Re: Afro-Asiatic

From: John Croft
Message: 1556
Date: 2000-02-18

Gerry asked of my point
> John: True, from what I understand, the Egyptian language has a
> non-Semitic substratum, with later additions of Semitic loan words
that
> probably did come across the Sinai at different periods. But the
> substratum language shows no Asiatic links and is totally African.
>
> Gerry: Why is Egyptian without a Semitic strata? What kept the
Semites
> out of Africa?

Semitic loan words in Egyptian language rose over the course of
history. For instance there were fewer Semitic borrowings in Old
Kingdom pyramid texts than in the Middle Kingdom and New Empire.
Nevertheless, there are certain Semitic borrowings present in even Old
Kingdom Egyptian, which Gardiner and others suggest may have come in
late pre-Dynastic times. This would tie in with the idea of a
"dynastic race" of the Gerzians being early-Semitics.

> John: Yes, population demographics indicates that at about 10,000 BCE
we
> are talking of a total planetary population of about 10 million people
> world wide.
>
> Gerry: Hmmm, Henri Vallois gives an Upper Paleolithic population in
> France at 60,000, in Europe at 400-500,000, and in Siberia at
300,000.
> Alekseev disagrees with Vallois' figures and claims that one
generation
> in the Mesolithic was not greater than 25-30,000. Do you have your
> demographics broken down by region i.e. Europe, Asia, and Africa?

I have seen figures, I'll have to go hunting them out for you. The
Upper Paleolithic of the Franco-Cantabrian region was high (which is
one reason why we find a site for dissemination of peoples eastward
across the Eurasian steppe from Aurignacian times (eg. Gravetian etc),
as far east as Mongolia. The end of the Ice Age however, led to the
disappearance, of the herds of big game upon which these people
depended, with a rapid population decline. The Upper Paleolithic
cultures were then replaced with peoples adapted to the thicker
southern forests - moving north from the Ibero-Maurasian region.

Thus we find a Spanish Capsian and Tardenoisian spreading out of Spain,
north into Europe, displacing Maglemoisians (remnant Upper Paleolithic
peoples) northwards into Britain and Scandinavia.

Hope this helps

John