The Horse, the Wheel, and Language

How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World

by David W. Anthony

Hardcover, 566 pages

English language

Published Nov. 19, 2007 by Princeton University Press.

ISBN:: 978-0-691-05887-0

Roughly half the world's population speaks languages derived from a shared linguistic source known as Proto-Indo-European. But who were the early speakers of this ancient mother tongue, and how did they manage to spread it around the globe? Until now their identity has remained a tantalizing mystery to linguists, archaeologists, and even Nazis seeking the roots of the Aryan race. The Horse, the Wheel, and Language lifts the veil that has long shrouded these original Indo-European speakers, and reveals how their domestication of horses and use of the wheel spread language and transformed civilization.

Linking prehistoric archaeological remains with the development of language, David Anthony identifies the prehistoric peoples of central Eurasia's steppe grasslands as the original speakers of Proto-Indo-European, and shows how their innovative use of the ox wagon, horseback riding, and the warrior's chariot turned the Eurasian steppes into a thriving transcontinental corridor of communication, commerce, and cultural exchange. He explains how they spread their traditions and gave rise to important advances in copper mining, warfare, and patron-client political institutions, thereby ushering in an era of vibrant social change. Anthony also describes his fascinating discovery of how the wear from bits on ancient horse teeth reveals the origins of horseback riding.

The Horse, the Wheel, and Language solves a puzzle that has vexed scholars for two centuries—the source of the Indo-European languages and English—and recovers a magnificent and influential civilization from the past.

2 editions

Ben Waber reviewed The Horse, the Wheel, and Language by David W. Anthony

A Delightfully Academic Examination of the Proto-Indo-European World

4 stars

This book brings academic rigor to the study of human and cultural diffusion, focusing on Proto-Indo-Europeans and the massive linguistic patterns that spread in their wake. While the beginning and end of the book have insightful linguistic analysis, that is mostly left to the side for the rest of the book, which focuses on fairly in-the-weeds archaeological analyses (Anthony's field). Anthony is at his best in sections dealing with these minutia - the portion on detecting the presence of horse bits from skeletal dentition was fascinating - but connecting these details to the larger picture is left to the reader. If one pages back and forth or uses this book as part of a research project this wouldn't be a problem, but it's a bit challenging to follow on a straight read through. Still highly recommend

Leyssandra reviewed The Horse, the Wheel, and Language by David W. Anthony

None

4 stars

This book describes the incredible combination of archeologic and historical linguistic disciplines that piece together unbelievably ancient cultures of the central Eurasian steppes. It's impressive how this combination can both date and place important historic events, most notably, the start of horseback riding. This book was also my first dive into the field of historical linguistics as its been used to reconstruct parts of the Proto-Indo-European language, and the explanations are written quite well here. Anthony also takes the time to address the criticisms of these methods, both what they arguably can and can't do, and ways that they've been abused in the past, most notoriously by the Nazis.
As for the archeological portion of the book, it's very detail heavy, and at times I found myself drowning in steppe culture names, pottery styles, funerary practices, and midden bone analyses. Ultimately, its not the most accessible book, though, I would …

bab reviewed The Horse, the Wheel, and Language by David W. Anthony

Review of 'The Horse, the Wheel, and Language' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Interesting and informative but does get quite dry after the umpteenth date. To be expected from an actual scientific type book.

adastra reviewed The Horse, the Wheel, and Language by David W. Anthony

Review of 'The Horse, the Wheel, and Language' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

I stopped reading this book at 30% because it was super boring to read about archaeological stuff in minute detail. Might be interesting for archaeologists, but not for me.