Re: Re[2]: [tied] GLEN AND ANATOLIA IN 7500BC

Steve to Brian:

>Actually, there is clearly demarked evidence in Britain of the significant
>arrivals of different cultural elements from the continent from the
>mesolithic through the iron age and right through the middle ages.

Now you've missed Brian's point too. This has nothing to do with the advent
of Celtic -- Language and culture are not the same and the spreads of
either don't necessarily correlate, as I've said.

>It should be noted that at one time the linguistic theories did fit the
>archaeology, but the archaeological dates and evidence have radically
>changed since then.

There is no longer a complete correlation because we are now less misguided
and tend not to use archaeology as the be-all-and-end-all behind any dates
attributed to a proto-language.

>When we have historical records and evidence of language, of course, the
>archaeology matches up quite well.

Of course, the only problem is that history (the post-neolithic) is
different from the neolithic or the mesolithic on many levels. There was
no empire in 7500 BCE to impose a cultural and linguistic standard like
that of the Romans.

>So the real issue is whether we can recognize when language correlates with
>archaeology and when it does not.

That's the point. We need to use archaeology in combination with other
studies like linguistics to ascertain the truth. You're ignoring the
information yielded by comparative linguists simply because this evidence
is not physical in nature. This is the same erroneous thinking that was
rampant in the past.


- gLeN


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