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PROTO-BALTIC
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The
early Baltic Middle Dnieper & later East Baltic speaking Fatyanovo-Balanovo cultures by the Ural Mountains,
3200 -1800 BCE, were
Northern extensions of the
Corded Ware culture.
There were really quite a few Baltic speaking cultures, the Littoral Piemare by the Baltic coast, the
Trzciniec 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.
Beyond
Milograd were the non-Baltic 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 polyethnic 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 homeland culture
(5500-5000 BCE) on the Volga River.* Artifacts connect Samara with the earlier ( 8th millenium B.C.E.) polyethnic Indo-Uralic Seroglazovo culture by the Ural river.
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 speakers of the Baltic type languages have been polyethnic
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. The
Eastern most dialects of the
Eastern Early-Baltic area (Fatyanovo-Balanovo) did not survive to be documented beyond hydronyms and archaic loanwords in Finnic languages and Vedic ( also later contributing to Russian dialects).
From reconstructions from the many loanwords in Uralic by linguists, & those found in Vedic, one might gather that the languages of the Fatyanovo-Balanovo Balts resembled a very archaic ( circa 2,300 BCE) Latgalian. These are the "D" Balts of the late Balticist V. Mažiulis. Given the earlier political assassination of Lithuanian linguist Jonas Kazlauskas by the KGB, it perhaps was a safer label than more accurate "Ural Balts" or inflammatory "Volga Balts". ( see loanwords below = Balts )
The old names of the various groups were derived from nearby hydronyms, such as the historic
Lamai by the Lama river, or the Eastern
Galindai.
Some of these Eastern Balts by the Ural mountains evidently merged culturally with, or extended to the
nearby polyethnic Abashevo culture, which became a major component of the Sintashta culture, later becoming one of the conservative of dialects to Pre-BMAC Proto-Indo-Aryan
(Proto-Vedic).
Some Abashevo pottery looks quite similar to
Fatyanovo/Balanovo,
which indicates assimilation of some Baltic culture into it's ethnogenesis. The Southern most
peripheral Baltic dialects were the
Milograd
Culture, which much later on assimilated with migrating Slavic speakers.
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 Sudovian 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 ).
The Neuri of Herodotus 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 Suduva. Since trade increased recognition, the Neuri of Herodotus were possibly related to the Galindians and Sudovians. 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 Balts of Ptolemy
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| 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 Suduva predate Ptolemy's account. Σουδινοί was possibly a typo for Σουδιυοί. It is of interest to note that such a differentiation of dialects also took place in the Central Eastern dialects, evolving Pre-Lithuanian-Samogitian-Latvian. |
The Western Balts
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| The Western
Baltic dialect that later gave rise to the Sudovian,
Galindian, Pomesanian, and various Prussian languages is one of
the dialects of the Early-Western Baltic
Area. The 5th c. BCE also coincided with the
emergence of yet another
dialect (Curonian language) of the Peripheral
Early-West Baltic Area near the bordering
dialects of the Central
Early-Eastern Baltic Area.
Thus, the Western Balts should
include the Sudovians (
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
Sudovian ( Yotvingian
), Galindian,
Pomesanian, and
Prussian.
The Old Prussian Sembian dialect, though, exhibits a prolonged
influence from the nearby Curonians when compared to the more distant Pomesanian or Sudovian. The Sembian dialect of
the Old Prussian Catechisms has "muti, tawas" (mother, father) whereas the Pomesanian of the
Elbing Vocabulary has "mothe, towis". The chronicled Sudovian "Occopirmus" similarly differs
from the Catechism Sembian "ucka-". Further inland away from coast and Curonians, we do find Prussian "Tlokunpelk" - Bears' Marsh. Galindians did not historically border the Curonians. |
| Certain innovations (i.e., declension) that occurred in the Central Eastern dialects are not reflected in the Peripheral Western dialects. Each area also had different substratum populations involved in their ethnogenetic formations. The Peripheral West Baltic dialects retain a relic archaic declension which gives one a clearer window into both "Proto"-Baltics, and "Proto"-Indo-Europeans, and their evolution. The current Central dialects are more evolved and elegant. |
"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 )
|
The four cases of West-Baltic (Prussian, Sudovian, & 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) Eastern & Western Baltic Some very archaic lexical differences exist between the Western Baltic dialects and the Eastern Baltic dialects. The word for "fire" is just such an example. The Western Balts used the word "panu", whereas the Eastern Balts used the word (Lith.) "ugnis". Another example is the word for "wheel". The Western Balts used the word "kelan", whereas the Eastern 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) [ re: neuter "vaška" beeswax ]. 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. Hittite also shared this archaic feature. This declensional ending also changes the stress of the accent to the end syllable. This generalized declensional feature is noted in a word like Nominative singular pēdan (ploughshare), Genitive singular pēdas', 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. |
The Archaeological Record
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| 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 close contact with "Volga Finnic"
speaking cultures than the West Balts.
