05-11-2024, 05:32 PM
having read up a bit more on the more up to date archaeological papers on Turkey c.4500-2500BC, I still think it’s far more likely the Anatolian’s came via the Balkans. There seems to river systems that could take pastoralists very quickly from east Thrace towards the area of Ankara and central Anatolia. The east of Turkey adjacent to the south Caucasus was flooded by non IE Kura-Araces peoples. I also doubt the alternitive idea that Anatolian IEs came from the steppe by bypassing the Caucuses mountains by migrating along the black sea east coast to Anatolia because the black sea coast of the south/west Caucasus and pretty well all the black sea coast of Anatolia was a dense and deep band of forest. Not at all ideal for steppe pastoralists.
They may well partly descend from pre Yamnaya Sredny Stog pastoralists but I reckon the route bis east Thrace is much more likely and they have fuund apparently north Balkans linked kurgan in east Thrace which date to about 3200BC which is prior to the Yamnaya invasion of old Europe. So imo the Anatolians and their language likely was located in the Balkans after early pre yamnaya migration from the steppes there and had reached turkish thrace by 3300-3200BC.
They may well partly descend from pre Yamnaya Sredny Stog pastoralists but I reckon the route bis east Thrace is much more likely and they have fuund apparently north Balkans linked kurgan in east Thrace which date to about 3200BC which is prior to the Yamnaya invasion of old Europe. So imo the Anatolians and their language likely was located in the Balkans after early pre yamnaya migration from the steppes there and had reached turkish thrace by 3300-3200BC.