Glen in relation to Alexander's post wrote
(or was it Alexander in relation to Glen's... My mailserver creates
endless confusion on such matters...)
> Ich antworte:
>
> Do you mean: What DIRECT LINGUISTIC evidences do we have to prefer
proper
> Anatolian or proper Zagros cultures as a candidat for Nostratic one?
I think
> none (and hardly will ever have, I'm afraid).
> However recognition any of them as Nostratic (in the framework of the
> conception I presented) have very far going CONSEQUENCES. It is easy
to
> retrace the connections of the Zagros (+Natufian) cultures with
> "Subneolithic" and Neolithic cultures of the Middle East (but not
Anatolia
> except the easternmost part), India, North China (but not the Huanghe
> valley!), the Urals, the Pontic steppes, North-East Africa. On the
other hand > the cultures of the Anatolian type spread in North
Mesopotamia and South and
> Central Europe, partly in the Caucasus region.
>
> Which of these 2 areas looks "more Nostratic" for you?
Point taken, both of them were probably Nostratic to begin with. In
fact you cannot connect Natufian with Zagros in any way either. It is
as destinct as Anatolian. In fact Natufian had contact with Anatolian
cultures but not Zagros ones (they used the same source of Obsidian!).
The result of the matter is Natufian culture developed by easy stages
out of the pre-existing Kebaran culture. Presumably the Kebaran were
Nostratic too! Equally Zagros sub-neolithic at Jarmo developed by easy
stages out of the pre-existing Zarzian culture too. Thus the Zarzians
were probaly Nostratic too. These cultures extend back to late Ice
Age. They were microlithic in tradition at a time when their
neighbours to the North and East were still post Aurignacian big game
hunters....
And where are the first microliths found? No.... you don't mean 15,000
years ago with the North East African Helwan of Fayyum? Surely not...
could that have been the oriigins of Nostratic? Perhaps....
But as you say so rightly, you cannot equate culture with language.
Except... the Na Dene peoples probably got into North America at the
time of the melting of the Laurentide Ice Sheet. To have a Nostratic
in Kamchatka so early means that Nostratic must have begun its
expansion considerably before Natufian and the Zagros cultures, and
that means before sub-Neolithic.
Regards
John