Tweet
Below is a chronological summary and my rough and general observations based on the moderate amount of research on the topic that I have carried out thus far, and some details are directly pasted from other websites, so I am open to alternative suggestions on some of the points. All time-frames are approximates and are also subject to change as required.
The summary remains uncompleted. I will add more information and time-frames over the coming days, but for the meantime it can serve as a starting point for further discussions.
2,500,000 BC
The last (or current) Ice Age commenced around this time, which gave rise to permanent ice sheets on earth, which have seen glaciers continually moved about, increased in size, decreased in size, etc. The early Pleistocene period coincides with the first appearance of a species resembling humans, the Homo Habilis.
2,000,000 BC
Homo Ergaster is the more sophisticated descendant or relative of Homo Habilis, who co-existed with them for a period of up to 300,000 years. It is their lineage that is said to have fathered Homo Erectus, who migrated into Eurasia not much longer after that and began to disperse. This may or may not be connected to a very primitive form of vocal communication that has been arguably identified by some as a 'language'. Homo Erectus too, co-existed with Homo Habilis and Homo Ergaster in Africa for a period of time.
800,000 BC
Homo Antecessor descended from Homo Ergaster, being the species which entered Europe during this time. Some 200,000 years later, the Homo Heidelbergensis appeared, said to be descended from Homo Antecessor. At some point afterwards, probably another 200,000 years, the Neanderthals evolved from Homo Hiedelbergensis in Europe and western Asia.
200,000 BC
Homo Sapiens evolved in Africa during this period and within 50,000 years they occupied all of Africa. Meanwhile, over the following 20,000 years complete Neanderthal characteristics had appeared.
110,000 BC
The last glacial period within the current Ice Age occured during this time, in the last years of the Pleistocene. At some point after this period, Homo Sapiens begin to migrate out of Africa, and settle in western Asia. Interbreeding between Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens took place over the next 50,000 years, until the Neanderthals disappeared from this region altogether.
50,000 BC
Homo Sapiens continued to spread across Asia, Europe and Australia, reaching territories unexplored until that point, and eventually replacing the last Neanderthal populations in East Asia over the following 20,000 years.
25,000 BC
The last glacial maximum (maximum extent of the ice sheets during the last glacial period) begins, lasting for about 5,000 years. The migration of Homo Sapiens reached the Americas about the same time. During this period the Homo Sapiens or human populations of Europe retreated to refuges in the Balkan and Iberian peninsulas.
10,000 BC
The earth, while still technically in the Ice Age, has been in an interglacial period since the end of the late glacial maximum, which came as a result of warming temperatures in the northern hemisphere. This paved the way for the expansion of human populations after their retreat into areas that offered refuge from the difficult climate. At some stage an Afro-Asiatic linguistic group begins to take form in the Sahara region and Ethiopia, and becomes prevalent in northern Africa and western Asia.
8,000 BC
European populations in the Balkans and Iberia began to re-emerge after an extensive period of isolation. They gradually began to disperse as the glaciers retreated over the next few thousand years, developing farming societies by employing animal husbandry (including milk drinking) as one of the earliest and simplest forms of agriculture. They made little use of crop planting at the beginning due to the difficulties of growing food in cold temperatures. A group of them broke away and created settlements in Anatolia, north of the Afro-Asiatic sphere in western Asia.
6,000 BC
The Neolithic Period had already commenced by this stage, and was distinguished by the cultivation of crops, livestock and the use of pottery. From this sphere of interaction there developed a common tongue based on those previously spoken during and after the retreat from the glaciers, which represents the infant stages of the so-called Proto Indo-European language. Eventually the first common European civilisations appeared in the Balkans, as evidenced by the so-called Dispilio and Vinca cultures, both of which were active on Macedonian territory.
5,500 BC
The genetic change that enabled the people of the Balkans to drink milk without getting sick has been mapped to dairying farmers in a region between the central Balkans and central Europe at this time. The early European cultures began taking a more definitive shape, and about a 1,000 years later, a northward migration occured which spread outward from the Balkans and expanded in all directions. As this took place after milk drinking had begun, it therefore meant that dairy farming was introduced in the rest of Europe for the first time as a result.
