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Usually ships in 1 business days | | | In this study of language, archeology and culture, Hartwick College anthropology professor Anthony hypothesizes that a proto-Indo-European culture emerged in the Ponto-Caspian steppes 4,000 years ago, speaking an ur-language ancestor to the Romance, German and Slavic family of languages, Sanskrit and modern English. Citing discoveries in the Ukraine, Russia and Kazakhstan made possible only after the fall of the Iron Curtain brought together Soviet and western scientists, Anthony combines evidence from radioactive dating, demographic analysis of migration patterns, linguistic analysis and the study of epics such as the Iliad and the Rig Veda to substantiate his contention. Central to his thesis is the role of the horse, originally domesticated for food and first ridden to manage herds; only later, with the development of the chariot, were they ridden during combat. Anthony provides a comprehensive, in-depth analysis of his subject, complete with a history of relevant research over the past two centuries (including evidence and opinion that counter his own, such as the now-discredited Aryan race hypothesis). A thorough look at the cutting edge of anthropology, Anthony's book is a fascinating look into the origins of modern man.
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| | Product Details | | Author: | David W. Anthony | | Hardcover: | 566 pages | | Publisher: | Princeton University Press | | Publication Date: | November 19, 2007 | | ISBN: | 0691058873 | | Package Length: | 9.4 inches | | Package Width: | 6.2 inches | | Package Height: | 1.7 inches | | Package Weight: | 2.05 pounds | | Average Customer Rating: |  based on 12 reviews |
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1 of 3 found the following review helpful:
 Minutiae overwhelms Aug 29, 2008
This book came highly recommended in a publication I read on a regular basis. I was really disappointed, because it sounded so interesting. There was too much concentration on the minutiae of linguistics, especially for the average reader. It was so tedious that I gave up reading it.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Massive scholarship, generally convincing Aug 17, 2008
In this massively researched book, Anthony brings together hundreds of findings from archaeology and linguistic studies to support his thesis about the origins of Indo-European language and culture. The book is not easy reading for the non-expert; many chapters are dense with information, particularly about archaeological finds associated with particular cultures or horizons. Yet the interdisciplinary approach makes the argument more persuasive.
Anthony occasionally comes up with an intriguing generalization. For example, he notes that Tripolye settlements of 3700 to 3400 B.C. were the biggest human settlements in the world; instead of evolving into cities, they were abruptly abandoned. His commentary on the psychological essence of language expansion is fascinating. As others have observed, the book is well illustrated with frequent maps and images of artifacts.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
Excellent Work! Aug 01, 2008
Anthony makes a compelling case for the location of the Indo-European homeland, tracks the probable course of Proto-Indo European (PIE) and its daughter languages' expansion, and convincingly argues that PIE speakers domesticated the horse and invented the spoke-wheeled chariot. Anthony asserts he powerful cultural complex that they developed around their herding lifestyle helped expand the range of PIE and its daughter languages -- at one point likening the lifestyle changes engendered by herding combined with wagon and chariot-driving to the similar lifestyle revolution in twentieth-century America brought on by the proliferation of automobiles and the Interstate highway system.
Anthony uses evidence from archaeolinguistics, from oft-overlooked Russian steppe archaology, and his (and his wife's) own pioneering work on bit-wear markings in ancient horse teeth to make his case. He cites Native American linguistics and archaeology to help bolster his case when appropriate, along with the well-studied history of British colonization of North America -- and does so quite convincingly.
Anthony writes in a learned, but accessible style with an occasional witticism to keep the text from being overly-dry. Perhaps my only criticism would be his neglecting to compare the spread of Indo-European with that of the Turkic languages across Eurasia -- which was also accomplished wih stunning celerity (in historical terms), and also caused enormous cultural shifts which are still visible today. Perhaps he could do so in the second edition!
5 of 5 found the following review helpful:
The Horse, the Wheel, and Language Jul 30, 2008
Well, I do have a doctorate in linguistics and do have a background in reconstructing Proto-In do-European, the mother language to most European languages as well as Farsi, spoken in Iran, and several languages in India and Pakistan. The author of this book is an archaeologist who is competent as well in historical linguistics. I found the book fascinating, thoughtful, terrifically well researched and well-written, although it rather went on and on about burial sites, and the names for the motley prehistoric cultures got confusing. I suspect that non-scholars would find this daunting. Even scholars who aren't in the thick of archaelogical disputes might find it too technical and nit-picking. I solved the problem once I realized you could skip over the myriad descriptions of kurgans and pottery, and just go to his conclusions at the end of the chapter, occasionally skipping backwards to check on an assertion or two. Since I've just retired from teaching, I'm truly sorry I won't have a class to share some of Anthony's insights with, such as his convincing explanation of why Proto-Indo-Europrean developed gender marking on nouns -- and why it introduced patriarchal gods to replace older goddess religions. In sum, for the intellectually curious and the brave, a very enlightening and (dare I use the cliche) thought-provoking tome.
2 of 5 found the following review helpful:
Well worth reading, but not worth reading ALL Jun 22, 2008
This book is sort of rare for me, who generally reads items cover to cover. Some chapters of it were a complete treat, such as the summary of the methods of comparative linguistics. Other chapters gave you a wonderful feel for the methods scientists use to explore our past, but were far too detailed to be read in full unless you are actually a graduate student in the field.
Loved it - but didn't read it all.
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