----- Original Message -----
From: "jdcroft" <jdcroft@...>
To: <nostratic@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, March 30, 2002 7:49 PM
Subject: [nostratic] Re: Problems with Bomhard


> Alexander Stolbov wrote:
> > I met a point of view on microliths and bow&arrows as 2 alternative
> > types of stone industry (N.Bader, 1989 Earliest Cultivators in
> > Northern Mesopotamia): Well studied Mesopotamian sites (Tell
> > Magzaliya, Umm Dabaghia, Tell Hassuna) had a lot of aroowheads and
> > few microliths (no geometric microliths at all).
>
> These sites are far too late. These people had already crossed into
> the Neolithic and Hassuna was a second generation Neolithic culture.
> We are hear talking Zarzian and Kebaran which were about 4,000 years
> earlier, (back to 12,000 BCE).
>
> > Sites to the East from Tiger (Jarmo, Tell Shimshara) show a lot of
> > geometric microliths and no arrowheads at all - they used sling
> > instead of bow.
>
> Yes, there is a clear transition from bow to sling shown at
> Shanidar. But again Jarmo is again about 8,500 BCE which is far too
> late here Alexander.

Yes, the time gap is very large, I must agree.

So you state that the Zarzian and Kebaran cultures had both bows and
microliths as the most advanced features of their way of life (which
provided the widest spreading of numerous Nostratic branches) but later some
of their descendants lost microliths and other denied bows with arrows,
don't you? In other words, bows and/or microliths let the Nostratic people
to win in the competition with other tribes (which had neither bows no
microliths - Palaeolithic hunters?) and to populate a half of the world.
Transition to farming was just an episode, not very principle one, and
occurred independently in different Nostratic groups, if I understand you
correctly.

If so, I expect you to demonstrate:
1- archaeological cultures which can theoretically correspond to ALL
Nostratic families. All this cultures are to exist before the establishment
of farming in Near East (let's say appr. 10000 BC) and to be well
geographically isolated.
2 - any Nostratic linguistic group or subgroup whose members remained
hunter-gatherers. If belonging of the Eskimo-Aleut family to the Nostratic
superfamily were proved, this example would be a good answer to this
question. Please try to find an example among the 6 "classical" Nostratic
families.

Alexander