Kurgan hypothesis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-European_languages#History

Originally suggested by Marija Gimbutas in the 1950s, this hypothesis,
with various modifications, is today clearly the most widely accepted
among linguists. According to the Kurgan hypothesis, early PIE was
spoken in the chalcolithic steppe cultures of the 5th millennium BC
between the Black Sea and the Volga.

Timeline:a

a.. 4500?4000: Early PIE. Sredny Stog, Dnieper-Donets and Sarama
cultures, domestication of the horse.
b.. 4000?3500: The Yamna culture, the prototypical kurgan builders,
emerges in the steppe, and the Maykop culture in the northern Caucasus.
Indo-Hittite models postulate the separation of Proto-Anatolian before
this time.
c.. 3500?3000: Middle PIE. The Yamna culture is at its peak,
representing the classical reconstructed Proto-Indo-European society,
with stone idols, early two-wheeled proto-chariots, predominantly
practicing animal husbandry, but also with permanent settlements and
hillforts, subsisting on agriculture and fishing, along rivers. Contact
of the Yamna culture with late Neolithic Europe cultures results in the
"kurganized" Globular Amphora and Baden cultures. The Maykop culture
shows the earliest evidence of the beginning Bronze Age, and bronze
weapons and artefacts are introduced to Yamna territory. Probable early
Satemization.
d.. 3000?2500: Late PIE. The Yamna culture extends over the entire
Pontic steppe. The Corded Ware culture extends from the Rhine to the
Volga, corresponding to the latest phase of Indo-European unity, the
vast "kurganized" area disintegrating into various independent languages
and cultures, still in loose contact enabling the spread of technology
and early loans between the groups, except for the Anatolian and
Tocharian branches, which are already isolated from these processes. The
Centum-Satem break is probably complete, but the phonetic trends of
Satemization remain active.
e.. 2500?2000: The breakup into the proto-languages of the attested
dialects is complete. Proto-Greek is spoken in the Balkans,
Proto-Indo-Iranian north of the Caspian in the Sintashta-Petrovka
culture. The Bronze Age reaches Central Europe with the Beaker culture,
likely composed of various Centum dialects. Proto-Balto-Slavic (or
alternatively, Proto-Slavic and Proto-Baltic communities in close
contact) develops in north-eastern Europe. The Tarim mummies possibly
correspond to proto-Tocharians.
f.. 2000?1500: The chariot is invented, leading to the split and rapid
spread of Iranian and Indo-Aryan from the Andronovo culture and the
Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex over much of Central Asia,
Northern India, Iran and Eastern Anatolia. Proto-Anatolian is split into
Hittite and Luwian. The pre-Proto-Celtic Unetice culture has an active
metal industry (Nebra skydisk).
g.. 1500?1000: The Nordic Bronze Age develops (pre-)Proto-Germanic,
and the (pre-)Proto-Celtic Urnfield and Hallstatt cultures emerge in
Central Europe, introducing the Iron Age. Proto-Italic migration into
the Italian peninsula. Redaction of the Rigveda and rise of the Vedic
civilization in the Punjab. Flourishing and decline of the Hittite
Empire. The Mycenaean civilization gives way to the Greek Dark Ages.
h.. 1000 BC?500 BC: The Celtic languages spread over Central and
Western Europe. Northern Europe enters the Pre-Roman Iron Age, the
formative phase of Proto Germanic. Homer initiates Greek literature and
early Classical Antiquity. The Vedic Civilization gives way to the
Mahajanapadas. Zoroaster composes the Gathas, rise of the Achaemenid
Empire, replacing the Elamites and Babylonia. The Cimmerians (Srubna
culture) are replaced by Scythians in the Pontic steppe. Armenians
succeed the Urartu culture. Separation of Proto-Italic into Osco-Umbrian
and Latin-Faliscan, and foundation of Rome. Genesis of the Greek and Old
Italic alphabets. A variety of Paleo-Balkan languages are spoken in
Southern Europe. The Anatolian languages are extinct.


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