Indo-Europeanization - Day One — Elite Recruitment and the Beginnings of Language Politics

While the origins of the relationship between language and politics might seem an opaque aspect of prehistory, Haarmann (a linguist and cultural scientist currently serving as the vice-president of the Institute for Archaeomythology) argues that recent research into the initial emergence of power relations in human society (in the European context)--i.e., the assumption of elite power by Indo-European pastoralists in previously non-stratified communities in the Black Sea region of Varna--suggests a close link to the spread of language. In this study, he examines the emergence of political power in Varna and its spread across Europe in relation to the spread of Indo-European language. Annotation c2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)