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IN SEARCH OF THE INDO-EUROPEANS

J.P. Mallory, Thames and Hudson, New York, 1991 (1989).

This is a fascinating survey of a complex and highly controvertial
subject. The author has made a great effort to offer a glimpse of the
historical development of the concept of a proto Indo-European language,
to present the varied views on the various aspects of the topic, to
demonstrate an awareness of the literature and opinions in the often
contending fields of linguistics and archaeology, and to provide some
access for the general English reader to the vast amount of research
done on the topic in the Russian language.

After introducing the reader to the original idea of the existence of a
relationship among many of the languages in Eurasia and proceeding
beyond the Biblical notion of this originating from Noah's son Japhet,
the author examines the early evidence from three Indo-European
languages in Asia Minor, most notably Hittite. He then considers other
languages in Asia, including Iranian, Sanskrit and Tocharian, this last
evidenced from manuscripts from Buddhist monasteries in Chinese
Turkistan from the 6th to the 8th Centuries CE. The existence of non
Indo-European languages in Asia Minor (Hatti and Hurrian) leads J.P.
Mallory to disagree with those, including Colin Renfrew, who would
situate the homeland of the Proto Indo-Europeans there. The evidence
leads Mallory to agree with the general understanding that the various
Indo-European languages encountered in Asia from Turkey to Turkestan and
India were introduced to those areas from outside.

The author next examines Europe from the ancient Greeks to the modern
Balts, whose earliest texts come from the 16th century CE. He mentions
languages such as Basque as indications of the extensive non PIE range
on the continent, largely replaced by Indo-European languages. One
interesting point is his mention that, "The Celtic language spoken in
Spain appears to have avoided the famous (though perhaps phonologically
trivial) shift from Proto-Celtic q to p that occurs in all of the other
Continental Celtic languages."

After concluding that the Indo-European languages would appear to have
been introduced to Western Europe and the Balkans, Mallory proceeds to
consider the culture and the religion of the Proto Indo-Europeans on the
basis of the words and terms deduced to have been in their language.
This would seem to portray a people to whom stock, especially cattle,
were very important, a people who were somewhat involved in agriculture,
a people whose activities included, "Sewing, spinning and weaving of
wool" (p. 121), a people who ground grain, yoked animals and had the
wheel, as well as boats.

While Proto Indo-European is reconstructed to include words for bow and
arrow, as well as, contestably, other weapons such as swords and axes,
and while the warrior band appears in various Indo-European societies,
Mallory cautions against extreme stereotyping here:

More importantly our evidence for Indo-European war-bands is derived
from very different time periods with none before the Late Bronze
Age. We may be struck by the similarities between the heroes of
medieval Germanic and Irish tales and the Indic war-god Indra who
leads his band of hell-raising Maruts through the hymns of the RIG
VEDA, but their behaviour is more apt to be GENERIC responses to
their particular cultural circumstances than the direct GENETIC
inheritance from common ancestors and institutions which existed
thousands of years earlier.

Mallory discusses PIE kinship relations, including fosterage by maternal
uncles. He also mentions concepts such as clan chiefs and kings,
revealing in the latter case the presence of various views, including
the one that the linguistic evidence fails to confirm the existence of
Proto Indo- European kings.

The chapter on religion begins with a mention of verbal correspondences
for Father Sky, continues with a reference to Dumezil's concept of the
threefold division of society into priests, warriors and herder
cultivators (attested as early as the tripartate Indo-European deities
named in a treaty between the Mitanni and the Hittites in 1380 BCE),
proceeds to Jaan Puhvel's proposed horse sacrifice, includes discussion
of cattle raids, human sacrifice ("Not a common occurrence" p. 138), the
view of a "War of the Functions" ("Highly speculative and unnecessary"
p.139) and concludes by remarking that archaeology does not substantiate
the tripartite Proto Indo-European society.

J.P. Mallory next examines more directly the single aspect of the topic
of Proto Indo-Europeans which has most preoccupied many attracted to
this study -- the homeland.

