In Search of the Indo-Europeans by J. P. Mallory (PDF)

Description

An archaeological and linguistic monograph on the origins and expansion of the Indo-European

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: From the Back Cover With the skill of a forensic scientist, Dr. Mallory traces the immediate origins of each of the Indo-European peoples of Europe and Asia. By comparing their languages he demonstrates their common cultural heritage, and through the technique of comparative mythology he examines their earliest beliefs. About the Author J.P. Mallory is an Irish-American archaeologist, a world expert on ancient linguistics, and Emeritus Professor at Queen’s University Belfast. He is the author of In Search of the Indo-Europeans, and coauthor of The Tarim Mummies. He lives in Belfast.

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐In Search of the Indo-Europeans is a cutting edge, academic thesis about the origins and homelands of the ever elusive Indo-Europeans – a collective of peoples who swarmed out of the Euro-Asian steppes sometime between the third and fourth millennial BC and ultimately took over most of the European continent and left us with all the modern-day languages now spoken in Europe and America. This is a well-researched book using philology, linguistics, archaeology, anthropology, and cultural studies to draw conclusions on several fronts, namely the homeland of the Indo-Europeans and their pathway into the many parts of Europe. Who are the Indo-Europeans and where did they come from? Most people of European descent carry their genes and speak a form of their ancient language. Understanding this classification of people, languages, and cultures is pivotal for understanding the early history of the peopling of Europe and how the people of Europe became who they are today. The book is heavily laden with academic research but is relatively easy to read. It presents an enormous amount of research while posing questions in search of answers. Some questions are reasonably answered, others are still pending a definitive answer. This book is a classic in the making. It is not untimely as still many of the questions posed by Mallory are left unanswered. It is a good starting point for understanding a very complex and elusive subject.The Indo-Europeans represented a pre-Bronze Age, warrior culture of intruding pastoralists who buried their dead under tumuli and assimilated with or dominated the earlier European agricultural peoples from the earlier Neolithic Period. They domesticated the horse and invented the wagon, which facilitated their mobile lifestyle and herding economy. The exact location of their original homeland has not been settled, but it is presumed to be on the steppes of Russia somewhere between the Pontic and Caspian Sea. These people moved westward out of the Euro-Asian steppes and spread across Europe until their languages and culture became dominant. They are the forefathers of the Greeks, Celts, Germans, Romans, Slavs, to name only a few. Most of the languages of Europe stem from the proto-Indo-Europeans. Despite this, the Indo-Europeans are still a rather elusive people. This book brings some of the latest research to the fore to help us understand and locate their place in history.

⭐Mallory has perhaps written the only book on IE dispersal and archaeology that withstood the test of time. Reason being is the very premise of the book was to act as a type of overview and review of all the theories, and archaeo-linguistic aspects concerning the fabled Proto-Indo-Europeans. Mallory wisely never over-commits to any one theory, rather he simply weighs everything out and ever so slightly leans to the Pontic Caspian Steppe theory but not in full commitment. Clever boy. The result, the book still remains amazingly relevant to this very day and serves as probably the best introductory overview text to a problem that has riddled archaeology and linguistics till this very day.One point deducted for not having up-to-date info concerning the debate, namely all that has emerged concerning aDNA. Granted, its not entirely fair to penalize the text due to this but it is in fact worth to note that there has been break throughs made in this area. You will have to go to the aDNA papers and compare to what Mallory discusses in this book so the text could perhaps benefit from a long over due second edition to address and cover all the latest data.

⭐Linguists define “Indo-European” as a language entity or unity from which all Indo-european languages derived. By analyzing linguistic patterns of change, scholars can “reconstruct” the language and situate it in a time period when it was a unified language. The task is then to provide this abstract language entity with a living group of people and a homeland.The first chapters and the last ones, where the author presents the problem, geographically locates where Indo-Europeans are to be found and where he draws some conclusions, are really good. He lost me a bit in the middle, where the book acquires a “scholarly” taste (by this I do not mean difficult to understand); I mean that the author does not get carried away by his own hypothesis. He explains all the existing ones and then proceeds to present the evidence for and against each, mainly from the linguistic perspective, but also considering evidence from other areas (comparative philology, archeology, comparative mythology, etc.). For each hypothesis, evidence was found that contradicted it and I felt that no matter how many pages I read, we were as far from the “promised homeland” as in the beginning. In the end, no hypothesis is conclusive, but the one in which the contradictions could be “bridged” more easily is pesented as the most probable one. In his conclusion, the author himself kind of apologizes for having lead the reader through a lot of “cul de sacs”. I myself prefer when an author writes more like fiction telling a clear and unified story at the expense of maybe drawing conlusions a bit to far. Then you can still read his opponent’s book to have a more complete picture and enjoy both.All in all, I learnt a lot from this book, for example, how do you analyze nomadic groups from an archeaological perspective if they left no “settlements”? Well, the answer is that they might have left some cemeteries or lonely graves and luckily some “gifts” for the deceased, as well as some ritual places or camps. The maps in the book are very useful.

⭐I gave it this rating because it is the definitive and seminal work on Indo-European:- history, languages, races, migrations ,Archaeology, homelands and Anthropology.Sadly the book is now somewhat dated, although still extremely valid. It is complementary to the book “Ancestral Journeys-The Peopling of Europe”, which is much later and up to date although skimps on linguistics. The two should be read together by all those interested in Anthropology, Ethnicity and Humanities!

⭐A very useful book to understand the indo-european issue. In spite of being ageing, the book provides abundant information, adopting an analytical and critical perspective of the many theories on the subject in a clear and elegant language.

⭐The book is very extensive about Indo-European cultures. I used it for studying the Hittite language and culture.

⭐still relevant and intersting

⭐i was hoping for a more pre historic [much older] representation of cultural linksstill even so it is not a very well represented book.. more like a scientific document on data.. rather than informationand 70% focused on language relations.. rather than any other aspect of culture..

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