--- In cybalist@..., x99lynx@... wrote:> IE is not in evidence in
the earliest writing in Sumer, Egypt, Harrapan, > China or among the
Maya. None of this is relevant in any way to the fact
> that IE is first attested in Anatolia in second millennium BC and
not > attested in the European or Asian steppes until much after that
time.
> > There is no acceptibly decipherable written evidence of ANY
language in > 4000BC, 5000BC, 7500BC or 9500BC.
I will talk about 'Harappan' since I have been immersed in the
problem for over 20 years now.
Assuming that the people -- say, neolithic, chalcolithic lapidaries --
who inscribed at Harappa spoke the earlier versions of the present-
day languages of the region, there is a possibility that ca. 3500
BCE, Harappan was a linguistic area -- composed of co-operating
speakers of proto-IA, proto-Munda, proto-Dravidian.
I do not know if this will add much of an evidence for written IE
unless some of the lexemes are found to be cognate with IE. See for
example, a recently-discovered tablet at Harappa with a leaf-less
tree, two butting bulls etc. and an earlier one at Mohenjodaro
showing a solar glyph. Some URLs related to laidaries' artefacts:
http://www.hindunet.org/saraswati/khambat/khambat05.htm
http://www.hindunet.org/saraswati/coppersmith/coppersmith1.htm
http://www.hindunet.org/saraswati/smith/blacksmith.htm