After 2,400 BCE, the agricultural record intensifies, as well as beginning Baltic copper & bronze metallurgy near the Ural Mountains.
The Fatyanovo-Balanovo Eastern Balts used the lost wax ( vaška ) technique which was an ancient metallurgic process.* ( vaška = Old East Baltic neuter ). A polyethnic Abashevo culture by the Urals emerged with early Eastern Balts, Volga Finns, and early Aryans using the same process. 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 early Fatyanovo-Balanovo culture ( 3200 - 1800 BCE ) 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. They brought their "ešva" - horse, "gōvs" - cow, "avis" - sheep, a "pōdas" of "medu" - pot of honey, agriculture - including "javas" cereal grain, "šaras" seed, and a "tūšantē" of their "Dainās" - a thousand Holy Songs of their Spiritual beliefs about "Deivas". Fatyanovo cemetaries would sometimes have graves of not only people, but bears and other animals which are also buried with ritual close by in individual graves. Solar designs commonly adorn Fatyanovo ceramics. Livestock includes cattle, horses, sheep, pigs, and dogs (North Saami "šūvon"). Excavations indicate hunting and fishing was often practiced. Two-wheeled wagons are also typical finds. There are many sites around Kazan, Russia region. The more metallurgically worked region of the Fatyanovo culture was designated as the Balanovo culture, from a cemetary found near the town. Baltic Balanovo and Finno-Uralic Volosovo peoples apparently mixed well without much conflict, as they did with steppe peoples with whom they they had contact via trade with the Caucacus metalworkers. Finnish "Orja" slave, indicates some coflict with the Aryans - as do some archaeological sites. Overlapping the Southern edge of the Balanovo region, by where the rivers flow South, another group of the Corded Ware pottery tradition developed that is called the Abashevo culture ( 2400 - 1800 BCE ), after a nearby village East of Kazan, Russia. Like Balanovo sites, many Abashevo settlements were also by the copper laden southwestern foothills of the Urals. Late Abashevo artifacts were found in Sintashta ( Proto-Vedic ) culture graves. Sintashata ceramics display the influence of early Abashevo pottery style. The artifacts suggest a unique cultural exchange between mixed Abashevo people into the Sintashta culture of Early Vedic peoples. The nearby Volga Finnic Erzya-Moksha Mordvin language group has preserved loanwords from early Indo-Iranian, East Baltic, and Tocharian, which would seem to confirm the probability of such exchanges. Indo-Aryan "Soma" preserved the native Uralic word for a hewn wooden trough or bowl that was used as the dried Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria) was pressed with stones in water to produce a "batch" of the beverage. Amanita muscaria reflects the Chandra/Moon symbolism well, especially when viewed from above. An amateur mycologist R. Gordon Wasson identified Vedic Soma as Amanita muscaria in his 1967 book, although it's use was also Pre-Vedic. Note that both Abashevo and Volosovo ( Finno-Uralic ) culture pottery are sometimes discovered in sites side by side, inferring very close contacts. Songs of the Erzya Mordvinic thunder spirit " Purgine " parallel both Lith. "Perkūnas" and Vedic " Parjanya " closely. Consider the additional relationship between Purgine / Lit-ava " with "Perkaunis / Perkune / Lietas " and "Parjanya / Retas" ( Rig Veda Book 5, Hymn 83 ). The astonishing similarity of the archaic Central East Baltic (Latvian dial. example "Perkaunis" / "Perkune", and "Lietas") Dainās tradition mirrors the Eastern Fatyanovo / Balanovo Baltic culture mythology as seen with the Mordvin Finnic (Erzya "Purgine / Lit-ava") songs. The initial "L" vs. "R" of Lit-ava would presume early-Baltic contact, since Vedic "vrkah" ( vs. archaic Baltic "vilkas") is associated with the Finno-Ugric loanword "vərgas". Yet Ossetic does have "Lymaen" friend reflecting Mordvin "Loman" man, whereas Sanskrit has "Ramana" - man {married}. (re: Latvian "Loma"- role / Lithuanian "Luomas"- marital status, class of men). Erzya has "Paz", while Vedic has "Bhagas" (Slavic "Bogъ"). The Purgine Paz - Lit-ava hymns are thus part of a polyethnic shared tradition. The East Baltic " šapalas " (Leuciscus cephalus) and Indic " śaphara" isogloss is indeed very interesting. Sanskrit scholars have determined at least two early Vedic dialects, (the IE *L > "R" only, vs. the "R" and *L ), and possibly a third ( the *L only ) existed. The Rig Veda we know today is in the "R" only dialect. Thus, only occasional token words remain from 2 of the 3 Vedic era dialects. Baltic had retained IE *L. The convergence of these peoples is reflected in name of the annual Finnish "Kekri " celebration, which exemplfies the state of developement of the Indo-Iranian at that time - as compared with later Sanskrit "chakra". It is all too common to read that the Finno-Ugric loanwords for "honey" - Hungarian "mez", Mordvinic "med'", Estonian/Finnish "mesi" were not borrowed from Baltic "medu" - honey, but rather from a later Aryan "madhu" - sweet drink! Even though the same Finno-Ugrics have loanwords - Mordvin "k'eras", Mari "karas", Udmurt "karas", for honeycomb/wax - reflecting East Baltic "kār'as" honeycomb, and in spite of the archaeological chronology of centuries of Balt / Finno-Ugric interaction before Aryan culture arrival, it is so written. To err is human - and there are alot of hidden agendas to defend. It is noteworthy that current Bashkir preserves "kärä"- in that Ural region, and even distant Chuvash has "karas" - honeycomb. This evolving polyethnic early Balt / Finn / Pre-Indo-Iranian group would play a role in the settlement (radio carbon date average - 2026 BCE) of Sintashta / Arkaim, and later influence the native speakers in Iran / India who become bilingual.
The Ethnogenesis of Abashevo / Sintashta / Arkaim Although Abashevo pottery resembles Fatyanovo and Balanovo styles, Abashevo burials also reflect some Poltavka culture customs. This indicates a transitional group of mixed affinities with a probable Aryan elite. Vedic Tvashtar brings to mind East Baltic Lithuanian "Tvoti" - to strike, beat. This polyethnic Abashevo culture populace may give an insight to the language of Proto-Indo-Iranian (Pre-Vedic/Avestan Sintashta). The Arkaim / Sintashta area sites correspond to the Avestan Vara of the arriianəm vaējō. Reflecting it's polyethnic populace is Finno-Ugric Hungarian var "fortress", Saami var "village" and East Baltic Lithuanian varas "tall palisade". The circular design is reminiscent of earlier Tripolye / Dnieper sites. Here is perhaps an example of a East Baltic term "varas" borrowed in Finno-Ugric, Vedic, and Avestan. The archaeological evidence of both Finno-Ugrians & Balts in the ethnogenesis of the Abashevo / Sintashta / Arkaim cultures has provided scholars with linguistic opportunities in studies of the early Indo-Iranian dialects and in Finno-Ugric / Baltic etymologies. The Avestan and Vedic combinations of neuter plural nouns, or multiple single and plural nouns, with the verb in singular reflects archaic Baltic constructions (Lith. "beržorai esti "). Just as Lith. dial "pantas" - a crossbeam, reflects Greek "pontos" - sea (spanning ports) - Latin "pontis" bridge, the etymology of Sanskrit "panthās < panthas" - road, is also enhanced. ( re: Khanty-Ostyak - "Pənt" path ). It is very important to keep in context the limited duration of this cultural horizon, yet it is equally detrimental to ignore it - as agenda-driven Academia has done by convenient methodical omissions. Here is a key that may unlock many doors. It is a very unique horizon (chapter) of Eurasian and Russian prehistory, when early Vedic traditions blend with Finnic and East Baltic cultures. The Perkūnas, Parjanya, Purgine shared tradition is a delicate issue, since each is venerated to this day in their respective cultures. One may note that all three are very close in certain details. The East Baltic "*laitus" rain (Lith. "lietas, lietus") tradition with lightning. East Baltic " *Laitas " may have been an older term for Summer / "rainy" season (re: Slavic "Lēto" year) which followed the return of Pleiades. The Erzya "Lit-ava" in their Prayer Hymns remained intact. Modern Pashto has "Perūney" - Pleiades (daughters of Greek "Phorkys"). Parjanya is the father of Uralic Soma. Perkūnas was to be the groom of Indraja (Indraja = Jupiter). And to uphold respect about these cultures, and to be as accurate as possible, I will only use the term "shared". That much is a fact. The everyday bilingualism between the Balts and Aryans in that culture is highly probable, considering their similar ( at times identical ) vocabularies. Mainstream archeaological academia has reviewed the collective material evidence thoroughly and is quite confident in their evaluations of it. Suggested readings include: The Origin of the Indo-Iranians, Volume 3, By Elena E. Kuz'mina, Elena Efimovna Kuz'mina, J. P. Mallory, p 222, Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands 2007 ISBN: 978 90 04 16054 5
