Re: A SinoTibetan-Vasconic Comparison: A very, very, very,verylengt

Alexander wrote

> As far as I know you believe that Proto-Nostratic community existed
> somewhere in the Near/Middle East and PIE - in the North Pontic area.

So do

> I (the difference only in some details and dates). It is given that

IE and

> Etruscan (Tyrrhenian) are the closest Nostratic brothers. The

question -

> where and when did they parted? If I understand you right, your

answer is:

> Tyrrhenian went from the North Pontic area c. 4500 BC when PIE stayed

there.

> I'm afraid some difficulties with chronology and archaeology can

arise here.

>
> What do you (and other list members) think about the variant with the
> parting of PIE and Proto-Thyrrhenian somewhere in South Caucasus c.

6000 BC?

> Thereafter a well traced way leads PIE to lower Dnieper (the Sura and

then

> Sredny Stog cultures with domestic horses). On the other hand, in the

Early

> Bronze Age (c. 3500 BC) a massive peoples movement from Eastern

Anatolia to

> the Aegean region is known. Early Helladic, Cycladic and Minoan

cultures can

> be results of this movements. The Thyrrhenian attestation of them

does not

> look improbable. BUT in this case we should expect a relatively high

degree

> of similarity between Etruscan and Kartvelian (the only Nostratic

language

> in the Caucasus are then). Is there any evidence of this?

This would make a lot more sense for me too Alexander than such an
early wave into the Balkans from the Steppes at this period, whereas
all archaeological evidence (eg. Tripolye-Cucuteni, Dniestr-Bug and
Linear Banderkeramik cultures) show movements out of the Balkans and
into the Steppe. It would seem we have another case of another
language group "swimming against the tide".

The diffusion of solid wheeled vehicles across the Caucasas at such an
early time, could also be evidence of the PIE-Etruscan culture zone at
such an early phase. There was a fair bit of early Transcaucasian
movement from Mesolithic times onwards. It also enables the
proto-Tyrhennians to have been the IE people that Renfrew identified as
coming out of Anatolia.

Solves a lot of problems in my view. Whadd'ya say Glen?

Regards

John