Post by Admin on Sept 29, 2022 22:03:08 GMT
The scenario of a West Asian source of Proto-
Indo-Anatolian is consistent with a linguistic
analysis (50) that places the split of Tocharian
from the remaining (Inner Indo-European)
languages ~3000 BCE associated with the
Yamnaya expansion and the disintegration
of the remaining languages during the 3rd
millennium BCE, consistent with our inferences
of major steppe admixture into the
Balkans and Armenia for the subset of Indo-
European languages of these regions. The
Anatolian split is placed by that study at
~3700 BCE (4314 to 3450 BCE, 95%highest
posterior density interval), a period during
which the Caucasus hunter-gatherer ancestry
first appears as far west as the Chalcolithic individuals
from Northwest Anatolia (at Ilıpınar)
sampled in our study and during which the
flow of Caucasus hunter-gatherer ancestry into
the steppe had already commenced.
Overall, we suggest that a scenario in which
Anatolian and Indo-European languages are
descended from a common West Asian progenitor
matches the evidence of population
change provided by ancient DNA for four
reasons. First, the genetic transformation of
Anatolia after the Neolithic and before the
Late Chalcolithic (Fig. 2) was a clear opportunity
for linguistic spread resulting in the
coexistence ofHattic and Anatolian languages.
Second, the two transformations of steppe
populations during the Eneolithic and before
the Bronze Age, with their strong south-north
directionality (Fig. 3), were opportunities
for linguistic spread and match exactly the
Anatolia/Indo-European split inferred by linguists.
Third, steppe migrations into regions
where Indo-European daughter languages
were spoken, such as the Balkans (Fig. 4),
Armenia (Fig. 5), Central/Northern Europe
(4, 8, 36), and Central/South Asia (4, 34), were
clear opportunities for the disintegration of
Proto-Indo-European and the dispersal of its
daughter languages across Eurasia. Fourth, the
absence of such migrations into Anatolia (Fig.
2F), in contrast to both neighboring Armenia
and Southeastern Europe [Figs. 4 and 5 and
(6)], makes Anatolia the only exception in the
association of steppe ancestry with Indo-
Anatolian languages.
This outline of events points toward a concrete
research program of investigating the archaeological
cultures ofWest Asia, the Caucasus,
and the Eurasian steppe to identify a population
driving transformations of both the
steppe and Anatolia, linking the two regions.
The discovery of such a “missing link” (corresponding
to Proto-Indo-Anatolians if our reconstruction
is correct) would bring to an end
the centuries-old quest for a common source
binding through language and some ancestry
many of the peoples of Asia and Europe (41, 51).
Indo-Anatolian is consistent with a linguistic
analysis (50) that places the split of Tocharian
from the remaining (Inner Indo-European)
languages ~3000 BCE associated with the
Yamnaya expansion and the disintegration
of the remaining languages during the 3rd
millennium BCE, consistent with our inferences
of major steppe admixture into the
Balkans and Armenia for the subset of Indo-
European languages of these regions. The
Anatolian split is placed by that study at
~3700 BCE (4314 to 3450 BCE, 95%highest
posterior density interval), a period during
which the Caucasus hunter-gatherer ancestry
first appears as far west as the Chalcolithic individuals
from Northwest Anatolia (at Ilıpınar)
sampled in our study and during which the
flow of Caucasus hunter-gatherer ancestry into
the steppe had already commenced.
Overall, we suggest that a scenario in which
Anatolian and Indo-European languages are
descended from a common West Asian progenitor
matches the evidence of population
change provided by ancient DNA for four
reasons. First, the genetic transformation of
Anatolia after the Neolithic and before the
Late Chalcolithic (Fig. 2) was a clear opportunity
for linguistic spread resulting in the
coexistence ofHattic and Anatolian languages.
Second, the two transformations of steppe
populations during the Eneolithic and before
the Bronze Age, with their strong south-north
directionality (Fig. 3), were opportunities
for linguistic spread and match exactly the
Anatolia/Indo-European split inferred by linguists.
Third, steppe migrations into regions
where Indo-European daughter languages
were spoken, such as the Balkans (Fig. 4),
Armenia (Fig. 5), Central/Northern Europe
(4, 8, 36), and Central/South Asia (4, 34), were
clear opportunities for the disintegration of
Proto-Indo-European and the dispersal of its
daughter languages across Eurasia. Fourth, the
absence of such migrations into Anatolia (Fig.
2F), in contrast to both neighboring Armenia
and Southeastern Europe [Figs. 4 and 5 and
(6)], makes Anatolia the only exception in the
association of steppe ancestry with Indo-
Anatolian languages.
This outline of events points toward a concrete
research program of investigating the archaeological
cultures ofWest Asia, the Caucasus,
and the Eurasian steppe to identify a population
driving transformations of both the
steppe and Anatolia, linking the two regions.
The discovery of such a “missing link” (corresponding
to Proto-Indo-Anatolians if our reconstruction
is correct) would bring to an end
the centuries-old quest for a common source
binding through language and some ancestry
many of the peoples of Asia and Europe (41, 51).