Indo-European Expansions Beginning around 4000–2000 BCE, Indo-European-speaking pastoralists from the Pontic-Caspian steppe (modern Ukraine and southern Russia) migrated across Europe, Central Asia, and South Asia. Using horse-drawn chariots and wheeled wagons, they spread languages that evolved into Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, Persian, and most European tongues. Their migrations were likely driven by climate change, population pressure, and technological advantages like bronze metallurgy. Archaeological evidence links them to the Yamnaya culture, known for burial mounds (kurgans) and dairy consumption. These movements transformed local societies through elite dominance, intermarriage, and cultural diffusion rather than total replacement. The resulting linguistic and genetic legacy is vast: nearly half the world’s population now speaks an Indo-European language. This expansion illustrates how mobile pastoralist groups could reshape civilizations without centralized states, leaving a linguistic blueprint that endures today.
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