In Search of the Indo-Europeans: Language, Archaeology and Myth

What image do the Indo-Europeans conjure up? For many, it’s one of horseriding warriors sweeping out of Asia, spreading their languages and culture with each clash of the sword. Certainly, linguistic history shows that most of the peoples of Europe, Iran and India share a common ancient language known today as Proto-Indo-European. Celts, Germans, Italians, Greeks, Albanians, Slavs, Indians and many peoples long extinct can all have their linguistic ancestry traced back to this mother tongue. But how far does the story told by languages match the historical and archaeological record? What do we know about the lives and beliefs of these early Indo-Europeans? And where was their original homeland?

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. Then he puts the case for their most likely homeland and presents the archaeological and linguistic evidence for their expansion across Europe and Asia, a process that has in recent times carried Indo-European speakers to every corner of the world.

Accompanied by extensive quotations from translated texts and fully illustrated with maps, diagrams and photographs, In Search of the Indo-Europeans is recognized as the standard work in its field.