The Horse, the Wheel, and Language : : How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World / / David W. Anthony.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Asian Studies Backlist (2000-2014) eBook Package
• VerfasserIn: Anthony, David W.,
• Place / Publishing House: Princeton, NJ : : Princeton University Press, , [2010]; ©2007
• Year of Publication: 2010
• Edition: Course Book
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (568 p.) :; 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.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Acknowledgments -- Part One. Language and Archaeology -- Chapter One. The Promise and Politics of the Mother Tongue -- Chapter Two. How to Reconstruct a Dead Language -- Chapter Three. Language and Time 1: The Last Speakers of Proto- Indo- European -- Chapter Four. Language and Time 2: Wool, Wheels, and Proto- Indo- European -- Chapter Five. Language and Place: The Location of the Proto- Indo- European Homeland -- Chapter Six. The Archaeology of Language -- Part Two. The Opening of the Eurasian Steppes -- Chapter Seven. How to Reconstruct a Dead Culture -- Chapter Eight. First Farmers and Herders: The Pontic- Caspian Neolithic -- Chapter Nine. Cows, Copper, and Chiefs -- Chapter Ten. The Domestication of the Horse and the Origins of Riding: The Tale of the Teeth -- Chapter Eleven. The End of Old Eu rope and the Rise of the Steppe -- Chapter Twelve. Seeds of Change on the Steppe Borders: Maikop Chiefs and Tripolye Towns -- Chapter Thirteen. Wagon Dwellers of the Steppe: The Speakers of Proto- Indo- European -- Chapter Fourteen. The Western Indo- European Languages -- Chapter Fifteen. Chariot Warriors of the Northern Steppes -- Chapter Sixteen. The Opening of the Eurasian Steppes -- Chapter Seventeen. Words and Deeds -- Appendix: Author's Note on Radiocarbon Dates -- Notes -- References -- Index