The ancient history is complex, the evidence is scarce and subject to heavy interpretation. There are a few facts though that are widely accepted as true. For example, everybody seems to agree that modern humans exited from Africa around 50,000 years ago, spread around the globe and continued moving all the time. Sometimes a big number of people from one region was forced (by droughts or another good reason) to move to another area. The first Americans, for example, came from Siberia and formed the Indian nations. Then, quite recently, both Americas were overrun by people from other continents seeking a better life.
Similarly, a big migration from the steppes north of the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea swept Europe and Asia in the period between 4,000 b.c. and 1,000 b.c. Because of the need to move along the steppes all the time, they were the first to domesticate a horse and to invent a wheeled wagon.
This turned to be a big advantage when they moved into already populated areas of Europe, Anatolia, and India. A wave of this migration is known as Indo-Aryans (referred also as aryā, “noble”), who brought with them the language. One of the main authors of this theory David W. Anthony even captured it in the title of his book The Horse, the Wheel and Language. It is a fascinating read, albeit quite academic, thick with facts and references.
This new theory contradicts the previous ones that describe similar migration in the opposite direction – from Anatolia to Europe and from India to the steppes north of the Black Sea. But I prefer David Anthony’s point of view because it places the origin of Indo-Europeans into the area where I used to live. 🙂
Well, when I told about this theory to my co-workers, two of them – both from India – told me they are sure that the migration happened in the opposite direction – from India. I wonder why they insist that the new theory is wrong…
Interesting (and helpful!) fact.
Stepping into the limelight is not easy for most of us, especially for those not used to speak in public. Here is a technique used by the auctioneers at Christie’s: clench your buttocks as hard as you can. It helps to stop hands from shaking.
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