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Colin Renfrew

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Archaeology and Language: The Puzzle of Indo-European Origins First Edition

by Colin Renfrew (Author)

4.2 47 ratings

Part of: Pimlico (26 books)

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In this book Colin Renfrew directs remarkable new light on the links between archaeology and language, looking specifically at the puzzling similarities that are apparent across the Indo-European family of ancient languages, from Anatolia and Ancient Persia, across Europe and the Indian subcontinent, to regions as remote as Sinkiang in China. Professor Renfrew initiates an original synthesis between modern historical linguistics and the new archaeology of cultural process, boldly proclaiming that it is time to reconsider questions of language origins and what they imply about ethnic affiliation--issues seriously discredited by the racial theorists of the 1920s and 1930s and, as a result, largely neglected since. Challenging many familiar beliefs, he comes to a new and persuasive conclusion: that primitive forms of the Indo-European language were spoken across Europe some thousands of years earlier than has previously been assumed.

ISBN-10

0521354323
ISBN-13

978-0521354325
Edition

First Edition
Publisher

Cambridge University Press
Publication date

November 27, 1987
Part of series

Pimlico
Language

English
Print length

360 pages
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Editorial Reviews

Review

'Mr. Renfrew has written this fascinating book to review the subject in general and to advance a revisionist idea about the mode and timing of the Indo-European spread.' Stephen Jay Gould, The New York Times Book Review

'Written for the nonspecialist, this book refreshens the mind with new information, rigorous analysis, scientific scruple, and critical panache.' Thomas D'Evelyn, Christian Science Monitor

'The argument is lively and lucid, and the book deserves a wide readership among specialists and non-specialists alike. It is a daring thesis … Renfrew is not afraid of dealing with big problems...an attempt to move archaeology forward and to break its isolation … he has started another of those debates on which progress in archaeology depends.' Richard Bradley, Nature

Book Description

In this book Professor Renfrew directs remarkable new light on the links between archaeology and language, looking specifically at the puzzling similarities that are apparent across the Indo-European family of ancient languages, from Anatolia and Ancient Persia, across Europe and the Indian subcontinent, to regions as remote as Sinkiang in China.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Cambridge University Press; First Edition (November 27, 1987)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 360 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0521354323
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0521354325
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.54 pounds

Best Sellers Rank: #2,557,164 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #641 in Archaeology (Books)
- #15,675 in Foreign Language Reference

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4.2 47 ratings

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Roberto P. De Ferraz

A fascinating book

Reviewed in the United States on March 19, 2003

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No one can doubt Mr.Collin Renfrew's erudiction on the subject of the origin of the people who first spoke an indo-european language. No doubt he is one of the most important scholars on this very difficult subject. This does not mean that one has to agree with his very particular and innovative vision of the original place where an indo-european language was spoken. He is the first to acknowledge to arrive at any non-controversial answer.
The innovative approach he brings can be summarized by his adoption of many procedural modells to approach what really happenned in terms of social and cultural interchange, and movements in time and space. His style is convincing and his prose easy to follow despite the weighty issues he raises.
In my view, I find to be pretty more convincing the hypothesis which ascribe to the Caucasian region the origin of the indo-european people, but I think that Mr.Renfrew's main contribution is to put in the forefront of the debate the tree model almost automatically adopted by all the proponents of an Indo-european people who spoke a proto language, and so exploring with major emphasis the trade-offs ocurred between the brethen inside this tree. Also, the radio-carbon datings presented are amazing and fascinating at the same time.
To summ up, the book is a must to anyone interested in this fascinating issue.

9 people found this helpful

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Larry N. Stout

Dated, but still instructive

Reviewed in the United States on November 1, 2013

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Renfrew's "Archaeology and Language" was written well in advance of the great strides in human genetics of the past two decades and more, and in advance of a considerable body of archaeological discovery and research. Nevertheless, the book is a gem of lucidity and cogency, and worth reading as a splendid exemplar of the devil's advocacy (multiple working hypotheses) always appropriate to objective scientific inquiry, but often deficient as overambitious author's push their personal academic agendas through to publication. If you want the last word on Indo-European languages, their speakers and antecedents, this book is not it; but if you are interested enough to be able to evaluate more-recent books put forward as the last word, then you should, I think, read Renfrew first, and keep in mind his invaluable perspectives and lessons in intellectual propriety. This said, Renfrew himself is perhaps overambitious here in attempting rather sweeping generalizations -- always at pains to minimize the historical importance of relatively rapid mass-migrations -- where facts are indeed few about peoples inhabiting great swathes of geography and spanning millennia of prehistory and skeletal, imperfect or erroneous history.

10 people found this helpful

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brian boan

Great buy! Great read.

Reviewed in the United States on October 10, 2021

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Thought the author is more convinced of a steppe origin for PIE due to current genetic evidence and others, that, itself, does not nullify the many arguments in the book. The writing, also, flows smoothly as one would want in a story book or novel. This text is a great read and a great buy. I hope the author revisits this subject with a new masterpiece in the near future.