We begin our search for the homeland of the Indo-Europeans with the
deceptively optimistic claim that it has already been located. For
who could look further north than Lokomanya Tilak and Georg
Biedenkapp who traced the earliest Aryans to the North Pole? Or who
could venture a homeland further south than North Africa, further
west than the Atlantic or further east than the shores of the
Pacific, all of which have been seriously proposed as 'cradles' of
the Indo-Europeans? This quest for the origins of the Indo-Europeans
has all the fascination of an electric light in the open air on a
summer night; it tends to attract every species of scholar or
would-be savant who can take pen to hand. It also shows a remarkable
ability to mesmerize even scholars of outstanding ability to wander
far beyond the realm of reasonable speculation to provide yet
another example of academic lunacy.

The suggestion is made that such a homeland could not have exceeded a
million square kilometres at its extreme upper limit; larger than this
and regional variations would have fragmented a language of that period.

Mallory considers the interaction of Proto Indo-European and the various
languages that could have been its neighbours.

The remnant non-Indo-European languages of Western Europe, such as
Basque, Iberian and Etruscan, offer us no evidence that would
closely relate them to the Indo-European family, although one may
always discern the occasional late loan word between Etruscan and
Latin or Iberian and Celtic. (p. 147)

It is an entirely different matter with the Finno-Ugric languages.
These, "Generally fill out a territory stretching from the northeast
Baltic across Russia to east of the Urals (Hungarian was a medieval
intruder into Eastern Europe from the Volga region and is most closely
related to Vogul and Ostyak)" two languages stated in the previous
paragraph to occupy, "A wide area of the Ob drainage immediately east of
the Urals." (p. 148)

"The substantial number of loan words of clear Indo-European origin that
are found across the Finno-Ugric languages suggest that they were
borrowed when the latter was still a proto-language." (p. 149) Such a
connection provides a basis for the hypothesis that the homeland of the
Proto Indo-Europeans, "At least included a substantial portion of the
*forest*-steppe or steppe zone of the Volge-Ural region." (p. 149)

Mallory continues with a look at Semetic PIE links, proposed by some,
though not very convincingly, in Mallory's opinion, as well as Karvelian
and Turkic, again not convincing in Mallory's view.

The author then looks at various approaches that may be made on the
basis of the existing and historic Indo-European languages to trace them
back to the area of origin. Formulae may be devised to consider
geographical distribution, chronology and the phonological and
grammatical isoglosses (similarities) of the IE languages. Linguistic
principles, such as the continuance of archaisms on the fringes of the
language territory and the development of innovations at the centre, may
be considered. The influence of the substrate (aboriginal) languages on
the various branches of Proto Indo-European replacing them may be
studied. There is the view of many, though by no means all, that the
conclusion of such investigations indicates a location, "Between
Central-Eastern Europe across the east Caspian."(p.155)

Mallory now proceeds to consider the archaeological evidence, uttering
first the standard warning, "That pots do not equal people," that is,
that one cannot be certain that there is exact correlation between
identified archaeological cultures and languages, though, "It is equally
perverse to assume there can be no correlation between the two." (p. 164)

Mallory considers the current archaeological reaction to a previous ease
at deducing population movements. This reluctance now to accept
movements of peoples or languages leads Mallory to contrast the attitude
of archaeologists to the emergence of the Gaelic languages into Scotland
and into Ireland. The main distinction is that in the case of Scotland
the paucity of archaeological support is offset by the testimony of
history. "I do dispute that any archaeologist can hope to pronounce on
what linguistic developments did not happen in the prehistoric record."
(p. 167)

This relates to the more central issue that Colin Renfrew recently
suggested that the single observable transformation he could attribute
to the advance of the Proto Indo-Europeans in Europe was the early
Neolithic. This date of c. 6,500 B.C.E. Mallory can't accept as it is
too early to satisfy concepts of linguistic change and as the culture of
the early Neolithic does not correspond with that deduced from the
reconstructed vocabulary of Proto Indo-European.

The opposite would appear to be true of the *Kurgan* tradition long
upheld by Marija *Gimbutas*. This series of cultures in the south of
Ukraine and Russia takes its name from the Russian word for burial mound.