4,000 BC
The first proto-states begin to develop in Mesopotamia, India and Egypt, with the latter giving rise to a hieroglyphic script from its Afro-Asiatic roots. Meanwhile, interaction of Proto Indo-European peoples with Proto-Altaic peoples, a warrior society from Asia, was established. The area where this activity intensified has been identified as the so-called Globular Amphora, and was bounded by the Elbe on the west and the Vistula on the east, extending southwards to the middle Dniester and eastwards to reach the Dnieper. This so-called Kurgan Culture originated from this interaction in Eurasia before it was cemented further west. The combination of cultures produced a language that was made up of other Proto European languages and influenced by Ural-Altaic, which may explain certain similarities between Etruscan and Uralic, and coincide with the Villanovan culture, in addition to the appearance of Urnfield cultures and the later Sea Peoples. From this evolved the third movement of PIE peoples after Anatolia and northern Europe, and constituted the most assertive layer of influence until that period, spreading across large swathes of the European continent and Anatolia. The peaceful farming societies of these regions were subjected to a ruthless warrior elite that imposed their culture on them.
Although some assert that Europe does not have an archaeological horizon that corresponds to the cultural and linguistic changes suggested in the Kurgan theory, the movement does, however, coincide with the first divergence from PIE and the formation of the so-called Centum sound changes. This linguistic innovation took place in the western half of Europe, which, at that point, could be distinguished from the original groups in the Balkans and those in Anatolia that had migrated earlier. The Centum group of languages are identified by the merging the palatovelars with the plain velar series. By removing the former none were left to satemise when this reflex came into effect not long afterwards.
3,000 BC
The Satem reflex developed in central-eastern Europe which was centrally located within the confines of PIE living-space after the spread of Kurgan Culture, and diffused outward from there. It competed with Centum in several areas, particularly those which are defined as the greater regions of eastern and western Europe today. Where satemisation did not reach centumisation took place either in different languages, or in a different lexical inventory of the same language, or not at all. This is evident by the linguistic complexities present in PIE, where both Centum and Satem reflexes feature as regional characteristics, contributing to the establishment of distinct languages which continue to interact with and influence each other, sharing elements in grammar, phonology and lexical innovations. At the time Europe was at it's warmest, allowing settlement through the continent to be complete. The Satem group of languages merged the labiovelars with the plain velar series, and the palatovelars became fricatives or affricates. In some phonological conditions depalatalization occurred, yielding what appears to be a Centum reflex in a Satem language.
A specific haplogroup R1a1 defined by the M17 (SNP marker) of the Y chromosome (nomenclature) is associated by some researchers with the Kurgan culture. The haplogroup R1a1 is found in central and western Asia, Pakistan, India, and in Slavic-speaking populations of Eastern Europe, but it is rare in most countries of Western Europe. Furthermore, Lithuanian, a language that belongs to the Balto-Slavic sub-family of languages, preserves the oldest features of the Proto Indo-European language.
2800 BC
Around this time a segment of Afro-Asiatic peoples from Egypt separated from the others to settle on the island of Crete and spread their culture from there. They developed the island and based themselves around the city of Knossos, giving rise to another civilisation, the so-called Minoan, a term coined after the name of an ancient ruler from the area around Knossos. They retained close ties with Egypt through the trade of goods such as ceramics, papyrus, etc, and commonalities in arts and culture, such as their writing systems, which demonstrates that the Linear A script used by the Minoans was modelled on the hieroglyphics of the Egyptians.
2500 BC
By this time an Anatolian branch of PIE languages was defined, as the spread from the Globular Amphora had receeded, reaching areas as far as the Caspian Sea. Those in the Balkans that remained in the original homeland came to be the Paleo-Balkan languages. Interesting to note is that the Globular Amphora area roughly corresponds with the dividing line of the Satem and Centum languages, and the place where the 'Slavic' name is also first used to later identify a specific linguistic group. The Aryan branch of Proto Indo-Europeans migrated into South Asia from the region north of the Caspian Sea, towards the end of the Bronze Age. Their ancient Sanskrit language remains the most conservative of Proto Indo-European languages along with those of the Balto-Slavic sub-family.
1750 BC
An Indo-European people from Anatolia called the Hittites established a kingdom in the north of region. Meanwhile, the Mycenaeans, who developed from the Paleo-Balkan peoples, establish their own civilisation in the south of today’s Greece and begin to import foreign material culture and crafts through interaction with the Minoans. Due to frequent trade, the Mycenaeans begin to acquire knowledge, loanwords, etc and a greater understanding of the Mediterranean region.
