PROTO-BALTIC
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The
"Proto"-Baltic Middle Dnieper & Fatyanovo-Balanovo cultures,
3200 -1800 BCE, were
Northern extensions of the
Corded Ware culture.
It was really many cultures, the
Littoral Piemare
culture in the West, the Middle Dnieper in the
middle, the Fatyanovo-Balanovo in the
East. To the South of these bordered the
Milograd culture,
and beyond
Milograd, the Indo-European
Yamna and
Proto-Slavic Komarov culture horizons. Excavations between the rivers Orel' and Samara have uncovered burials
of a syncretic nature that attest contacts between the spheres of the
Corded Ware and Yamna cultures. It may indicate early contacts between Proto-Indo-Iranians and the
ancestors of the Balts.
These cultures migrated from the
Strednij Stog culture (4500-3350),
which in turn evolved from the
Khvalynsk and nearby
Samara PIE epoch homeland culture
(5500-5000 BCE) on the Volga River. The nearby Finnic Mordvin language has loanwords from Indo-Iranian, East Baltic, and Tocharian.*
Most migrations were often due to
prolonged climatic changes, or population pressure on natural resources.
The migrations by each group resulted in different ethnic assimilations
during the migrations, and even more so at the eventual settlement regions. From the
Samara culture to the
present, the languages were multi-ethnic
in various degrees.
The divergence of language is usually
happening while there is also a convergence of languages. Europe today
is like an unmarked ancient sack of mixed genetic seeds.
Linguistically speaking, the ancestors of the West Balts were the Pre-Baltic
Mazovia-Podlasie / Lublin
groups of the Trzciniec culture
along the Bug river basin, which bordered the
Komarov
(Proto-Slavic) culture of the Podolian Uplands further to the South. The Trzciniec ("Streaked"
pottery) culture
was related to the Komarov culture, but different, as ceramics,
metalwork, hydronyms, and burial rites indicate. This difference can be seen in the old word for "wolf " where Baltic has
vilkas
vs. Old Church Slavic vlъkъ, and with the glaring disparity of equine or copper words.
The older relatedness is illustrated by the word for "name" - West Baltic emenis, Slavic imę, and Albanian emen vs. East Baltic Lithuanian vardas. The Trzciniec culture
gave way to the later Pomeranian culture horizon. The West Baltic
dialect flowed North with migrations and trade to Coastal Balts. Even as
late as the Early Iron Age (600 BCE), the southern limit
of the large Sūdovian culture territory
bordered the Slavic/Scythian Chernoles
culture. Scythian (Ossetic) and Slavic isoglosses can be illustrateded in Ossetic terminology of agriculture ( yoke, harvest, reaping-hook ) - in somatic terminology ( ear ), and in kinship ( sister, brother, mother, father, mother and father-in-law ).
According to
Herodotus (approx 450 BCE) the Neuri
(
Νέυροι
)
were a tribe living North of the Tyres (Dneister river), and the
furthest nation beyond the
Scythian farmers along the course of the river
Hypanis (Bug river). The Bug river meets the
Naura (Baltic name for the Narew)
river. The Naura river leads one to Galinda
and Sūduva. Since trade increased recognition, the
Neuri of Herodotus were possibly related to the
Galindians and Sūdovians. Herodotus
also mentions the wild white
horses nearby that grazed by a great lake,
which scholars today suggest are the Podlesie marshes by the Bialowieza
Forest. Yotvingian
Tarpans from the Bialowieza Forest seasonally faded to near white in Winter.
