I promised y'all months ago that I would keep you up-to-date on the controversy about whether the Indo-Europeans came down the west side of the Black Sea or the east side. Because I knew you'd be fascinated to know whether the Gimbutas or Renfrew theory was more likely to be true.
Go Colin Renfrew! DNA evidence is supporting his idea that the Indo-Europeans trace back to Anatolia, in Turkey, around 7000 BCE. Hittite was the first language to split off from the main branch. Forget all that kurgan horseman north of the Black Sea stuff - that came later. Giacomo over at Joust The Facts will be thrilled.
Well, thanks for clearing that up.
ReplyDeleteSince the ethnic Turks did not get to the Anatolian plateau until some hundreds of years into the Byzantine era, "We are all Turks" is rather misleading.
ReplyDeleteYeah, but "Our Language Descended from People Who Came From What Is Now Part Of Turkey" seemed less snappy.
ReplyDeleteMy father always said that (what is now known as) Turkey is really the cradle of civilization.
ReplyDeleteGot you back. You shouldn't have set yourself up so clearly.
ReplyDeleteYeah, and you still owe me a few, so I really need to be more careful.
ReplyDelete