Re: Anatolia in 7500BC

Glen wrote:
<<The fact remains that there is no trace of IndoEuropean or ANY Steppe
language to be found in Anatolia when writing first begins.>>

QUICK CORRECTION: When writing "first begins" in Anatolia, it IS in a
Indo-European language. I believe the earlier Assyrian texts (@1900) which
apparently showed first evidence of IE (in Anatolia) were found in modern
Syria. It may be asking too much on the other hand for the very first first
writing, in Sumerian Mesopotamia, to evidence language elsewhere.

Not that any of this is particularly probative of anything in 7500BC. But if
one invokes the first writing as some kind of better evidence, then when we
ACTUALLY have DIRECT AND VERIFIABLE evidence of any language in central or
western Anatolia, it is IE. And since this is the first direct evidence of
IE, one might question whether it is strictly appropriate to call it a
"Steppe" language. (Except to the extent that the plateau of central Asia
Minor for 1000's of years BC is classifiable as "steppic".)

S.