provides a lively and richly
informed introduction. Along the way you will learn when and why
horses were domesticated, when people first rode horseback, and when
and why swift chariots changed the nature of warfare."--Peter S.
Wells, author of The Battle that Stopped Rome

"A very significant contribution to the field. This book attempts to
resolve the longstanding problem of Indo-European origins by providing
an examination of the most relevant linguistic issues and a thorough
review of the archaeological evidence. I know of no study of the
Indo-European homeland that competes with it."--J. P. Mallory, Queen's
University, Belfast

.

Relevant Pages

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