Re: a discussion on OIT

From: Rick McCallister
Message: 58819
Date: 2008-05-24

--- Andrew Jarrette <anjarrette@...> wrote:

> --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "koenraad_elst"
> <koenraad.elst@...>
> wrote:
> >
> > -Since India was obviously an emigration country,
> it is perfectly
> > likely that more Indo-Aryan groups went westward
> and ended up
> > elsewhere. Without committing myself to these
> hypotheses, I would
> > think this could explain the presence of
> Indo-Aryan in the Pontic
> > region (Sindoi) and, as I learned on this list, in
> Mordvin and other
> > Uralic languages.
> >
>
> > Aryan Invasion diehards could still argue that the
> Aryans had invaded
> > from the west in 5000 BC or so and then in the RV
> period moved
> > westward again. But that would be a scenario
> radically different
> > from the AIT as we know it. And so far it has no
> evidence to support
> > it.
> >
> >
>
> Do you believe that the PIE homeland was in India?
> In my view, what
> you have presented in this posting suggests that one
> might as well
> take India to be the homeland of PIE. Would this be
> supported by
> linguistic, archaeological, and especially genetic
> evidence?
>
> Andrew
>
>
AFAIK genetically, there is plenty of evidence of
genes flowing into India --e.g. light colored hair and
eyes the closer you get to NW India and the Khyber
Pass; and there is little or none coming out of India.
The Hindutvawallahs ignore this.
Linguistically, the trajectory of loanwords shows IA
separated from Iranian in Central Asia. The only way
to account for I-A originally in India would be if IE
started there but that would mean that IA separated
from IE before Anatolia and that ain't so.
IA ivocabulary shows no signs of originating in India
and names for orange, rice, etc. that are indigenous
to India come from loanwords.
Archeologogy, see Mallory, Witzel et al.
Regarding reliance on astrology --the stars change
position relative to the earth over the millennia and
to make claims that star charts formulated hundreds or
thousands of years before writing entered India could
be relevant strikes me as hogwash. Star charts for
2008 don't necessarily work for c. 3-500 BCE when
writing entered India, much less for fantastic dates
such as 3,000 BCE. Only the likes of von Däniken would
claim the heavens stand still.
Regarding iron --AFAIK, the process of making iron was
developed in Anatolia c. 1800 BCE. Wikipedia is vague
on the dates.
Francesco's remark that there was little interaction
among Indian cultures is interesting in that it
indicates there was no dominant language in india illo
tempore.