Bronze Age herders were less mobile than previously thought

Grazing animals on Caucasus mountain pastures. (Photo: Sabine Reinhold) - Bronze Age pastoralists in what is now southern Russia apparently covered shorter distances than previously thought. It is believed that the Indo-European languages may have originated from this region, and these findings raise new questions about how technical and agricultural innovations spread to Europe. An international research team, with the participation of the University of Basel, has published a paper on this topic. During the Bronze Age (ca. BCE), herders and their families moved across the slopes of the Caucasus and the steppes to the north, taking their sheep, goats and cattle with them. It is believed that the Indo-Germanic groups, who brought the Indo-European languages and technical innovations such as wagons, domestic horses and metal weapons to Europe, may have originated from this region. Until now, experts assumed that this transfer of technology was based on the long-distance migrations and trade contacts of these mobile pastoral communities, and that this mobility connected the Middle East with Europe.