Ethnolinguistic Prehistory: The Peopling of the World from the Perspective of Language, Genes and Material Culture

414 Pages·2021·5.573 MB·

by  George L. van Driem

EthnolinguisticPrehistory
Brill’s
Tibetan Studies
Library
Editedby
HenkBlezer
AlexMcKay
CharlesRamble
Languages of the Greater
Himalayan Region
Editedby
GeorgeL.vanDriem
volume 26
Thetitlespublishedinthisseriesarelistedatbrill.com/btsl
Ethnolinguistic Prehistory
ThePeoplingof theWorldfromthePerspectiveof
Language,GenesandMaterialCulture
By
GeorgevanDriem
leiden | boston
Coverillustration:Forcenturies,Mt.EveresthasbeenknownasLángkúrགླང་གུར་[lāŋkūr]‘tentoftheox’or,
morereverently,asChòmólángmáཇོ་མོ་གླང་མ་[ʨʰo̱mōlāŋmā]‘grandmistressthefemaleox’,aswrittenherein
RomanTibetan,nativeTibetanscriptandphoneticnotationrespectively.RomanTibetanisanew
phonologicaltranscriptionwhichphonemicallyrepresentsspokenTibetaninRomanscript,comparableto
RomanDzongkhaandRomanDrenjongke.In1849,themountainwasfirstsightedbysurveyorsoftheGreat
TrigonometricalSurveyofIndia.Threeyearslater,in1852,RādhānāthSikdārandMichaelHennessy
measuredtheheightofthemountaintobe8,848metres,conductingtheirmeasurementswhilststanding
onEastIndiaCompanyterritoryjustoutsideoftheKingdomofNepal.In1865,themountainwasnamed
afterSirGeorgeEverest,headoftheTrigonometricalSurvey.TheNepalinameSagarmāthāसगरमाथाwas
coinedinthe1930sbyBāburāmĀcārya.TheolderNepalinamefortheentiremassif,Mahālaṅgurमहालङ्गुर,
containstheTibetannameforthemountain,onceinuseamongstspeakersofNepalitoo.Tibetanslong
knewthatLángkúrགླང་གུར་[lāŋkūr]wasthetallestmountainintheworldorthemonsomniumaltissimus,as
recordedbyAthanasiusKircher(1667:65–66,fold-outmapbetweenpp.46–47),basedonthefirst-hand
reportsofJesuitswhotravelledthroughtheEverestregionfrom1661to1662ontheirwayfromTibetto
Kathmandu.ThisphotographoftheEverestmassif,takenbytheauthoronaflightfromKathmanduto
Paro,isemblematicoftheHimalayanperspectiveadoptedinthisbook.Nepalappearsintheforeground,
andTibetstretchesouttothehorizonbehindtheEverestmassif.
TheLibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationDataisavailableonlineathttp://catalog.loc.gov
lcrecordavailableathttp://lccn.loc.gov/2021008225
TypefacefortheLatin,Greek,andCyrillicscripts:“Brill”.Seeanddownload:brill.com/brill‑typeface.
issn1568-6183
isbn978-90-04-44836-0(hardback)
isbn978-90-04-44837-7(e-book)
Copyright2021byGeorgevanDriem.PublishedbyKoninklijkeBrillnv,Leiden,TheNetherlands.
KoninklijkeBrillnvincorporatestheimprintsBrill,BrillHes&DeGraaf,BrillNijhoff,BrillRodopi,
BrillSense,HoteiPublishing,mentisVerlag,VerlagFerdinandSchöninghandWilhelmFinkVerlag.
KoninklijkeBrillnvreservestherighttoprotectthispublicationagainstunauthorizeduse.Requestsfor
re-useand/ortranslationsmustbeaddressedtoKoninklijkeBrillnvviabrill.comorcopyright.com.
Thisbookisprintedonacid-freepaperandproducedinasustainablemanner.
