The Neolithic Hypothesis

[JoatSimeon at aol.com]

>mcv at wxs.nl writes:

>So how does tis contradict my initial statement that Vedic and Avestan
>"feel" somewhere in the 500-1500 year range? >>

-- well, if proto-Indo-Iranian unity is around 2000 BCE, and our attested
Vedic and Avestan (the Gathas, the oldest layer) are somewhat prior to 1000
BCE, then the range would be 400-800, not 500-1500.  That fits with the
archaeological data, too.

And, of course, the languages remained in contact through a continuous arc
running from the Zagros to the Ganges.  (The ancient Persians didn't call
themselves Iranians, after all; they and the IE-speaking inhabitants of India
used the same ethnonym.)

One would like to know how peculiarly Indo-Aryan the words in Mitannian are;
but there we have the problem that they're loanwords in another language and
written in an awkward syllabic script that blurs details.