PIE *dei - > Dainā > Dhēnā > Daēna > Dēn Vedic Sanskrit has the somewhat (15 times) obscure word "Dhēnā", meaning "hymn, song", which reflects Baltic "Daina", meaning "dance > song". From IE *dei- ("move, spin, whirl") we have Latvian "deinis" dancer, "daiņa" restless person, "dainēt / daināt" to dance, sing, Lithuanian "dainuoti "to sing" clearly illustrating the core Baltic etymology. But Vedic "Dhēnās" hymn-prayer, lacks any such "dance" etymology. The Avestan "Daēna" ( Middle Persian "Dēn" ) is even more semantically vague - "that which was revealed, religion". This implies a loanword, and like in Vedic - a word without a clear etymology. The closet indigenous Indo-Iranian cognate is Avestan "Dian", meaning "fast". Scholars interpret the actual pronunciations of the old Vedic Sanskrit "Dhēnā" and Avestan "Daēna" as "Dainā". Hello!!! By following this thread, the shroud of the past unravels, and finally falls apart. There is only one Vedic hymn to Vāyu "wind" (Lith. dialect "Vējus"), which is otherwise called Vāta. Iranian Ossetic "wad " and Ob-Ugric Mansi loanword "wōt " indicate the primacy of "Vāta" usage in the early Indo-Iranian dialects. (also Skt. "vāhin" & Latv. "āzinis"). Note that Dhēnā is also used in the rare Vāyu hymn (I, 2, 3-). Vāyu is also associated with Parjanya. Ancient Vedic "Ushas" and today's East Baltic Ūšas / Ūštun - "dawning / to dawn" illustrate the challenges. The Rig Veda uses the word "Dhēnās" for hymns but does not emphasize it, although that connection is later implied as such by Avestan "Daēna". From the new archeaological evidence of the polyethnic Abashevo and Sintashta populace, it is not unreasonable to deduce that the Dainā "dance > song > hymn" tradition of the assimilated Abashevo Balts was adopted as the term Dhēnās "hymns, songs" by their fellow Aryan elite near the Urals, and was used as such later in the Rig Veda. From IE *dei- ("move, spin, whirl") developed East Baltic "Dainā" - song / hymn, which was borrowed as Vedic "Dhēnā" - hymn / prayer, Avestan "Daēna" - religion, Middle Persian "Dēn - religion. The word "dena" - religion, is still used in Kashmiri. Arabic "Dīn" ( دين faith, religion ) is beyond the scope of this topic. Little did the stubborn Baltic forest-folk singing their Hymns by the Urals in 2,000 B.C.E. know how far their songs would travel, and for how long they would echo up to this day. It is also being considered that Uralic "Panga", "fly agaric, entheogen { when dried }" is the source for Sanskrit loanword "Bhanga", meaning "entheogen, cannabis", and Slavic Polish "Pienka" - "hemp, entheogen" ( Cheremis / Sarmatian ? ). Ar prisiėdęs musmirių. The Volgaic Erzya "Rav-ava" - mother Volga, Volgaic Mokša "Rava" - river, and East Baltic Lithuanian "Ravas" - stream, correlation is worthy of note. (Lith. "Rauti " - to run quickly) The Baltic & Finno-Ugric in Vedic Sanskrit / Avestan The mythical Avestan ten month winters and "Vara" legend, Aryan "Soma / Haoma" ( Volgaic Erzya, Mokša "Sjuma / Səma" hewn wooden trough, Estonian "Soim" hewn wooden manger, Khanty "Soma" mortar) and the many Finno-Ugric loanwords from both early Aryan and East Baltic uphold the archaeological findings. A multi-disciplinary approach combining archaeology, linguistics, and genetics together will yield scientific results. The tale of blind men describing an elephant illustrates this well. That there is possibly a Baltic "Daina" in Vedic or Avestan should not come as a surprise,
Indo-Aryan "Soma" preserved the native Uralic word for a hewn wooden trough or bowl that was used as the dried Fly Agaric (Amanita muscaria) was pressed with stones in water. Balts to this day still partake Amanita muscaria with milk & honey, as they have done for over four thousand years. (re: Khanty "Soma" ) Such drift of semantics can be seen even today in the English phrase "Do you want to do a bowl?" Finding Baltisms ( ntr. pl. + sg. verb ? ) will be next to impossible, especially without the early Vedic era "R" & "L" dialects and the very intriguing "L" only dialects. Did a loaned East Baltic " šapalas " (Leuciscus cephalus) resurface in Indic " śaphara" only, and why not also in old Iranian? It is a rich field awaiting someone to harvest it.