Contents
Preface ix
ListofFigures x
part 1
HistoricalContextsinWhichWeLive
1 PrehistoryandthePresent
CrossingNationalandMythicalBoundaries 3
1 EuropeanIdentities 3
2 ATabletofUnusualComposition 7
3 APieterskerkSkullMigratestoSwitzerland 14
4 MigrationandPopulationReplacementinPrehistoricEurope 21
2 EvolvingScientificViewsofOurOrigins
AsOpposedtoPoliticalProjectionsuponthePrehistoricPast 26
1 RecentHistoryCanDistortOurPerceptionofPrehistory 26
2 IndigenisminIndia 28
3 TheAryanInvasionandtheAncientIndianFatherland 32
4 ColonialExpansionoutofIndiaandintoIndia 38
5 TheZealof JihādandReconquistaAreBroughttothe
Subcontinent 43
6 TheContinuingSagaofColonialism 47
3 AFascinationwithPhenotypicalDiversity
TheManifoldWaysinWhichWeHumansCanLookBeautiful 56
1 TheRiseofRace 56
2 EnchantedbyHumanPhenotypicalDiversity 61
3 TheSlipperySlopefromPhysicalAnthropologytoRacism 66
4 AMolecularUnderstandingofHeredityandtheFallacyofRace 68
5 TheTenacityofObsoleteLabelsandtheRiseofNewFictions 70
6 EndogamyandExclusionvs.ConquestandÉliteDominance 75
7 DecolonisingEastAsianPrehistory 81
4 ChinoiserieOldandNew
LanguageTypologywithandwithoutRacialPrejudice 85
1 SpellboundbyLanguageTypology 85
2 RacistLinguisticTypologyvs.LinguisticRelativity 92
vi contents
3 ExOccidenteLux 95
4 TheCreoloidOriginsofChinese 100
5 AsianNegritoPopulationsandtheBirthofLexicostatistics 105
6 LexicostatisticsundertheNovelGuiseof‘Phylolinguistics’ 108
part 2
EpisodesofOurSharedPrehistory
5 BeyondtheLinguisticEventHorizon
Thesub-HimalayanHillTractsandAdjacentPlainsServeasa
Conduit 117
1 TheRapaciousSpecies 117
2 TheColonisationofEurasia 122
3 MixingwiththeNeighbours 125
4 WalkingtheDogsBacktoAfrica 132
5 LongLostCousins 134
6 EastwardthroughtheClementClimaticCorridor 137
7 YetAnotherWaveWashesthroughtheSubcontinent 141
8 HumanPaternalLineagesasMolecularTracers 149
9 PaternalStarburstintheSubcontinent 154
10 SubsequentSouthAsianY-ChromosomalStarbursts 159
6 HoloceneDispersals
GeneticCorrelatesofMajorLinguisticPhylainEasternEurasia 166
1 FromtheHimalayanHeartlandtoHyperborea 166
2 Austro-TaiComprisesAustronesianandKradai 169
3 OlderLayersofPeoplingShinethrough 177
4 Austroasiaticandpara-Austroasiatic 183
5 Trans-HimalayanandYangtzean 191
7 FromIndiatoEuropeandBack
FromtheHolocenetotheBeginningsofRecordedHistory 200
1 Dene-KusundaandbeyondBeringia 200
2 BurushaskiandIndo-European 204
3 TheDiscoveryoftheIndusCivilisation 209
4 TheDravidiansandtheIndusCivilisation 212
5 NihaliandVedda 219
6 CrossingthePacificwithCoconutsandSweetPotatoes 221
7 TheDiscoveryofAmerica 226
contents vii
8 MeanderingsinthePacificandIndianOceans 229
9 AncientCultureontheBeautifulMaldives 231
10 AsBassasdeChagas 238
11 Epilogue 244
Bibliography 249
Index 381

Preface
Thisbookconsistsof twoparts.Chapters1to4comprisethefirstpart,which
treatsthepresent,examininghowthehistoricalcontextinwhichwelivetoday
predisposesustoadoptcertainviewsofprehistory.Thesecondpart,compris-
ingChapters5,6and7,tellsthetaleofoursharedprehistoricalpast,butends
withtwohistoricalflourishes,illustratingtwoofthemultitudinoustransition
zoneswhereprehistorymeltsintorecordedhistory.
Thefirstpartofthebookaddressesthehistoricalaccidentofourindividual
nationalorethnicidentitiesandillustrateshowsuchmodernframeworkscan
distortourunderstandingofthepast.Similarly,thefictitiousmodernconstruct
of ‘race’isobservedtoafflictboththethinkingof thosewhopractiseracism
and,moreoftenthannot,alsothosewhoopposeracism.Finally,wearecau-
tionedtoavoidanachronismsinourthinking,aperennialpitfall.
