Here only illustrations to the main text.
On the right: The graphic model of the relationship of the Nostratic languages.
Firstly only six Nostratic languages have been considered. The description of the method of research and the determination of mutual relation of the Nostratic languages is here
(Enter to the main text).
The North Caucasian languages are considered apart (Enter)
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Having the graphical model, we can find the corresponding territory for the habitats of the Nostratic language speakers. As the region of the Fertile Crescent and Transcaucasia is located roughly in the center of the modern Nostratic speakers' lands, the Nostratic Uhrheimat had to lie near this region. Analyzing the map in detail considering the obligatory of the availability of geographic boundaries, we can find nothing more suitable than the territory near three lakes Van, Sevan, and Urmia (Rezaye) - see the map. The fact that six (that is very significant!) modern independent states are situated in this region supports our opinion that these frontiers are distinctly expressed here.
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| The map of the Nostratic languages |
Three lakes form a regular triangle where the central part of our model can be perfectly placed. But as this triangle has regular shape, different variants of its arrangement are possible and immediately the problem of choice of the correct variant comes out. It is evident that the Dravidian ancestry had to be settled somewhere to the South or to the East of the whole territory. Additional reason for the choice was, first, the fact that the present-day Kartvelians evidently live close to their old settlements and, second, the possibility of migration for the Indo-European, Altaic and Uralic peoples to the north without obstacle must be considered. If we consider the reflexive variant, the Kartvelians were to inhabit the territory to the North from what is nowadays Azerbaijan on the slopes of the Greater Caucasus, that should have made their contacts with the rest of Nostratic peoples impossible, in this case they should have been separated by still existing large swamps near the rivers Low Aras and Kura. Thus, accepting our model, the Kartvelian predecessors covered the territory of what is nowadays Georgia, to the south from the Lesser Caucasus and a part of Armenian highland in the Chorokh and the Upper Kura valley. Altaic ancestry located near the Sevan lake on the south slopes of the Lesser Caucasus and probably at the other bank of the river Kura up to Aridag range and the Ararat mountain. The Indo-Europeans lived to the East from Altaic people behind Zangezur range, probably at the territory of present-day Karabakh and at the right side of the river Aras up to the swamps to the east and the north. Uralic ancestors occupied the country near the Lake Urmia and the Semitic-Hamitic peoples lived to the west from them near the Lake Van. The Dravidian ancestry inhabited the region to the south from Semitic-Hamitic and Uralic people on the slopes of Khakiari and Kurdistan chains in of the Tigris, Great and Little Zab valleys.
Looking at the map, we can see that Ararat Mountain lies in the centre of the whole Nostratic territory. The thought of the Flood and biblical legend of Adam and Noah with his three sons comes at once. The topic of Flood is present in mythology of various people, especially in Uralic mythology what is very important. It is told in the legends that Noah and his family were saved themselves on the some island. The name of Ararat Mountain reminds of Turkic word aral "island" and the root art/ear as "earth" or "place" is present in many languages. The word adam " a man" is present in the Turkic, Iranian, Caucasian languages. It is considered as of the Persian-Arabic origin by majority of scholars. But Chuv. etem and Mari ajdiams can not be loan words from Turkic. Some Germanic languages have similar words: Ger. Eidam, O.Eng. athum, O.Friz. athom Уson-in-lowФ. We can conjecture that adam is old Nostratic word for "a man", though Hebr. adam is usually considered as "red" or "earth'.
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Such prosaic explanation looks doubtful for the name of man. Even primitive people thought that the man differs from animals by having soul. In view of this, we can compare the word adam with Germ. Atem "breath" and other Germanic words of this phono-semantic set which have the same origin like O.Ind. atma "breath, soul" and Greek athmos "steam". Most likely, Iranian word dam "breath" can be added here too.
Some facts evidence that the speakers of Indo-European, Finno-Ugric and Turkic, having abided in Transcaucasia during 7-6 mill. BC and perhaps earlier, migrated to the new places probably at the beginning of the 5th mill BC. As it can be conjectured, the ancient Indo-European, Finno-Ugric, and Turkic tribes or clans came through the Derbent pass to the Northern Caucasus. This locality had quite good life-condition but they did not stay here. A reason for this can be that the Fore Caucasus was already occupied by other numerous people. |
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One can suppose that some part of Dagestanian population speaking one of Caucasian language settled on the wide lowlands of the Fore Caucasus in the 6th mill BC or even earlier. Maybe, they were creators of so called Maykop culture which existed in Fore Caucas till the end of the 3th mill. BC This population will be termed farther by us conditionelly Maykopians. S. Starostin and other scholars suggested the relationship of Sino-Tibetan and Caucasian languages. This hypothesis can be confirmed if one proves that some people migrated from the Caucasus to Central Asia. Maykopians can be such people. We will try to consider such possibility. (See
The North Caucasian languages and Maykopian Hypothesis).
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| Reflections on the First Neantropines in Eastern Europe |
| The comparison of the kinship models of the Sino-Tibetan and Nostratic languages |
| The configuration of the charts of kinship the Nostratic and Sino-Tibetan languages is similar. Similarity of these models suggested that the formation of proto-languages, which developed in these large macrofamilies, happened in the same place. As defined, that Nostratic parent language formed in the South Caucasus and the Armenian Highland around the turn of the late Paleolithic and early Mesolithic, the carriers of the Sino-Tibetan languages had to inhabit these places before, otherwise their presence would be reflected in historical documents. One might think that originally this ethnic group belonged to the yellow race, but this assumption needs to be validated by anthropologists on the basis of finds of Paleolithic skulls in Transcaucasia. Till now such information is absent, and if once it will be established that ancient Caucasian population has never had Mongoloid traits, then Sino-Tibetans had got them in Central Asia after the cross-breeding with real Mongoloids, which anyway should be considered as the first neanthropines in Asia and Eastern Europe. The Sino-Tibetans became the creators of the local Mesolithic cultures in Central Asia. They arrived to current places of habitat as early as the Neolithic or it was brought with them, since neither in China nor Burma reliable traces of Mesolithic period were not found. Obviously, people of the Mongoloid race are leaving in Central Asia before the arrival of Indo-Europeans. Availability Mongoloid traits in priest from Mohenjo-daro can confirm this assumption. It is clear that at present the Sino-Tibetans belong to the yellow race, to which also belonged the Indians of America, the peoples of the Mongolian and Manchu-Tungus groups. Since the languages of these latter do not contain clear signs of kinship with the Sino-Tibetan, ie they were formed very far from the settlement of the Sino-Tibetans, we have to assume that people of yellow race inhabited a vast area in Asia at time when human language was held only the initial phase of its formation. |
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