This hermeneutic approach to the polyethnic ethnogenesis of early Eurasian Vedic culture will, of course, upset alot of people. It's not really all that new. Such material was reviewed by W. Tomaschek in 1883 (Ausland p. 862). But like Grissom said, "People lie. The evidence doesn't lie ". The Eastern Balts of today have thus preserved a Continuum of Cultural Tradition for Indo-European use of Fly Agaric in collective celebratory use (such as peasant weddings) from the very mists of antiquity - before Abraham, or even the Rig Veda itself. The daina/dhēnā topic has often been muddled with the inclusion of Vedic "Dhēnu" - cow, which is cognate with Baltic "daine" - cow (that calves in the 2nd year, re: FU * tajine) and "daini" - pregnant with offspring (Adj. of cow or mare) . Even discussions about the Dainava "dancing waters / singing rapids" region of Lithuania are not immune from such distractions. New archeaological evidence continues to unveil the unexpected, as will comparative study of the ancient Latgalian and varied Uralic languages. The Light of India is all it's own - and of it's own.
Fatyanovo settlements dwindled as the some of the population migrated back to the West and / or mainly assimilated with their surrounding Aryan or Finnic neighbors ( Dyakovo Culture / Urk'ai ? ). The Forests are unimaginably immense, the Winters are long and severe.
Many Balanovo culture Balts assimilated ( Erzya Purgine traditions ) and adopted Uralic languages and cultures, as many had done earlier with the Abashevo culture, and repeating again with the early Sarmatian ethnogenesis.
Elevated R1a1 (haplogroup R-SRY10831.2, aka SRY1532.2) is found not only with the Erzya, but also with the Bashkirs (38-48%) of the Urals, who still harvest their ancient "kärä " honeycomb.
The region's Baltic speakers assimilated again in the 5th century A.D. as new Slavic type cultural groups
filtered in from the South, although in some areas Baltic speakers remained intact as evident from the historic record.
The new Slavs followed the same path into Russia as the old Fatjanovo Baltic speakers did more than two thousand years before them. The Old Russian Ipatiy Compilation of Chronicles mentions that in 1147 the Prince of Rostov-Suzdal defeated the Golyad'
( ГОЛЯДЬ )
who lived by the River Porotva. The Golyad' < * Golędь ethnonym was derived from a Baltic hydronym * "galin-" meaning "deep water". For more info, see
Marija Gimbutas
here
Balto-Slavic 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/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
near the middle Dnieper basin, which provides a geographic correlation for the Slavic linguistic
correlation to the early East Baltic Middle Dnieper homeland. 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 later polyethnic Slav /
Iranian ethnogenesis would develope the (Komarov
> Chernoles
culture).
The Proto-Slav Komarov culture 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.
Native Pre-I.E Tripolyan farming populace were assimilated also. The cultural material may support a theoretical mixed "Daco-Slavic" proto language nicely. 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. Note the LWb gene analysis below. The various West / East Baltic & Slavic languages represent an archaic continuum of remnants of former core I.E. dialects, the last Proto Indo-European branches to finally split. The "Proto-Baltics" would be none other than some "Proto Satem Indo-European" central dialects. It may be more helpful to visualize East Baltic as the top of the still growing main trunk, rather than as another language branch. Kas bus, kas nebus, bet žemaitis nepražus. For a detailed analysis of the archaeological record of Balto-Slavic relations, click here. The LWb gene / BanI 2-Hin6I 1 haplotype 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 Central 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, since inhabitants of the Sūduva region average only a mere 2.7% - even after over 600 years of continuous Lithuanian colonization and admixture. ( For those who still think all Sudovians "vanished", please reread the prior sentence. ) 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. (see "Secrets of the Silk Road"). Tocharians were evidently also dedicated hemp farmers,
like the Balts and historical Thracians.
SONGS OF THE FOREST
Traditional ancient Baltic songs ( Lith.