Thesecondpartofthebookprovidesacompactbutholisticaccountofour
ethnolinguisticprehistory.Thisup-to-dateperspectiveonthepeoplingof the
worldpresentsareconstructionbasedonlanguage,genesandmaterialculture.
Thephylogenyoflanguagefamilies,thechronologyofbranchingoflinguistic
family trees and the historical and modern geographical distribution of lan-
guagecommunitiesinformusaboutthespreadof linguisticphyla,languages
andtheirspeakers.
The global distribution and chronology of spread of Y-chromosomal hap-
logroupsappeartocorrelatewiththespreadoflanguagefamilies.Yetthefather
tongue correlation, though ubiquitous, is far from universal. Findings based
ontheentiregenomewillinfuturebetterinformus.Newfindingsonancient
dnahavealreadybeguntoenhanceourunderstandingof theprehistoryand
provenanceofourbiologicalancestors.Thearchaeologicalstudyofpastmater-
ialculturesprovidesyetathirdindependentwindowontothecomplexprehis-
toryofourspecies.
GeorgevanDriem
Bern,ChristmasEve2020
Figures
1 PortraitofPeterSchrijverfrom1651byBartholomeusvanderHelst,oilon
canvas,115.2×98.5cm,MuseumdeLakenhal,Leiden 5
2 VotivezinctabletbearingtheinscriptionΔΟΒΝΟΡΗΔΟ/ΓΟΒΑΝΟ/
ΒΡΕΝΟΔΩΡ/ΝΑΝΤΑRΩR,discoveredbyHeinrichJossontheEngepeninsula
inthesummerof1984,BernischesHistorischesMuseum,Bern,withkind
permissionoftheArchäologischerDienstdesKantonsBern 12
3 LateNeolithicimplementfromVirginiajustaposedtothreeNeolithicadzes
fromthehilltractsinthenortheastoftheIndiansubcontinent 19
4 ThePieterskerkskullthattravelledfromHollandtoSwitzerland 20
5 CoverphotoofJonathanLindström’stwo-partdocumentaryDeförsta
svenskarna 22
6 CheddarMan,aMesolithichunter-gathererwhoseremainswererecoveredin
Gough’scaveinSomerset,asreconstructedbyAdrieandAlfonsKennisintheir
Arnhemstudio 25
7 FrederikKortlandt’s(2020)Indo-Europeanlanguagefamilytreeasamythical
lotusvine.Thetraditionalorientationofeastandwesthasbeenmaintained.In
keepingwiththetraditionofdepictingatreeasgrowingupwardtowardsthe
sun,northandsouthhavebeennotionallyreversedalongthevertical
dimension.Artworkbyरणधीरशािण्डल्यRaṇdhīrŚāṇḍilya 37
8 TheaftermathofEuropeancolonialexpansion,reproducedwithkind
permissionoftheNewHimalayaDecolonialAtlasatCloudyBay.Salmonpink:
Europeancolonialpowersandneo-Europeanpolitiesthataroseas
excrescencesofEuropeancolonialexpansion.Majorcolonialpowerswere
Portugal,Spain,theNetherlands,England,RussiaandFrance.Minorpowers
wereDenmark,Sweden,BelgiumandItaly.Lavender:Europeanpolitieswithout
historicalcoloniesoutsideofEurope,someofwhichwerethemselvesonce
underimperialdomination,e.g.asOttomanorRussianpossessionsorvassals.
Cantaloupecream:NationstatescarvedoutbyEuropeanorneo-European
powers.Honeydewmelon:CountrieswhostavedoffEuropeancolonisationwith
varyingdegreesofsuccess.Nepal,Japan,Bhutan,SiamandAfghanistanwere
themostsuccessful,whilstthesovereigntyofChina,whichborethebruntof
bothEuropeanandJapaneseaggression,wascompromised.Thismapdisguises
thefactthatJapanwasacolonialpowerinthefirsthalfofthe20thcentury,and
thatChinatooisacolonialpower.ExceptforMarieByrdLand,Antarcticais
claimedbyEuropeanandneo-Europeannations.Theboundariesonthismap
arerepresentationalonlyandpurportneithertobeaccuratenortoimply
endorsementbyauthororpublisher. 52