--- Alexander Stolbov <
astolbov@...> wrote:
> > GK: How would this deal with the
> difficulties
> > Mallory mentions about establishing direct
> cultural
> > links between Yamna(ya) and Corded Ware? Cf. his
> > discussion on pages 243-257 of "In Search of the
> > Indo-Europeans"? I'll think about this some
> more.
>
>
>(AS) Unfortunately, I don't have this book on hand
now.
> Could you please list the main theses.
>
> Alexander
******GK: Mallory writes (p.246):
"there is no real case for an expansion of Yamnaya
invaders across the North European plain, producing
the Corded Ware horizon. Intrusive steppe burials such
as we have encountered in SE Europe are generally
absent from the Corded Ware region.../ There is no
reason whatsoever to associate the Corded ware
populations, themselves quite heterogeneous, with the
physical type which we encounter on the Pontic-Caspian
steppe."
He then mentions what critics have taken to be
important differences in the burial practices of
Yamnaya and Corded Ware (pp. 246-247): In CW we have
amphorae, beakers, battle-axes, and uniformity of
burial posture. In Yamnaya we have egg-shaped pottery,
hammer-head pins, ochre, and a variety of postures.
Mallory mentions archaeologist Miroslav Buchvaldek,
who has made a special study of the "common CW
elements" discernible from the Netherlands to Ukraine.
Buchvaldek contends that while the most significant
influence is definitely "steppe", there are also
visible elements contributed by the Trypilia, Funnel
Beaker, and Globular Amphorae cultures. "Buchvaldek
opts for a migration or infiltration of small human
groups from some reason where all of these cultural
influences or components may have come together. The
actual location is uncertain and Buchvaldek expressly
admits that it is on the basis of both 'intuition and
hope' that he believes a home for the "A" horizon [GK:
i.e.the "common CW elements" mentioned above] may be
found in the poorly known region between the Vistula
and the Dnieper".(p. 249)
On p. 254, Mallory concludes:
"the archaeological evidence advanced for the origins
of the Corded ware horizon has, so far, failed to make
a thoroughly convincing case for population movements
or intrusions, the minimum requirement of our search
for the trajectory of the earliest Indo-Europeans. In
our evaluation of the archaeological evidence we are
tied procedurally to assume local development unless
demonstrated otherwise, and the case for intrusion
simply is not strong enough. There is no question that
a number of notable and quite knowledgeable
archaeologists support the concept of some form of
genetic relationship between the steppe and the Corded
ware horizon -- either by simple intrusion or by some
complex system of assimilation and convergence within
the forest-steppe zone betwen the Dnieper and Vistula.
They provide us with enough evidence to charge, but
not enough to convict."
Postscript:
The problem with Mallory's analysis is that he was
apparently unaware of the existence of the early
western CW groups I have mentioned. If one merely
compares Serednodniprovska, Fatyanovo, Stzhyzhov etc.
to Yamna(ya) and holds that CW as a whole emerges
after both Globular Amphorae and Yamna(ya) (as Mallory
does on p. 243-4, 246) then his cautious conclusions
are plausible enough. But if one realizes that the
early phase of Volynian, Upper Dnister, and Podolian
CW long antedate the emergence of Serednodniprovska
and is also prior to Yamna(ya), then Buchvaldek's
scenario (I haven't read his articles yet!!) takes a
huge leap forward as to probability, at least with
respect to the historical constitution of his "common
CW horizon". For the early CW of the Polish-Ukrainian
borderland is located precisely where one may expect
the convergences of the various influences Buchvaldek
has mentioned. The Funnel Beaker and Late Trypilia
contacts I haver already mentioned. In a subsequent
phase, there are clear contacts with Globular
Amphorae. And after the disappearance of the latter,
the early Serednodniprovska appears SW of Kyiv. The
time frame for the constitution of Buchvaldek's
"common CW horizon" would thus be ca. 3800-3300 BC,
The manner of its expansion is open for discussion
(infiltration? imitation? both?)
>
>
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