Dainos, Latv.
Dainās, re: Vedic "Dhėnās" ) are a vast resource of the Baltic languages. The
Dainos are the Rig Veda of the Baltic people. They are
usually hymns of stanzas from the ancient 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 Sudovian 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 Sanskrit Ašvins.
Similiar ( Ašvieniai ) symbolism was found in the
Khvalynsk and Samara PIE cultures (4700 - 5,500 BCE)
The Dual Horse motif is also evident in Mari ethnic symbols.
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Proto Indo European
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Mažiulis |
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Nostratic Language
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| Prussian Language Website | | Janis Endzelins' Baltic Languages |
From Virdainas ©
~ in memory of Jeannette DeBusk Cox ~
*
Erzya-Moksha Mordvin loanwords include - " vərgas ", ( Indo-Iran. vrkah ) " pejel " - knife ( Lith. peilis / peile ), " kardaz " ( Lith. gardas ).
and " uske, viska " - metal ( Tokharian A. was, B, yasa ). Finnic Mari has "waž" for metal ore. ( see " vaška" / Pāshka below )
Also Finnish " kekri " annual Native festival < * kekra-j < * kekra- > Sanskrit " chakra ", Hungarian "lap", Mordvinian " lopa ", Saami " lap " - leaf ( Lith. lapas ), Finnic " vihi " ( Lith. vėžė )
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 Erzya Mordvin thunder god " Purgine " parallel both Lith. " Perkūnas " and Vedic " Parjanya " ( पर्जन्य ) closely.
Indo-Europeans also borrowed from Uralic languages , as seen in loans words " kara- " - mythical fish ( Avestan ), " kalas " - wels catfish ( West Baltic ), " whale " ( English ), and " Soma " ( Skt. ).
*
The color coding for copper and vaška ( Lith. "vaškas" beeswax, "vašu" process for metal ) in the above context is intentional - Pāshka. Old East Baltic " Medu " and " Vaška " were related neuters.
In the same occupation are the related words - Mordvin " k'eras ", Mari " karas ", Udmurt " karas ", ( Lith. " korys " ).
Re: Lith. " Mekš-uogis " buckthorn-berry / " Meksėti, meksi " stutter, be mad - Skt. " makšikā " fly, bee / makš- be angry ( Volgaic " Mekš " bee, " the angry one ? ")
There is also a DNA relationship between Baltic males and Uralics ( Mari ).
*
The Romanian / Dacian " Doina " - song is probably a residual loanword from the Lithuanian.
The Daina / Dhėnā Vedic word has been analyzed many years earlier, but not as an assimilated loanword from Baltic , which J. Pāshka contends, and Uralic archeaological data would support.
Vedic " Dhėnā " and " Soma " ( borrowed from Uralic ) reflect the polyethnic early Aryan culture by the Ural Mountains. ( Rhipean / Lipynė )
- On Vedic Dhėnā, "Prayer," "Song" - Maurice Bloomfield, Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 46, (1926), pp. 303-308
*
Of vernai, the Vaishya are associated with amber. The ancient Baltic association with amber "gintaras / gentaras" (ginu / genu)
is etymologically related with Lith. dial "ganas" herdsman (re: Skt. "āhanas").
Hungarian " gyentar " amber, " gyenta " resin, Chuvash " jandar " glassy, Mari " jamdar " transparent, suggest the association with Balts.
*
Of Soma, the original entheogen ingredient of dried Amanita muscaria ( Fly Agaric ) became extremely scarce with later Aryan migrations
and was eventually substituted with a mixture of Ephedra, Cannabis, and opiates. It was a very poor imitation of the genuine Uralic "Soma" rite.
The Indo-European use of Amanita muscaria survived intact in Lithuania - hidden away in forests beyond the reach of ethnocidal " Christians ".
Lithuanians continue the ancient custom of using milk and honey ingredients mixed with the dried Amanita muscaria to make a beverage for Sharing.
According to Marija Gimbutas, Lithuanians used to supply quanties of Amanita muscaria to the Saami in the North for use by Saami Shamans.
( Volgaic Erzya, Mokša " Sjuma / Səma " - hewn wooden trough, Estonian "Soim" hewn wooden manger, Khanty "Soma" hewn wooden vessel. )
*
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
Kas bus, kas nebus, bet žemaitis nepražus.
* |
Thank you for visiting.
Genetically, WE ARE ALL ONE, and that's a fact.
Culture is something we Share - not own.
Shi nūsun būsna ast praeivingiska kaigi asenes vupjai
