A recent genetic study of ancient populations has revealed details about the origin and expansion of Celtic languages in Europe, an enigma that has intrigued historians and linguists for decades. The research, conducted by an international team of geneticists and archaeologists, challenges traditional theories and suggests that the spread of these languages was closely linked […]
Languages
Posted inStone Age Archaeology
An Eneolithic population that inhabited the Caucasus Mountains and the Lower Volga between 4500 and 3500 BCE was responsible for the diffusion of the Proto-Indo-European language
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 […]
Posted inBronze Age Archaeology, Culture
The Origin of Italo-Celtic and Graeco-Armenian Languages Discovered
A scientific discovery has unveiled one of history’s greatest enigmas: the origin of Italo-Celtic and Graeco-Armenian languages, fundamental pillars of Mediterranean civilizations. An international team of geneticists and archaeologists has reconstructed the migration patterns and cultural blending that gave rise to these significant linguistic families. The research, recently published on the preprint server bioRxiv, sequenced […]
Posted inCulture
Tsakonian Is the Only Current Greek Language That Derives from the One Spoken by the Spartans
Although it is officially considered a dialect, Tsakonian is a divergent variety of Greek frequently classified as a separate language, as it is not intelligible to speakers of standard Modern Greek. Today, it is spoken in a small mountainous area in the interior of the eastern coast of the Peloponnesian peninsula, in the Argolic Gulf, […]
Posted inBronze Age Archaeology
An ancient inscription from the Late Bronze Age in an unknown language found in Georgia in the Caucasus
Recent archaeological excavations have uncovered a basalt tablet with inscriptions in an unknown language near Lake Bashplemi, in the Dmanisi region of Georgia. The discovery is significant not only because of the rarity of the material found but also because it could reveal unknown aspects of the ancient civilizations that inhabited the Caucasus. The finding, […]
Posted inIron Age Archaeology
Hieroglyph meaning “city” in the Luwian language spoken in Anatolia until the 7th century B.C. deciphered
A research team led by Petra M. Goedegebuure from the University of Chicago has presented a groundbreaking study on the word used for “city” in the Luwian language, spoken in ancient Anatolia. This research, published in the academic journal Anatolian Studies, offers not only a detailed linguistic analysis of the word in question but also […]
Posted inBronze Age Archaeology, Culture
Scientists Challenge the Kurgan Hypothesis: Horse Domestication Not Linked to Indo-European Language Spread
Riding a horse is a physical challenge that can be tough on the body. But can it actually change your skeleton? Archaeologists from the University of Colorado Boulder set out to explore this question and uncovered some surprising results. In a recent study, they examined evidence from medical studies of modern riders and ancient human […]
Posted inAntiquity
Astures: A Non-Indo-European People in Northern Spain?
Professor Xaverio Ballester from the University of Valencia proposed an intriguing hypothesis in 2002: that the ancient Astures, inhabitants of what is now mainly Asturias and León in northern Spain, might have had a non-Indo-European origin, related to the Iberian and Aquitanian peoples of the Pyrenean region. This proposal challenges the traditional view that considers […]
Posted inIron Age Archaeology
A Paleo-Hispanic Alphabet Found on the Slate Tablet from the Casas del Turuñuelo Site
Researchers from the Institute of Archaeology of Mérida (IAM), a joint center of the CSIC and the Junta of Extremadura, are studying a series of signs inscribed on the slate tablet from the Tartessian site of Casas del Turuñuelo (Guareña, Badajoz) which discovery was announced last week, and according to initial interpretations, it appears to […]
Posted inHistory
How Archaeologists Discovered the First Diplomatic Treatises, Written in a Previously Unknown Language
In 1964, a team of archaeologists from the University of Rome La Sapienza, led by Paolo Matthiae, began excavating at Tell Mardikh, a site located 55 kilometers southeast of Aleppo, Syria. Their goal was to demonstrate that Syria had hosted its own cultures in ancient times. Over the years, the discoveries accumulated: ancient palaces, statues, […]