In 500 BCE, Eastern Europe climate
was much cooler and wetter. There is still a town in Poland named Nur (
Νυρ)
{ 52° 40' 0" N, 22° 18' 0" E } along the upper Bug River, near
the Bialowieza Forest. The Nurzec river runs nearby,
and the local district currently bears the river's name. Balts traditionally take ethnonyms from local hydronyms. The Baltic verbal roots *"nur-" to immerse or
*"niur-" to get murky may be sources of the local hydronym. Archaeologists have excavated a fortified settlement and an open settlement near Moloczki Poland, by the Nurzec river. There are probably many more yet unexcavated in "Ziemia Nurska", as the area is known as. |
| The 20th century BCE marks the progression of tribal dialects (distinct by the 10th century BCE) in the Early-Baltic dialect languages, which was just an increase in the differentiation of the dialects of the Peripheral area. The Greek geographer Ptolemy in the 2nd Century A.D. mentioned only two Baltic tribal nations, the Γαλίνδαι and Σουδινοί. Romans coins (Tiberius / Caligula) unearthed in Sūduva predate Ptolemy's account. Σουδινοί was possibly a typo for Σουδιυοί. It is of interest to note that such a differentiation of dialects took place in the Central dialects much later, around the 2nd century A.D., evolving Pre-Lithuanian-Latvian. |
| The Western
Baltic dialect that later gave rise to the Sūdovian,
Galindian, Pomesanian, and various Prussian languages is one of
the dialects of the Early-Baltic
Peripheral Area. The 5th c. BCE also coincided with the
emergence of yet another
dialect (Curonian language) of the Peripheral
Early-Baltic Area from the bordering
dialects of the Central
Early-Baltic Area.
Thus, the Western Balts should include the Sūdovians ( Яцьвягі ), Galindians, Pomesanians, and various Prussians, and also the Curonians, the former comprising the Southern group, and the latter, the Northern group. This explains the close similarity between Sūdovian ( Yatvingian ), Galindian, Pomesanian, and Prussian. |

| Certain innovations (i.e.,declension) that occurred in the Central dialects are not reflected in the Peripheral dialects. The Peripheral dialects retain a relic archaic declension which gives one a clearer window into both "Proto"-Baltics, and "Proto"-Indo-Europeans, and their evolution. |
"The traditional
academic construct of a seven case declensional system for Proto Indo-European
is as synthetic
as it is theoretically convenient." ( Jeannette
DeBusk Cox )
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The four cases of West-Baltic (Prussian, Sūdovian, & Galindian) declension are not an innovation but an archaic feature, uniting West Baltic with Germanic and Greek. Only nominative, genitive, dative and accusative forms have constant intercrossing functions in various Indo-European languages, while forms used for the instrumental or locative cases (traditionally declared to be "Common Indo-European"), have related functions: e.g. the IE *"-ois" may occur in the instrumental case in one language and in the locative case in other ones, or *"-ō" / (apophonically) "-ē " occurs as "-āt" in the Indo-Iranian ablative and as "-it" in the Hittite instrumental. Such intercrossing elements were used for semi-paradigmatic adverbial forms, differently paradigmatized in the various Indo-European languages. (V. Toporov, V. J. Mažiulis) Some very archaic lexical differences exist between the Western Baltic dialects and the Central Baltic dialects. The word for "fire" is just such an example. The Western Balts used the word "panu", whereas the Central Balts used the word (Lith.) "ugnis". Another example is the word for "wheel". The Western Balts used the word "kelan", whereas the Central Balts used the word (Lith.) "ratas". These words have cognates in other ancient Indo-European languages. That such archaic diversity of basic terminology existed within "Proto"-Baltic" illustrates the antiquity of the West / East Baltic dialect areas inherited from the late Stredny Stog horizon (4500-3350 BCE) into the Corded Ware horizon. Another key feature of West Baltic is the nominative singular neuter gender ending in [ -n ]. This is noted in such words as kelan (wheel), azeran (lake), and dadan (milk). There are also many neuter gender words that end in [ -u ], such as panu (fire) and peku (livestock), as well as alu (mead). Lithuanian still has the neuter gender in some adjectives ending in -a, -ia, or -u. For example, "Šalta" (It is cold). Another feature of West Baltic is the Genitive singular declensional ending in [ -as' ] for words that end in [ -as ] or [ -an ] in the Nominative case. This declensional ending also changes the stress of the accent to the end syllable, as in many cognate Vedic words. This generalized declensional feature is noted in a word like Nominative singular pedan (ploughshare), Genitive singular pedas', or in the West Baltic Genitive singular Deivas' (God's). The above unique features of West Baltic are relics from the Proto-Indo-European Stredny Stog horizon (4500-3350 BCE). West Baltic has the same four nominal accent classes as does Lithuanian, but it has retained the original accentual state of Baltic ( an acute rising accent and a circumflex falling accent). The first class is the acute barytone paradigm. The second is the circumflex barytone paradigm. Thirdly, the acute mobile paradigm. Lastly, the circumflex mobile paradigm. |

| Reading from the
archaeological record, one can associate dates of
3,200 - 2,300 BCE
with various material
artifacts (toy wheeled wagon) and non-native ( hemp and
wheat ) plant pollens that appear to
indicate the arrival of
"Baltic"
speaking peoples in the region who appear to have mixed well with
native populations. The Central and Eastern Balts had
more contact with "Volga Finnic"
speaking cultures than the West Balts.