Into the territory of Southeastern Europe, characterized by
*Gimbutas* as sexually egalitarian and peaceful, there appear alien
burials morphologically identical to those on the steppe. These are
generally confined to males and are accompanied by weapons --
arrows, spears and knives; and by symbols of power -- horse headed
sceptres. The rite of suttee, the sacrificial execution of a woman
on the death of her husband, is indicated in some burials suggesting
the patriarchal character of the warrior-pastoralists who
superimposed themselves on the local agricultural population. (pp.
183-4)

Skeletons of an identical type to those in the steppes now appear.

These *Kurgan* migrations, dated from c. 4,000-2,500 B.C.E., are seen as
introducing the horse and the wheeled vehicle, and as devastating the
previous agricultural society. "A rapid disintegration in fine ceramics,
and the almost complete disappearance of painted ware, is attributed to
the *Kurgan* people who themselves were content to fashion fairly crude
shell- tapered cooking vessels." (p. 184) A new religion focusing on sky
gods and sun worship appears.

The thesis of a *Kurgan* Pontic-Caspian steppe Proto Indo-European
homeland is not universally accepted (hardly surprising in so
controvertial a topic) and even some who do accept it only consider it
as part of a larger homeland area.

J.P. Mallory now provides a survey of the archaeological cultures of the
suggested PIE homeland area starting in 9,000 B.C.E., the time the
retreating ice of the glacial period permitted waves of trees to begin
moving in, ("Communities of birch, pine and willow at first, then hazel,
and finally elm and oak by the sixth millennium BC.")

The details of this survey, much of it, as the bibliography to it
attests, derived from the extensive work of archaeologists published in
Russian, are fascinating. For example, the Dneiper-Donets culture in the
Ukraine by the early Fifth Millennium provides burials of those,
"Predominantly characterized as late Cro-Magnons with more massive and
robust features than the gracile Mediterranean peoples of the Baltic
Neolithic. With males averaging about 172 centimeters in height they are
a fairly tall people within the context of Neolithic populations." "The
dead were frequently sprinkled with ochre, a custom that we will see
continues into subsequent periods." (p. 191)

One interesting culture is the Sredny Stog (c. 4,500-3,500 B.C.E.) which
provides some 100 sites in the mid Dneiper region, including Dereivka.
"An area of over 2,000 square metres was apparently bordered by some
form of fence which enclosed several houses, work places and areas of
ritual activity." "Antler cheekpieces for fixing the bit in the horse's
mouth are known from Dereivka and other Sredny Stog sites." (p. 199)
Stockbreeding is figured as being the main economic activity, with
additional agriculture, hunting and fishing. "The discovery of net
sinkers, fishhooks and fish remains at Dereivka confirms the
exploitation of wels, perch, roach, red- eye, carp and pike." (p. 200)

The Sredny Stog is one of a number of cultures, including the
Novodanilovka, Lower Mikhaylovka-Kemi Ob cultures in the west and the
Samara, Khvalynsk and southern Ural Eneolithic cultures in the east,"
which, "Display recurrent traits that point to either long-standing
mutual contacts or underlying genetic relations." (p. 197)

Another particularly interesting culture is the Yamnaya (deriving its
name from the Russian word for pit grave) culture of about 3,600-2,200
BCE which, "Embraced the entire Pontic-Caspian from the Bug and Dneister
rivers on the west across to the Ural and Emba rivers on the
east...3,000 kilometres across."

Although the culture is known better from burial sites than the remains
of settlements, archaeologists have uncovered some sites fortified with
stone walls. This culture provides the first evidence for wagons in the
Pontic-Caspian, and there is general agreement that these were pulled by
oxen, as their heavy wooden wheels would have been beyond the ability of
horses of the period.

