Glen:
> So are you saying that the Ugaritic are a possibility then?
If we are speaking about the possible Afro-Asiatic substrate for
Proto-Germanic - No, I think that neither the Minoans nor the Ugaritic
Semites could be good candidates for this role.
Of course my considerations have any sense only if we consider the Corded
Ware people as the representatives of the earliest Proto-Germanic speakers
(However this is the most common point of view).
There are 2 main objections:
1 (chronological). Both the Minoan and Ugaritic cultures flourished in the
2nd mill. BC, but the Corded Ware people appeared on the territory of modern
Germany and Denmark already in the beginning of the 3rd mill. BC.
2 (cultural). All the East Mediterranean cultures possessed a number of
cultural achievements which are never lost in historical development. It's
enough to mention here tin bronze and the potter wheel. The Corded Ware
people and their neighbours never new those (only arsenical bronze and
handmade pottery were in use). No need to discuss more specific features
(like brick architecture, scripts etc.).
If such a substrate really existed we should seek it only among Neolithic or
Eneolithic cultures (because the Corded Ware people themselves were the
Kulturtraeger who brought arsenical bronze in Central Europe - only copper
was in use before).
The question: Are there any terms connected with metallurgy or metal working
among the non-IE roots in Germanic?
Alexander