Journal
SCIENCE
Volume 337, Issue 6097, Pages 957-960Publisher
AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1126/science.1219669
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Funding
- National Evolutionary Synthesis Center (NESCent) NSF [EF-0423641]
- Marsden Fund
- Rutherford Discovery Fellowships
- NIH [R01 GM086887, R01 HG006139]
- European Union [278433-PREDEMICS]
- European Research Council (ERC) [260864]
- Direct For Social, Behav & Economic Scie [1052910] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
- Division Of Behavioral and Cognitive Sci [1052910] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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There are two competing hypotheses for the origin of the Indo-European language family. The conventional view places the homeland in the Pontic steppes about 6000 years ago. An alternative hypothesis claims that the languages spread from Anatolia with the expansion of farming 8000 to 9500 years ago. We used Bayesian phylogeographic approaches, together with basic vocabulary data from 103 ancient and contemporary Indo-European languages, to explicitly model the expansion of the family and test these hypotheses. We found decisive support for an Anatolian origin over a steppe origin. Both the inferred timing and root location of the Indo-European language trees fit with an agricultural expansion from Anatolia beginning 8000 to 9500 years ago. These results highlight the critical role that phylogeographic inference can play in resolving debates about human prehistory.
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