Yamnaya burial sites, whose most prominent feature was the mound
("*kurgan*") include the frequent use of ochre ("Hence the culture is
often termed the OCHERGRABKULTUR (ochre-grave-culture) in German
archaeological literature.") contain various goods, such as, "Pots,
copper knives and awls, boar-tusk pendants, and an assortment of bone
and stone tools such as flint sickle blades, scrapers, stone axes and
harpoons. Occasional bird bones, generally interpreted as primitive
flutes, have been found." (p.214) "Knucklebones of sheep were also found
frequently. Knucklebones are, of course, a familiar gaming device, and
the association between the knucklebone, or astragalus, and words for
dice is known in various Indo-European languages. Their presence in
Yamnaya burials may be explained as offerings of gaming pieces but one
should also note that they show a very strong correlation with the
burials of young children." (p.215)

Some archaeologists postulate a Volga origin for the Yamnaya culture.
Others see it as being too closely connected with the preceeding Sredny
Stog culture to necessitate any external origin.

There follow several pages comparing the society as deduced from the
reconstructed PIE language with the archaeological cultures of the
Pontic- Caspian and some of the features of this region. There are
standard cautions, such as this riposte to those insisting on a mountain
homeland: "There is obvious relief within the Pontic-Caspian, and we
should surely be astonished if its inhabitants actually lacked a word
for mountain or hill." (p. 216)

He mentions, "The wild fauna reconstructed linguistically can be
correlated with remains recovered from archaeological sites, although
they are not unique to our area." (p.216) Perhaps the most significan
animal is the horse, domesticated in the area since at least the Fourth
Millennium B.C.E. and evidenced from archaeological sites as being used
for ritual sacrifice.

J.P. Mallory next considers the archaeological evidence in three staging
areas whence the Indo-Europeans would have moved further to reach the
historical extent of IE territory:

We need to demonstrate that peoples from the steppe expanded into
Southeastern Europe to effect the formation of the immediate
ancestors of the Indo-European peoples of the Balkans and Greece,
and of those languages of Anatolia whose origins have been directly
linked to the Balkans, such as Phyrigian, Armenian, and possibly the
Anatolian languages themselves. We are also required to establish a
genetic link that seriously involves the Pontic-Caspian in the
formation of the Corded-Ware horizon of Northern and Central Europe,
since it provides the presumed staging area for the later emergence
of the Celts, Germans, Balts, Slavs and possibly other Indo-European
groups. And, finally, we must discover traces of Pontic-Caspian
expansion into Asia to explain the creation of the Tocharians and
Indo-Iranians. (pp. 222-223)

He begins in the east, looking first at the Afanasievo culture which may
be dated from before 3,000 B.C.E. and which shares many similarities
with the Pontic-Caspian (pit burials, Europoid physical type, kurgans,
ochre, stock breeding, pointed based pots, etc.). The single greatest
difficulty in this identification is the 2,000 kilometres separating the
Afanasievo culture from the easternmost reaches of the Yamnaya. Mallory
writes that this intervening area, hitherto poorly explored
archaeologically, has begun to suggest the expected intermediate sites.
It would be very interesting to read whether work in this area through
the 90s continues to confirm this suggestion.

Postulating an origin for the Tocharians in the Afanasievo culture,
Mallory next looks at the Andronovo culture as a potential staging area
for the Indo-Iranians.

Few, if any, archaeologists would deny a general Indo-Iranian
identity for most of the Andronovo culture, nor would they deny its
fundamental genetic association with its western neighbours in the
Pontic-Caspian. These connections are not only of the more general
kind-- primarily stockbreeding economy, domestic horse, wheeled
vehicles, *kurgan* burials -- but they also involve the specifics of
ceramic form and decoration, as well as the types of metal
implements and ornaments. (pp. 227-228)

Some, however, would trace the western Iranians and the Anatolians
through the Caucusus pointing to impressive mound burials such as at
Uch-Tepe. Mallory Cautions,

We may emphasize, however, that where the evidence for barrows is found,
it is precisely in regions which later demonstrate the presence of
non-Indo-European populations; hence the model of Pontic intrusions
through the Caucusus at this time may be largely irrelevant to the
question of Indo-European expansion. (p. 233) Mallory then turns his
attention to the Balkans, a region with a two millennia long history of
stable agricultural expansion. There are thousands of archaeological
sites, some displaying the, "Debris of 2,000 years of continuous
settlement." (p. 233) There then appears evidence (including horse
headed sceptres and, "The sudden appearance of an alien burial rite in
Southeast Europe which is also markedly similar to that of the steppe."
p. 236) of the intrusion of people from the Pontic region.

