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Tongues of the World: Language Families – The Rise and Fall

A ten‑minute visual journey tracing the archaeological and textual footprints of the world’s major language families and the competing models of their homelands.

Chapters

• 0:07 Origins of the Major Families
• 1:43 Indo‑European Expansion
• 3:19 Afro‑Asiatic and Semitic Diffusion
• 4:46 Austronesian and Niger‑Congo Waves

On-screen text

• 0:07 Origins of the Major Families
• 0:14 Origins of the Major Families
• 0:31 Çatalhöyük, early farming hub Historical record · Excavations at Çatalhöyük, Turkey (7500–5700 BCE)
• 0:49 Egyptian hieroglyphs, Afro‑Asiatic Historical record · Pyramid Texts, Saqqara, Old Kingdom (c. 2600 BCE)
• 1:07 Oracle bones record early Chinese Historical record · Oracle bones, Anyang, Shang dynasty (c. 1200 BCE)
• 1:25 Meroitic script, Nilo‑Saharan Historical record · Meroitic texts, Kingdom of Kush, Sudan (3rd century BCE–4th century CE)
• 1:43 Indo‑European Expansion
• 1:50 Indo‑European Expansion
• 2:07 Yamnaya graves show early steppe culture Historical record · Yamnaya kurgan excavations, Ukraine, 1930s
• 2:25 Hittite tablets record early Indo‑European Historical record · Royal Archives of Hattusa, Turkey
• 2:43 Rig Veda shows early Indo‑European Historical record · Rig Veda, oral tradition later written (c. 1500–1200 BCE)
• 3:01 Sintashta chariots, early Indo‑European Historical record · Sintashta‑Petrovka culture excavations, Russia (c. 2100 BCE)
• 3:19 Afro‑Asiatic and Semitic Diffusion
• 3:26 Afro‑Asiatic and Semitic Diffusion
• 3:43 Egyptian hieroglyphs, Afro‑Asiatic Historical record · Pyramid Texts, Saqqara, Old Kingdom (c. 2600 BCE)
• 4:01 Akkadian tablets map Semitic spread Historical record · Royal archives of Mari, Syria (18th century BCE)
• 4:19 Meroitic script, Nilo‑Saharan Historical record · Meroitic texts, Kingdom of Kush, Sudan (3rd century BCE–4th century CE)
• 4:37 Bantu iron smelting spreads south Historical record · Iron smelting furnaces at Ile‑Ife, Nigeria (1000 BCE onward)
• 4:46 Austronesian and Niger‑Congo Waves
• 4:53 Austronesian and Niger‑Congo Waves
• 5:10 Lapita pottery marks Austronesian spread Historical record · Excavations at Lapita sites, Vanuatu (1500–900 BCE)
• 5:28 Ashoka’s pillar spreads Brahmi Historical record · Ashoka Pillar, Sarnath, India (3rd century BCE)
• 5:46 LBK farms expand into Europe Historical record · Linear Pottery Culture sites at Vrable, Czech Republic

Sources

Historical record: Excavations at Çatalhöyük, Turkey (7500–5700 BCE) · Pyramid Texts, Saqqara, Old Kingdom (c. 2600 BCE) · Oracle bones, Anyang, Shang dynasty (c. 1200 BCE) · Meroitic texts, Kingdom of Kush, Sudan (3rd century BCE–4th century CE) · Yamnaya kurgan excavations, Ukraine, 1930s · Royal Archives of Hattusa, Turkey · Rig Veda, oral tradition later written (c. 1500–1200 BCE) · Sintashta‑Petrovka culture excavations, Russia (c. 2100 BCE) · Royal archives of Mari, Syria (18th century BCE) · Iron smelting furnaces at Ile‑Ife, Nigeria (1000 BCE onward) · Excavations at Lapita sites, Vanuatu (1500–900 BCE) · Ashoka Pillar, Sarnath, India (3rd century BCE) · Linear Pottery Culture sites at Vrable, Czech Republic

The Institute's interpretation: Marija Gimbutas, The Kurgan Culture and Indo‑European Expansion (1974)

Sound: synthesized ambient (wind, drone, water) (CC0 — made by SoapBox). Made in 90 s of CPU.