Glen's reconstructions Archaeology & Genetics

Glen

I am having trouble trying to tie Archaeology and Genetics into your
trees of a Steppe and Eurasiatic.

Firstly, I find it interesting that you place Uralic in with Chukchto
and Inuit. Given the paleo-linguistic discussions genetic connections
with PU discussed on this list, I would have thought these languages
would be closer to Altaic rather than Uralic.

There is a fairly early (mesolithic) chain of cultures that stretch
from Africa to Siberia as follows

Bladelet-microlithic (25,000) African
Waddi Kubbaniya (15 - 20,000) Egyptian
Helwan Fayyum (12 - 15,000) Egyptian
Kebaran (10.300 - 16,960) Levant --- Hence Natufians & agriculture
Zarzian (8,650 - 12,400) Zagros to Transcaucasia --- Hence Jarmo &
agriculture
Ali Tappah (9,000 - 10,500) Transcaspian to Oxus --- Jeitun
protoneolithic
Hissar (6,000 - 4,000) Transoxania to Issukul
Keltiminar (5,500 - 3500) Yenisei River bend

Keltiminar is the first appearance in this area of a mesolithic "wide
spectrum" adaptation, and it would seem fair given the chain of
interlocking mesolithic wide-spectrum hunter gatherer cultures that
stretch back to late Ice Age Aftrica - that this represents the spread
of Nostratic to Altaic anguage groups.

A second chain of cultures goes as follows

Kebaran (as above)
Belbasi culture (Kebaran influence dates unknown) Anatolia
Beldibi culture (Natufian influence 10,000) also Anatlia
Franchi Cave (9,980 - 5,947) Balkan mesolithic
Murzak-Koba (9,100 - 8,500) Balkan to Steppe
Grebenki (8,000 - 7,000) Steppe to Urals showing continuity of cultures
through Dnester - Bug and Dneiper-Donetz 7,000 - 5,500

This would seem to be the Nostratic to PIE & PU chain. But by this
sequence the two Eurasiatic groups (Altaic and PIE/PU) have not had any
common cultures since Kebaran culture in the Levant.

Given this evidence Glen, we have a problem

1. The route taken by PIE/PU speakers north from Africa seems to have
been via a chain of mesolithic cultures through Anatolia, the Balkans
and hence the Pontic Steppes and Urals

2. The route taken by Proto-Altaic speakers north from Africa seems to
have been via another chain of mesolithic cultures in the Zagros,
Trans-Caspian, Transoxus to the Yenesei Basin and points north and east.

The Caucasas seem to have been a culture barrier, there is not much
connection between the Zarzian derived Kobystan of the Araxes mouth and
the steppe Mesolithic cultures northwards (i.e. proto-Kartvellian).

By the way, these two alternative Out of Africa routes accords well
with the genetic evidence too...

So how do we get Boreal cultures to Chukotia and Kamchatka? Are you
saying that Inuit (Eskimo) of Greenland is closer to PIE due to its
connection within Boreal, than are the Altaic languages, Glen? That is
what your family tree implies. If so, let me know and I'll go hunting
out the archaeology and genetics of this reconstruction to see if it
holds sense.

What do you think?

Regards

John