Dear Toke,
> I think what they indicate is the succession of teacher and pupil in a Vedic intellectual tradition, passing on knowledge and practice
The Wikipedia page that your correspondent mentions clearly states that the culture/tradition is not limited to the Vedic tradition but pervades many other Indian areas /fields/ cultures/ traditions of learning.
The word āchārya is found in the Vedas.
The extremely popular śānti mantra saha nā vavatu etc. is the joint wish of the guru and śiṣya.
"asmadāchārya paryantām vandē guruparamparām" is the last part of the usual formulaic prayer found in the beginnings of Vedanta discourses like those of the Advaitins.
In upadēśa- based mantra japa traditions, praying to the guruparamparā is the ordained part of a japa-session.
Nowadays, the word guruśiṣyaparamparā is being used to contrast with the mutual 'legal-rational' relationship between teachers and students in the 'modern' educational institutes without the memory of a long lineage/order of Guru -śiṣya- praśiṣya and so on and an emotional bondage of every śiṣya with the immediate Guru in particular and the entire lineage /order in general which is found in the guruśiṣyaparamparā type system.
This order has the name gharānā in hindustānī music and each gharānā also refers to particular 'style' of singing.
One interesting guru(śiṣya)paramparā that finds mention in many spiritual traditions is that of nātha sampradāya /nātha paramparā.