The summary remains uncompleted. I will add more information and time-frames over the coming days, but for the meantime it can serve as a starting point for further discussions.
2,500,000 BC
The last (or current) Ice Age commenced around this time, which gave rise to permanent ice sheets on earth, which have seen glaciers continually moved about, increased in size, decreased in size, etc. The early Pleistocene period coincides with the first appearance of a species resembling humans, the Homo Habilis.
2,000,000 BC
Homo Ergaster is the more sophisticated descendant or relative of Homo Habilis, who co-existed with them for a period of up to 300,000 years. It is their lineage that is said to have fathered Homo Erectus, who migrated into Eurasia not much longer after that and began to disperse. This may or may not be connected to a very primitive form of vocal communication that has been arguably identified by some as a 'language'. Homo Erectus too, co-existed with Homo Habilis and Homo Ergaster in Africa for a period of time.
800,000 BC
Homo Antecessor descended from Homo Ergaster, being the species which entered Europe during this time. Some 200,000 years later, the Homo Heidelbergensis appeared, said to be descended from Homo Antecessor. At some point afterwards, probably another 200,000 years, the Neanderthals evolved from Homo Hiedelbergensis in Europe and western Asia.
200,000 BC
Homo Sapiens evolved in Africa during this period and within 50,000 years they occupied all of Africa. Meanwhile, over the following 20,000 years complete Neanderthal characteristics had appeared.
110,000 BC
The last glacial period within the current Ice Age occured during this time, in the last years of the Pleistocene. At some point after this period, Homo Sapiens begin to migrate out of Africa, and settle in western Asia. Interbreeding between Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens took place over the next 50,000 years, until the Neanderthals disappeared from this region altogether.
50,000 BC
Homo Sapiens continued to spread across Asia, Europe and Australia, reaching territories unexplored until that point, and eventually replacing the last Neanderthal populations in East Asia over the following 20,000 years.
25,000 BC
The last glacial maximum (maximum extent of the ice sheets during the last glacial period) begins, lasting for about 5,000 years. The migration of Homo Sapiens reached the Americas about the same time. During this period the Homo Sapiens or human populations of Europe retreated to refuges in the Balkan and Iberian peninsulas.
10,000 BC
The earth, while still technically in the Ice Age, has been in an interglacial period since the end of the late glacial maximum, which came as a result of warming temperatures in the northern hemisphere. This paved the way for the expansion of human populations after their retreat into areas that offered refuge from the difficult climate. At some stage an Afro-Asiatic linguistic group begins to take form in the Sahara region and Ethiopia, and becomes prevalent in northern Africa and western Asia.
8,000 BC
European populations in the Balkans and Iberia began to re-emerge after an extensive period of isolation. They gradually began to disperse as the glaciers retreated over the next few thousand years, developing farming societies by employing animal husbandry (including milk drinking) as one of the earliest and simplest forms of agriculture. They made little use of crop planting at the beginning due to the difficulties of growing food in cold temperatures. A group of them broke away and created settlements in Anatolia, north of the Afro-Asiatic sphere in western Asia.
6,000 BC
The Neolithic Period had already commenced by this stage, and was distinguished by the cultivation of crops, livestock and the use of pottery. From this sphere of interaction there developed a common tongue based on those previously spoken during and after the retreat from the glaciers, which represents the infant stages of the so-called Proto Indo-European language. Eventually the first common European civilisations appeared in the Balkans, as evidenced by the so-called Dispilio and Vinca cultures, both of which were active on Macedonian territory.
5,500 BC
The genetic change that enabled the people of the Balkans to drink milk without getting sick has been mapped to dairying farmers in a region between the central Balkans and central Europe at this time. The early European cultures began taking a more definitive shape, and about a 1,000 years later, a northward migration occured which spread outward from the Balkans and expanded in all directions. As this took place after milk drinking had begun, it therefore meant that dairy farming was introduced in the rest of Europe for the first time as a result.
