The Horse, the Wheel, and Language

How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World

Hardcover, 566 pages

English language

Published Nov. 19, 2007 by Princeton University Press.

ISBN:
978-0-691-05887-0
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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 …

2 editions

Subjects

  • Historical & comparative linguistics
  • Prehistoric archaeology
  • Social & cultural anthropology
  • Cultural And Social Anthropology
  • History Of Civilization And Culture (General)
  • Social Science
  • History - General History
  • Indo-European Languages
  • Sociology
  • Ancient - General
  • Archaeology
  • Linguistics
  • Anthropology
  • Archaeology and Ancient History
  • World History / Comparative History
  • History