The horse argument, part 3

[Lars Martin Fosse]

At 11:10 31.03.98 -800, you wrote:
>Even if we acknowledge that the domesticated horse in India came
>from Central Asia, it does equate that the Vedic people also
>came from there.  That would be like saying that since modern
>Indians use motorized vehicles they all came from Detroit.
>
>Regards,
>Paul Kekai Manansala
>


Good point! Incidentally, I think this is a major problem of archaeology:
Various kinds of goods travel, often over very long distances. This means
that language and material culture are not necessarily coextensive in so far
as people may share the same material culture and yet belong to different
linguistic communities, not to mention the fact that they may even be at war
with each other! Another problem with archaeological material is that you
have to FIND it. A lot of stuff simply gets lost for ever. That is why I am
not overtly impressed by archaeological evidence (or lack of it) as against
linguistic evidence. But on the other hand, archaeological evidence
certainly matters when it grows to certain proportions and the number of
possible interpretations dwindle.

Anyway, thanks to Vidyanath Rao for sending his references.!

Best regards,

Lars Martin Fosse


Dr.art. Lars Martin Fosse
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