Sarasvati (texts & arch.I)

[Michael Witzel]

On Sun, 24 May 1998, Paul K. Manansala wrote:

> > highly invasive Huns (375 AD+ in Europe) had not been located
> > archaeologically until some of their graves were found in Hungary a few
> > years ago...
>
> Yes, but evidence of Hun culture clearly matching the text
> description is found outside of Europe.

A simile is a simile. I spoke about Europe!!

> Do we find Vedic culture outside
> of India in pre-Harappan times?

I have mentoned the highly suggestive Ural burials, c. 2000 BC, with a
Dadhyanc-like figure (human body, no head, but instead: horse head). As in
RV. (Gening 1977!) Any other Dadhyances in Uralic, Siberian myth?>
Parpola has given other comparisons, especially for the BMAC (again,
Erdosy, 1995)

> Also, the Hun invasion is very clearly spelled out in historical
> writings.  Not so, regarding the supposed invasion of Vedic peoples.

Yes, but we do not have historical writings from India at that time.
Must use the RV.

And there was no Vedic invasion but a complicated pattern of gradual
clan/tribe-wise movements and a lot of acculturation in the Panjab,
See Erdosy 1995...

Anyhow, enough to see whence and how *speakers* of Vedic Old Indo_Aryan
arrived.

Read Parpola's and my paper in Erdosy 1995....


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Michael Witzel                       witzel at fas.harvard.edu