One person found this helpful

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martin harris

a great review of all not-yet-known about the Indo-Europeans (us)

Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2020

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More a discussion of possible alternative interpretations of the evidence than a clear recitation of historical fact, bt still worth the reading effort. Minor quibble: the maps could much better show the geographical locations for the various tribes and group-territory areas which he describes. for those of us who don't automatically know which set of clans lived or moved to, where.
Martin Harris

Reviewed in the United States on June 1, 2013

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A good text for a summary of linguistic theory and the search for the origin of the Indo-europeans. However, he hedges his bets and avoids making concrete conclusions. He makes cases for why a number of things are possible, but he does not make a definite claim as to what really occured. A lot of the book is a critique of Gimbutas and others. Nevertheless, it is a good book for learning about different models of language propogation.

3 people found this helpful

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Renfrew Fan

Reason vs. Dogma

Reviewed in the United States on January 14, 2007

This is an excellent iconoclastic overview of an often maligned people who were to provide the basis for western civilization. Although Mr. Renfrew comes across as a reasonable scholar - often noting the tenuousness of his own conclusions and fairly articulating opposing views - he is vilified by the old guard - the Gimbutas gang of western-bashing renown.

Another reviewer cites Mallory's work, In Search of the Indo-Europeans, as a more scholarly and correct work. I do encourage others to read it. Note how many paranoid attacks are made specifically of Mr. Renfrew (by name). It is almost as though he believes Mr. Renfrew has the intellectual high ground and he must resort to ad hominem tirades instead of reason to bolster his tottering old viewpoint.

Mr. Renfrew's detractors have certainly missed the forest for the trees. All of archeology and historical linguistics is glued together with speculation - so, rather than arguing over arcane details it is sometimes good to resort to reason.

Mr. Renfrew's reasoning, void of political correctness, is refreshing and enlightening.

6 people found this helpful

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Roxane

BOUGHT FOR A GIFT

Reviewed in the United States on January 31, 2013

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I BOUGHT THIS BOOK AS A GIFT. THE RECIPIENT LOVES THE BOOK. HE SAYS IT IS EVERYTHING HE THOUGHT IT WOULD BE AND MORE! VERY INTERESTING AND INFORMATIVE!

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steevo

Colin Renfrew's original theory may well be correct!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 6, 2018

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This book may well be written decades ago but is still relevant to today's findings (dna etc). The recently identified rare semitic M84 marker links the people of SW China and the Burmese Chin population with the people of the Levant c 7500 years ago ('Ancient inland human dispersals from Myanmar into interior East Asia since the Late Pleistocene' by Yu-Chun Li et al, 2015). This provides a strong link for Colin Renfrew's theory of the SE Anatolia/Levant area as being the area from which the proto-indo-europeans spread - westwards and eastwards. Symbols used on pottery and stamp seals also leave a trail from the area through Bactria and Merhgarh into the Tarim Basin and through the Hongshan, Majiayao, Machang cultures, making their first appearance c 3500 BC, and through the Shang, Zhou and Han dynasties. The complex symbols (for the time) also make their journey westwards, via such cultures as LBK and Cucuteni, ending up in the British Isles c 3000 BC. All this takes place well before Cherchen man c 1800 BC. There is a time-line for the symbols which proliferate in the Anatolian/Levant area from 9800 - 6000 BC then appearing in other cultures at later dates. Notably, according to Gimbutas, the first appearance of the symbols were c 18000 -15000 BC Ukraine! Archeology, typology, farming and wave of advance figures support the SE Anatolia theory of Colin Renfrew.

One person found this helpful

elisa pireddu

Un testo fondamentale per capire la diffusione delle lingue indoeuropee grazie al confronto coi dati archeologici

Reviewed in Italy on October 17, 2015

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Dal titolo potrebbe sembrare un libro per i soli adetti ai lavori, ma grazie ad un linguaggio semplice e ad una struttura schematica del testo, vi troverete subito immersi nel confronto tra le teorie sull'origine e la cultura di questo popolo che ha dato origine alle moderne lingue dell'Europa e di parte dell'Asia. Scoprirete di avere un patrimonio linguistico comune con popoli a cui mai avreste pensato, un viaggio nel passato, dove storia, linguistica, archeologia, geografia e antropologia si uniscono nella ricerca di dati che ci rivelino da dove veniamo.

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just me

Well packed and in good condition.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 2, 2023

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It arrived well packed and in good condition, but I have not started to read it yet.

Barbara Lyddiatt

Archaeology and Language: The Puzzle of Indo-European Origins

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 24, 2013

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I have only just started to reading this but it is fascinating. It makes me realise how out of date I am on the theories of the origins of Indo-European languages. I have heard the author speak at various archaeological weekend courses and he writes in as interesting way as he lectures.

One person found this helpful

S. HOAR

Wonderfully well-presented and convincing theory

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 11, 2014

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Wonderfully well-presented and convincing theory, once derided, now increasingly supported by DNA data. I was lucky enough to be taught by Colin Renfrew, and this book captures his inexhaustibly creative questioning of orthodoxy.

2 people found this helpful

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