Glen wrote in reply to my point
> >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?
>
> No. It only creates many more problems. The IE can only be from a
more
> northerly locale.
I would agree with that, but couldn't Etruscan be from South of the
Caucasas? In that way Indo-Eutruscan could have been a proto-language
family that straddled the Caucasas (God help us, another language
family that straddles the Caucasas!!!)
> There is no possibility that IE spread from Anatolia, nor
> IndoEtruscan.
I fully agree that there is no possibility for IE spreading from
Anatolia, but what about Etruscan. There is plenty of evidence that
Etruscan spread from that direction in both linguistic and classical
sources.
> With this theory, the explanation of IE-Uralic connections
> crashes down in ruin with no alternative hypothesis to take its
place. This
> is the failure of Renfrew et al. 'Fraid not. Two thumbs down from
Glen.
Not so, if Paleo-Indo-Eutrscan straddled the Caucasas. In this case we
have both a Uralic connection for Indo-European and an Anatolian origin
for Etruscan - to me this is the best of both worlds.
> Perhaps the archaeological data is being interpreted wrong. If
Anatolia is a
> source of innovations, we should expect some spread of cultural or
> technological features FROM Anatolia INTO the North Pontic despite a
> population movement outwards from the area, no?
I have trouble understanding what you are saying here... Agreed about
the technologicval features from Anatolia onto the steppe (that was the
point I was arguing with the spread of wheeled vehicles). There is the
interesting example of the early (pre-Hittite) culture at Alaca Huyuk
in Anatolia, which showed evidence of Pontic features and a highly
socially stratified chieftain burial. This culture certainly came from
the direction of the Caucasas. Some have used
this evidence as arguing a movement of the Anatolian languages
(Hittite, Luwian etc) as coming from this direction. The evidence of a
westward origin of Luwian is pretty well established archaeologically
in the burning of Troy II, Yortan and Beycultestan at the end of the
Old Bronze Age. Some have argued that Palaite arrived from the East
(Alaca Huyuk) while the other Anatolian Languages (Luwian and
Neshite-Hittite) arrived from the West.
Personally, I find the Alaca Huyuk burial (with its circum
Caucasian-Pontic elements) could correspond rather nicely with the
arrival of the Proto-Etruscans, moving from the Caucasas into
Paphlagonia (skirting Hattic) and into Western Anatolia possibly
3,000-2,500 BCE. The arrival of the Luwian-Hittite-Palaite wave from
the Bosphorus would then drive them into the Aegean as our Pelasgians.
There they were recognised as the autochthones by the later Hellenes,
despite many stories of their Anatolian origins. (eg. the stories of
Belerophon, and the House of Atreus iteself had an Anatolian origin).
With the Pelasgian Athenians Hellenising to become Hellenic, and then
driving out the remaining Pelasgians, seems to be typical of the way
movements can adopt a new language but keep evidence of their old myths
and culture. Thus the Kaukones could be linked etymologically with
Kekrops, the founder of the Athenian monarchy (who was portrayed as
half human half serpent). Certainly the serpent seems to have been an
early and powerful religious element in the later Athenian religion
(and Bronze Age Potnia Athana (or her high priestess) is frequently
shown grasping two serpents in her hands).
In this case, if this construction is correct, in the Luwian lands west
of the Hittites we find three existing language groupss
An aboriginal substrate related to Khattic
A first wave elite group related to Etruscan of which some were driven
out by
A second wave elite group related to the Luwians.
Regards
John