Abstract

Today the most reliable linguistic reconstruction of the Indo-European Homeland is that suggested by T.V. Gamkrelidze and VV Ivanov. They localized this Homeland in the Near East. From this region it is possible basing on archaeological materials to demonstrate migrations of bearers of Indo-European dialects to the Balkans, the Caucasus, Iran and Central Asia. Earlier it was considered that possibilities to show distribution of the Indo- Europeans from the Near East to Northern Eurasia are absent. However, this popular among archeologists opinion does not correspond to facts. Many authors suggested Near Eastern connections for individual cultures of this region. However, the purest “Near Eastern” complex here is Sintashta culture in the Southern Urals that had formed a basis for formation of many Bronze Age cultures. Contrary to it, the popular today point of view about migration of steppe cultures to Iran and India is not supported by archaeological materials. In addition to this, character of transferred innovations does not allow to speak about cultural borrowings. These innovations were impossible without essential migratory processes, which determined cultural genesis in Northern Eurasia in antiquity, and resulted in distribution of the Indo-European languages.

Keywords: Indo-European problem; Archaeology; Northern Eurasia; Near East; Migrations

Abbreviations: BMAC: Bactro-Margianan archaeological complex, PIE: Proto-Indo-European