IE and Substrates and Time

[Peter &/or Graham]

I accept Ross's comment about the difference in time scale between Polynesia
and Melanesia (Ross says about 2,000 and 40,000 years respectively).

However, if PIE is roughly 4500 - 2500, and the attested languages appear
from roughly 1500, we do seem to be more in the "ballpark" of Polynesia than
Melanesia, so a comparison with the degree of differentiation in New Guinea
may still be misleading.

Peter