The cultural chaos of this period has produced something of a Balkan
'dark age'. The tell sites, for example, number in the order of 600
to 700. Their continuous development comes to a halt when they are
abandoned about 4200 BC., and so far we only have evidence of
several dozen being reoccupied during the subsequent Early Bronze
Age, somewhere between 500 and 1,000 years later. Out of this period
there later emerges a new cultural horizon that integrates cultures
across Eastern Europe, including the northwest Pontic and western
Anatolia. (p. 238)

Any interpretation of the archaeological puzzle of Southeast Europe
during this transition period from 4,000 to 3,000 BC is likely to
suffer from a lack of well-documented evidence. At the same time,
one cannot ignore that a substantial number of leading East European
archaeologists acknowledge an expansion from the Pontic-Caspian to
be a major factor in effecting this transformation of society and,
in general, that they identify these intruders as the earliest
Indo-Europeans. (p. 241)

Mallory now turns to the third staging area, Northern and Central
Europe. He begins by discussing the Corded Ware culture (Schnurkeramic
in German) stretching from Scandinavia to Switzerland and from the
Netherlands to the Upper Volga and the middle Dneiper. Among other
traits are wheeled vehicles and the domesticated horse. Some, especially
early 20th Century Germans, identified this culture as the PIE homeland,
but,

No one has ever been able to generate a serious case for relating
the Corded Ware culture to the Indo-Europeans of the Balkans, Greece
or Anatolia, much less to those of Asia... It is enough to remember
that the Corded Ware culture is essentially a third millennium
phenomenon and clearly post-dates the earliest appearance of
Pontic-Caspian eneolithic cultures. (p. 245)

Mallory mentions that,

The Corded Ware horizon occupies essentially the same general
territory as the preceding TRB culture. Where it exceeds the borders
of the TRB, such as the Fatyanovo culture of the upper Volga, or the
Baltic Haff culture, this is clearly a later intrusion outside the
core area. (p. 249)

On page 162 he told the reader that TRB comes from the German
Trichterbecher = Funnel Beaker. One of the variants of this culture, the
Baalberge group in Central Germany has the unusual TRB feature of mound
burials, allowing some to propose a local, rather than Pontic- Caspian,
origin for this feature in the Corded Ware culture.

There is also a variety of views in the location of various territories
or staging areas from which, or through which, external influences could
have contributed to the formation of the Corded Ware culture.

We have now examined most proposals that attempt to give the steppe
cultures a role in the cultural transformations of Central and
Northern Europe. We have seen how they generally, if not
universally, fail to present the type of primary evidence for
migration that we have seen in the Balkans." (p. 254)

This has led some to conclude that the PIE homeland included Northern
and Central Europe, a view suspect on linguistic grounds.

Readers may feel that the author has betrayed them down an endless
series of cul de sacs. Nevertheless, this is the current state of
research into Indo-European origins and this seemed the best way to
convey why the issue is by no means resolved. Ultimately, we have a
remarkably unsatisfactory set of choices. We can accept a
Pontic-Caspian homeland despite the fact it still appears to be
archaeologically undemonstrated, even under the most liberal canons
of proof, in explaining the Indo-Europeans of Northern and Central
Europe. Alternatively, we might wish to opt for a broader homeland
between the Rhine and Volga during the Palaeolithic or Mesolithic
which resolves the archaeological issues by fiat but appears to be
linguistically implausible. Perhaps our only recourse is to return
to our strict definition of the Proto Indo-European homeland as
where the Indo- European languages were spoken uin the period
4500-2500 BC. By the end of this period it is reasonable to assume
that they were spoken from the Rhine to beyond the Ural. How they
achieved that position is still a problem. (p. 257)

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