Hi Glen

You wrote

> Still, John, I find you rely on archaeology a tad too much to
> solve linguistic conundrums.

I always feel you don't consider non-linguistic material enough.
Chaqu'un a son gout.

To my point

> >Rather I see the Afro-Asiatic/Nostratic languages sharing a common
> >origin in the Ateriuan cultures of the Saharan pluvial (30,000
> >BCE), with Nostratic being confined to the Middle East after
> >Kebaran times (15,000 BCE), and diseminiating with Mesolithic
> >cultures from the mountain belt stretching from the Taurus to the
> >Zagros centred in the Zarzian culture 12,000 BCE.
>
> I would think that 30,000 BCE is a steep date for this
> Afro-Asiatic/Nostratic ancestor, even when we assume that Afro-
> Asiatic is not to be considered "Nostratic". I don't think AA is so
> entirely different from other Nostratic languages to warrant this.

I agree, 30,000 BCE is probably too early. My current thinking is
that the ancestral proto-language from which Nostratic and Afro-
Asiatic split was in North Africa from 30,000 BCE onwards. The split
with Nostratic I fee occurred when Kebaran and the Capsian cultures
separated sometime between 20,000 and 15,000 BCE.

Hope this better meets with your approval.

Regards

John