--- In nostratic@..., "jdcroft" <jdcroft@...> wrote:

> Alexander wrote
>

For those of you reading this message from the web at
groups.yahoo.com, the diagram I sent out comes out as gobblegook. To
see the links I have proposed hit reply and it restores the diagram
as drawn.

Regards

John

> > 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.
>
> I tend to find bows and microliths part of a "cluster" of Mesolithic
> features which spread out of Africa associated with Flannery's

"Broad

> Spectrum Revolution". After 20,000 BP this saw a predominant
> hunting-gathering way of life with an increased utilization of
> labour intensive small game, waterfowl, fish, wild cereals, etc. We
> see the first appearance of some of the preadaptations to

cultivation:

> grinding tools, storage pits, and greater food security when faced
> with microclimatic fluctuations. Coming out of Africa we find the
> appearance of microliths, bow and arrow and grinding stones for

seeds,

> with the use of storage pits. In the Middle East (particularly
> Zarzian culture), the dog was added to this assemblage, allowing the
> rapid expansion which we see in the Nostratic. The key feature of
> this change was adaptiveness to local environmental conditions. As
> they moved northwards, canoes, nets, snow-shoes, and skis were added
> to their technological repertoire.
>
> > Transition to farming was just an episode, not very principle one,
> > and occurred independently in different Nostratic groups, if I
> > understand you correctly.
>
> Yes
>
> > 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.
>
> Alexander, this is a little unfair. Archaeologically speaking
> agriculture only began in the Middle East roughly 8,500 BCE, and
> tended to spread in an East-West direction before spreading
> North-South (See Jarred Diamond's "Guns, Germs and Steel: a history

of

> the last 13,000 years" for an explanation as to why.)
>
> Agriculture only arrived in Central Asia half way through the period
> of the Keltiminar culture, which also pioneered earlier the Broad
> Spectrum changes mentioned above.
>
> In actual fact we do find some clear "chains" showing a phylogenic
> tree of Mesolithic (pre-agricultural) cultures as follows
>
> eg. Out of Africa
> Halfian
> (Egyptian Oranian)
> 24-17,000
> ||
> \/
> Natufian<=======Kebaran ========> Zarzian
> 10,500 18-10,500 12,4-8,700
> -8,500 BCE BCE BCE ======>Kobystan &
> || \\ || || M'lefatian
> || \\ || || ||
> \/ \\ \/ \/ ||
> Harifian/\\ Belbasi Zawi Chemi \/
> Prepottery\\ Culture Shanadar =====> Ali Tappah
> Neolithic \\ (Anatolian) 8,7-8,500 10,5-9,000
> A&B(farming)\\ 13-10,000 || ||
> 8,5-6,200 \\| || \\| \/ ||
> || --' \/ --' Jarmo \/
> || Beldibi==>Franchthi (farming) Jeitun
> \/ Culture Cave 8,500 9-5,000
> Amuq 10-8,500 (Greece) // \\
> Pottery || 9,800-5,794 |// \\
> X \/ || \\ '-- \\|
> Munhata Hacilar || \\ Belt Cave --'
> Culture (farming) || \\| (Caspian) Hissar
> (Semitic) 8,500 \/ --' (farming) (Altai)
> 6,-5,600 Sesklo Danubian 6-4,000
> || (farming) Gorge Culture ||
> || 6,5-1,500 || ||
> \/ \/ \/
> Ghassulian Grebenki <========Murzak Koba Keltiminar
> Culture Culture Culture (Cent Asia)
> 5,6-4,500 7-5,500 /(steppe- 5,5-3,500
> // // forest zone) ||
> // // 9,1-8,000 \\ ||
> // |// \\ ||
> |// '-- \\| ||
> '-- Volga/Ob/Lena --' \/
> Dneipr-Bug/ Mesolithic Altaic Languages
> Dnesitr-Donetz Cultures ========>(hunter-herders)
> (Pre PIE) (Pre Proto
> || Uralic/Yukaghir)
> \/
> (farming)
> (PIE)
>
> > 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.
>
> Regarding Elamo-Dravidian and Sumerian, they split from the diagram
> (above) between the Zarzian and the Zawi Chemi Shanidar phase, with
> the movement of mesolithic technologies down the Zagros and into
> southern Iran (Elamo Dravidian), and across Southern Iraq and the
> Arabian Persian Gulf (Sumerian). Kartvellian seems to have

developed

> from the Kobystan culture, a Zarzian derivative found in the

Caucasas.

>
> This is about the best I can manage Alexander.
>
> Regards
>
> John