In Search of the Indo-Europeans is a cutting edge, academic thesis about the origins and homelands of the ever elusive Indo-Europeans - a collective of peoples who swarmed out of the Euro-Asian steppes sometime between the third and fourth millennial BC and ultimately took over most of the European continent and left us with all the modern-day languages now spoken in Europe and America. This is a well-researched book using philology, linguistics, archaeology, anthropology, and cultural studies to draw conclusions on several fronts, namely the homeland of the Indo-Europeans and their pathway into the many parts of Europe. Who are the Indo-Europeans and where did they come from? Most people of European descent carry their genes and speak a form of their ancient language. Understanding this classification of people, languages, and cultures is pivotal for understanding the early history of the peopling of Europe and how the people of Europe became who they are today. The book is heavily laden with academic research but is relatively easy to read. It presents an enormous amount of research while posing questions in search of answers. Some questions are reasonably answered, others are still pending a definitive answer. This book is a classic in the making. It is not untimely as still many of the questions posed by Mallory are left unanswered. It is a good starting point for understanding a very complex and elusive subject.
The Indo-Europeans represented a pre-Bronze Age, warrior culture of intruding pastoralists who buried their dead under tumuli and assimilated with or dominated the earlier European agricultural peoples from the earlier Neolithic Period. They domesticated the horse and invented the wagon, which facilitated their mobile lifestyle and herding economy. The exact location of their original homeland has not been settled, but it is presumed to be on the steppes of Russia somewhere between the Pontic and Caspian Sea. These people moved westward out of the Euro-Asian steppes and spread across Europe until their languages and culture became dominant. They are the forefathers of the Greeks, Celts, Germans, Romans, Slavs, to name only a few. Most of the languages of Europe stem from the proto-Indo-Europeans. Despite this, the Indo-Europeans are still a rather elusive people. This book brings some of the latest research to the fore to help us understand and locate their place in history.
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