After 2,300 BCE, the agricultural record intensifies, as well as beginning Baltic copper metallurgy near the Ural Mountains. Migrations often follow climate
changes. Each migration would encounter different native ethnic groups,
and influence the dominant language during assimilation of those ethnic
natives. Indo-European languages have
ALWAYS
been
multi-ethnic. The high incidence of Y chromosomes from the haplogroup N1c suggest long term relations and admixture with Finnic neighbors, which may have had a conservative influence on the Baltic dialects and speakers. The divergence of language is usually happening while there is also a convergence of languages. The contemporary Balt-Finn mixed population reflects the ancient INDO-URALIC Proto-language nicely.
Fatyanovo-Balanovo The Fatyanovo-Balanovo culture was an
eastern extension of the Baltic Corded Ware culture following the Oka river to the upper Volga
in what is now Russia. It is here that pottery displays a unique Fatyanovo style with mixed
Corded Ware and Globular Amphorae features. Fatyanovo migrations correspond to regions with
hydronyms of a Baltic language dialect mapped by linguists as far as the Oka river and the
upper Volga. Spreading eastward down the Volga they discovered the copper ores of the the
western Ural foothills, and started long term settlements in the lower Kama river region.
___________________________ A separation of Belarus subpopulations along a North / South line can be demonstrated particularly in distribution of Y chromosomal lineages R1b, I1a and I1b, N3 and G-chromosomes. The uniqueness of the northern Belarusian population is most likely due to the high incidence of Яцьвягі Y chromosomes from the haplogroup N1c [old name N3] (homogeneous Baltic Яцьвягі substrate with allele DYS19*15 ), which is twice the frequency as in central and southern Belarus. The central and southern Belarusian substratum Baltic Milograd physical traits differ somewhat from Ukrainian substratum Slav/Cimmerian/Scythian traits. The assimilation of Belarus may have been mainly linguistic and less physically ethnical.
The Y-STR variation among Slavs* has given the evidence for the Slavic homeland
in the middle Dnieper basin, which provides a geographic correlation for the Slavic linguistic
correlation to Baltic. During the period (3,400 BCE) of the
oxen pulled wheeled
wagon revolution, the
Yamna culture slowly
expanded toward the edge of the
Corded Ware horizon
of late Strednij Stog culture. The eastern area of the
contact zone, near the middle Dnieper, a genetically integrated Slav /
Iranian hybrid
border culture developed (Komarov
> Chernoles
culture).
The Komarov complex of the Podolian Upland bordered the Trzciniec and Sosnitsa (early W. and E. Baltic) complexes
to it's far North, but appears culturally related to the Montreoru (early Dacian) complex to it's near South in regard to burial rites and pottery.
The cultural material may support a theoretical "Daco-Slavic" proto language nicely. A later ethnonym may have been taken from a hydronym "Slava"- < * (s)kolh,uo / (s)kelh,uo - "greenish-gray" ( cognate Lith. dial. Šalvas ).*
With the arrival of the Huns in Europe, Slavic soon became the lingua franca of commerce / trade throughout most of Central Europe and beyond.