4,000 BC
The first proto-states begin to develop in Mesopotamia, India and Egypt, with the latter giving rise to a hieroglyphic script from its Afro-Asiatic roots. Meanwhile, interaction of Proto Indo-European peoples with Proto-Altaic peoples, a warrior society from Asia, was established. The area where this activity intensified has been identified as the so-called Globular Amphora, and was bounded by the Elbe on the west and the Vistula on the east, extending southwards to the middle Dniester and eastwards to reach the Dnieper. This so-called Kurgan Culture originated from this interaction in Eurasia before it was cemented further west. The combination of cultures produced a language that was made up of other Proto European languages and influenced by Ural-Altaic, which may explain certain similarities between Etruscan and Uralic, and coincide with the Villanovan culture, in addition to the appearance of Urnfield cultures and the later Sea Peoples. From this evolved the third movement of PIE peoples after Anatolia and northern Europe, and constituted the most assertive layer of influence until that period, spreading across large swathes of the European continent and Anatolia. The peaceful farming societies of these regions were subjected to a ruthless warrior elite that imposed their culture on them.
Although some assert that Europe does not have an archaeological horizon that corresponds to the cultural and linguistic changes suggested in the Kurgan theory, the movement does, however, coincide with the first divergence from PIE and the formation of the so-called Centum sound changes. This linguistic innovation took place in the western half of Europe, which, at that point, could be distinguished from the original groups in the Balkans and those in Anatolia that had migrated earlier. The Centum group of languages are identified by the merging the palatovelars with the plain velar series. By removing the former none were left to satemise when this reflex came into effect not long afterwards.
3,000 BC
The Satem reflex developed in central-eastern Europe which was centrally located within the confines of PIE living-space after the spread of Kurgan Culture, and diffused outward from there. It competed with Centum in several areas, particularly those which are defined as the greater regions of eastern and western Europe today. Where satemisation did not reach centumisation took place either in different languages, or in a different lexical inventory of the same language, or not at all. This is evident by the linguistic complexities present in PIE, where both Centum and Satem reflexes feature as regional characteristics, contributing to the establishment of distinct languages which continue to interact with and influence each other, sharing elements in grammar, phonology and lexical innovations. At the time Europe was at it's warmest, allowing settlement through the continent to be complete. The Satem group of languages merged the labiovelars with the plain velar series, and the palatovelars became fricatives or affricates. In some phonological conditions depalatalization occurred, yielding what appears to be a Centum reflex in a Satem language.
A specific haplogroup R1a1 defined by the M17 (SNP marker) of the Y chromosome (nomenclature) is associated by some researchers with the Kurgan culture. The haplogroup R1a1 is found in central and western Asia, Pakistan, India, and in Slavic-speaking populations of Eastern Europe, but it is rare in most countries of Western Europe. Furthermore, Lithuanian, a language that belongs to the Balto-Slavic sub-family of languages, preserves the oldest features of the Proto Indo-European language.
2800 BC
Around this time a segment of Afro-Asiatic peoples from Egypt separated from the others to settle on the island of Crete and spread their culture from there. They developed the island and based themselves around the city of Knossos, giving rise to another civilisation, the so-called Minoan, a term coined after the name of an ancient ruler from the area around Knossos. They retained close ties with Egypt through the trade of goods such as ceramics, papyrus, etc, and commonalities in arts and culture, such as their writing systems, which demonstrates that the Linear A script used by the Minoans was modelled on the hieroglyphics of the Egyptians.
2500 BC
By this time an Anatolian branch of PIE languages was defined, as the spread from the Globular Amphora had receeded, reaching areas as far as the Caspian Sea. Those in the Balkans that remained in the original homeland came to be the Paleo-Balkan languages. Interesting to note is that the Globular Amphora area roughly corresponds with the dividing line of the Satem and Centum languages, and the place where the 'Slavic' name is also first used to later identify a specific linguistic group. The Aryan branch of Proto Indo-Europeans migrated into South Asia from the region north of the Caspian Sea, towards the end of the Bronze Age. Their ancient Sanskrit language remains the most conservative of Proto Indo-European languages along with those of the Balto-Slavic sub-family.
1750 BC
An Indo-European people from Anatolia called the Hittites established a kingdom in the north of region. Meanwhile, the Mycenaeans, who developed from the Paleo-Balkan peoples, establish their own civilisation in the south of today’s Greece and begin to import foreign material culture and crafts through interaction with the Minoans. Due to frequent trade, the Mycenaeans begin to acquire knowledge, loanwords, etc and a greater understanding of the Mediterranean region.