11-09-2023, 11:32 AM
(11-09-2023, 10:48 AM)Jaska Wrote: Late Proto-Uralic itself is a bit earlier, but the Uralic expansion only began during the 2nd millennium. When also the knowledge of metallurgy arrived in the region only ca. 2000 BCE, this corresponds the metal words, apparently being a bit later than LPU itself.
Some of the Finnic isoglosses related to metals, forging and smithery are quite clear early Indo-Iranian loans, one way or another. Even if they are not found in other Uralic branches is not very important here imo. There is no way they could have been loaned at vicinity of Baltic sea. Speakers of pre-Finnic (west Uralic) must have brought the words with them, regardless what happened to these words in other branches of Uralic (or even if they never existed in them in first place!).
I'm speaking about words like Seppä ('smith'), Vasara ('hammer'), Takoa ('forge') and even Vaaja ('thunderbolt'). Perhaps also Hopea ('silver'). I'm not venturing into gold/yellow terminology as it's way too fuzzy and confusing even on IE side of things.
These words are not only technical but also religious in sense, mythological and deep rooted in the belief system on skygod-smithgod. This could mean that such a cult was present in your proposed Seima-center (~West Uralic), as considering the nature of entire Seima-Turbino, with weapon sacrificials, it would make lot of sense.
Ps. Thank you for the paper. It does have merit and the image makes lot of sense. Unfortunately most of the information about Koptyaki culture seems to be hidden behind the cryptography method called Cyrillic alphabet, making it difficult to research the topic from archeological perspective.