For an example of the archaic nature of the Baltic / Slavic relationship, click here. There never was a monolithic "Proto-Baltic" per se. The West & Central Baltic & Slavic languages represent an archaic continuum of remnants of former Early I.E. dialects, the last Proto Indo-European branches to finally split. The "Proto-Baltics" would be none other than "Proto Satem Indo-European" central dialects. It is more helpful to visualize Baltic as a trunk rather than a language branch. For a detailed analysis of the archaeological record of Balto-Slavic relations, click here. In respect to hematological variations in the frequencies of the Landsteiner-Wiener (LW) blood group, the frequency of the uncommon LWb gene was highest in the Eastern Balts, around 7.5% among Lithuanian Samogitians, and very low among the other western Europeans (0-0.1%). # The LWb Blood Group can be seen as a genetic Tribal Marker of Prehistoric Central Baltic Migrations and Admixture, and perhaps not a West-Baltic marker Another Baltic migration marker may be a significantly increased frequency of the BanI 2-Hin6I 1 haplotype.
The spread of
Y-chromosome DNA haplogroup R1a1 is associated with the spread of the Indo-European languages, too.
Many Latvian plaid weavings are nearly identical to ancient Tocharian
plaids / tartans found recently with Tocharian mummies recovered in
Western China. Tocharians were evidently also dedicated hemp farmers,
like the Balts and historical Thracians. SONGS OF THE FOREST
Traditional ancient Baltic songs ( Lith.
Dainos, Latv.
Dainas ) are a vast resource of the Baltic languages. The
Dainos are the Rig Veda of the Baltic people. They are
usually stanzas about the Native Religion and Mythology, but in
contrast to most other similar forms, they often lack earthly heroes. These
ancient hymns are superb relics of the pre-Christian
Native Religion and the life of
the people, especially its' three important events - birth, weddings and
death/burial, but also life's infinite experiences.
The Sūdovian greeting "Kailas"
re-affirms that we are all One, |
-
poshka@hotmail.com
Click on Photo for
Baltic Log Home Architecture

The ancient Dual Horse motif found on top of
Lithuanian homes reflects the related Vedic Asvins.
Similiar ( Ašvieniai ) symbolism was found in the
Khvalynsk and Samara PIE cultures (4700 - 5,500 BCE)
|
Proto Indo European
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Mažiulis |
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Nostratic Language
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| Prussian Language Website | | Jānis Endzelīns' Baltic Languages |
~ in memory of Jeannette DeBusk Cox ~
*
Mordvin loanwords include - " vergis " - wolf ( Indo-Iran. vrka ), " pejel " - knife ( Lith. peilis ),
and " uske, viska " - metal ( Tokharian A. was, B, yasa ). Finnic Mari has "waž" for metal ore.
The pre-migration Tocharians may have had an unattested word for Maple borrowed as " * wakšter " into Finnic.
Cognates may be Latin "acer" - maple, Old Norse " askr " - ash, Old Lithuanian " akštras " - sharp. The maple's range extends to the Kama river basin.
Perhaps Tocharians originally used maple saplings for livestock prods. Or perhaps it was a Baltic * "akšteras ".
The songs of the Mordvin thunder god " Purginepaz " parallel both Lith. " Perkūnas " and Vedic " Parjanya " ( पर्जन्य ) closely.
*
Genetic portrait of modern
Belarusians: mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosome perspective.
Alena Kushniarevich, 1Larysa Sivitskaya, 1Nina Danilenko, 2Richard Villems,
1Oleg Davydenko
1Institute of Genetics and Cytology, Academicheskaya Str 27, Belarus, 2Estonian
Biocenter, Riia Str 23, Estonia
#
The LWb blood group as a marker of prehistoric Baltic migrations and admixture.,
Sistonen P, Virtaranta-Knowles K, Denisova R, Kucinskas V, Ambrasiene D, Beckman
L.,
Hum Hered. 1999 Jun;49 (3):154-8
* The Slavic ethnonym proposal from a hydronym "Slavo"- < * (s)kolh,uo / (s)kelh,uo - "greenish-gray", ( cognate Lith. dial. Šalvas ) is suggested by Joseph Pashka
* Most published Swadesh estimates regarding Baltic languages are about as revelant as DOS 4.0. "Time to upgrade, chaps".