Indo-European

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Indo-European is a collective name for cultures speaking related languages, being of related traditional religions and sharing a similar geographical origin. A patriarchal system and patrilineal inheritance, along with other cultural similarities, appear to be fundamental to the general scope. Hypothetically, these cultures arose from the expansion of an ancient people, the Proto-Indo-Europeans, c. 4000 B.C., somewhere around the Black Sea region. (See Indo-European religion and Indo-European languages)

Their existence has been supported by extensive research in comparative linguistics, by scholars such as Ferdinand de Saussure, in religious studies by scholars such as Georges Dumézil, and in philosophical studies by Friedrich Nietzsche. The reconstructed Proto-Indo-European language (PIE) is hypothesized to have been the common language of the Proto-Indo-Europeans.

There have been many attempts to claim that particular prehistorical cultures can be identified with the PIE-speaking peoples, but all have been speculative. This is because there are no written records of PIE, so the only way to identify an actual people with the language is to match the archeological remains of non-literate peoples to the supposed prehistory of known languages. This depends on reconstructing the early language, and identifying concepts in it that may be associated with particular cultures (such as the use of metals, agriculture or pastoralism, geographically distinctive plants and animals, etc).

Marija Gimbutas maintains a traditional and more widely accepted theory (the Kurgan hypothesis, see Kurgan) in which the Indo-Europeans were a nomadic tribe in southern Russia and expanded on horseback. Their expansion coincided with the taming of the horse. Colin Renfrew is the main propagator for a less accepted hypothesis in which the Indo-Europeans were farmers in Asia Minor who expanded peacefully.

The Proto-Indo-Europeans were exploited for political means by the Nazi Party (see Aryan race). Mainly for political reasons, their very existence is also questioned by scholars who maintain that their own culture and language have always been present in the area (see Indus valley civilisation, Vedic civilization, Aryan, and Aryan invasion theory) (cf. the controversy about the Rus' (people)).

See also: Battle-axe people

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