The origin of the Indo-European language family has been an enigma that has intrigued linguists, historians, and archaeologists for centuries. Despite multiple studies conducted since the 19th century, numerous mysteries about the expansion of these languages and the peoples who spoke them still persist. However, a new study led by Ron Pinhasi of the University of Vienna, in collaboration with David Reich’s ancient DNA laboratory at Harvard University, has shed light on this issue.
This study, recently published in the journal Nature, analyzes the ancient DNA of 435 individuals from archaeological sites across Eurasia, dating between 6400 and 2000 BCE.
One of the most significant findings of this research is the identification of a previously unknown population, designated as the Caucasus-Lower Volga group (CLV, in English). This population appears to be linked to all communities that spoke Indo-European languages, thus providing a fundamental piece in reconstructing the puzzle of their origin and expansion.
The Indo-European languages form a linguistic family that encompasses more than 400 languages, including major groups such as the Germanic, Romance, Slavic, Indo-Iranian, and Celtic languages. These languages derive from Proto-Indo-European (PIE), an ancestral language whose reconstruction has been the subject of study for generations.
Although it has long been recognized that the Yamnaya culture, originating in the Pontic-Caspian steppe, played a key role in the diffusion of Indo-European languages, new findings have provided a more nuanced understanding of the origins of this culture and its links to other populations.
The study confirms that the expansion of the Yamnaya culture, which took place around 3100 BCE, had a profound impact on the genetics of European and Central Asian populations. However, the great mystery that remained unresolved until now was the origin of the only Indo-European branch that did not show genetic traces of Yamnaya migration: the Anatolian languages, among which Hittite stands out as one of the oldest documented languages within the Indo-European family.
The study argues that the Anatolian languages originated from a community that had not been adequately characterized in previous research: the Eneolithic population that inhabited the Caucasus Mountains and the Lower Volga between 4500 and 3500 BCE.
By analyzing the DNA of individuals from Anatolia predating and contemporaneous with the Hittite period, researchers identified the presence of CLV ancestry, suggesting that this population was responsible for transmitting the Proto-Indo-European language to Anatolia without direct Yamnaya influence.
The results of this research indicate that the Yamnaya culture derived approximately 80% of its genetic ancestry from the CLV group. Additionally, at least 10% of the genetic ancestry of Bronze Age Anatolians, who spoke Hittite, is linked to the same group.
This reinforces the hypothesis that Proto-Indo-European, in its early phase known as Proto-Indo-Anatolian, developed within this community before diversifying into the various linguistic branches we recognize today.
Ron Pinhasi and his team assert that the discovery of the CLV group represents a turning point in the study of Indo-European origins. This community, located in the region between the Caucasus and the Lower Volga, played a crucial role in transmitting the language that would later split into the diverse Indo-European tongues.
Thus, the findings of this research significantly contribute to reconstructing the linguistic and genetic history of Europe and Asia, offering an answer to one of the greatest enigmas of prehistory.
SOURCES
Lazaridis, I., Patterson, N., Anthony, D. et al. The genetic origin of the Indo-Europeans. Nature (2025). doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-08531-5
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