The Horse, the Wheel, and Language
How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World
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Narrated by:
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Tom Perkins
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By:
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David W. Anthony
About this listen
Roughly half the world's population speaks languages derived from a shared linguistic source known as Proto-Indo-European. But who were the early speakers of this ancient mother tongue, and how did they manage to spread it around the globe?
Until now, their identity has remained a tantalizing mystery to linguists, archaeologists, and even Nazis seeking the roots of the Aryan race. The Horse, the Wheel, and Language lifts the veil that has long shrouded these original Indo-European speakers and reveals how their domestication of horses and use of the wheel spread language and transformed civilization.
Linking prehistoric archaeological remains with the development of language, David W. Anthony identifies the prehistoric peoples of Central Eurasia's steppe grasslands as the original speakers of Proto-Indo-European and shows how their innovative use of the ox wagon, horseback riding, and the warrior's chariot turned the Eurasian steppes into a thriving transcontinental corridor of communication, commerce, and cultural exchange.
He explains how they spread their traditions and gave rise to important advances in copper mining, warfare, and patron-client political institutions, thereby ushering in an era of vibrant social change. Anthony also describes his fascinating discovery of how the wear from bits on ancient horse teeth reveals the origins of horseback riding.
The Horse, the Wheel, and Language solves a puzzle that has vexed scholars for two centuries - the source of the Indo-European languages and English - and recovers a magnificent and influential civilization from the past.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
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Unbound
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Although we usually think of technology as something unique to modern times, our ancestors began to create the first technologies millions of years ago in the form of prehistoric tools and weapons. Over time, eight key technologies gradually freed us from the limitations of our animal origins.
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The Memory Code
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In ancient, pre-literate cultures across the globe, tribal elders had encyclopedic memories. They could name all the animals and plants across a landscape, identify the stars in the sky, and recite the history of their people. Yet today, most of us struggle to memorize more than a short poem. Using traditional Aboriginal Australian song lines as a starting point, Dr. Lynne Kelly has since identified the powerful memory technique used by our ancestors and indigenous people around the world.
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Interesting topic , uninteresting listen.
- By Daniel Pisegna on 04-28-18
By: Dr. Lynne Kelly
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Olmecs
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- By: Captivating History
- Narrated by: Duke Holm
- Length: 2 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Did you know the Olmecs might have been the first people to introduce writing? The first people who managed to elevate themselves to civilized life were the Olmecs. But they remain relatively unknown. In this new captivating history audiobook, you will discover the truth about the earliest known civilization in America.
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Olmecs
- By Elle on 11-12-18
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Bison and People on the North American Great Plains
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This audiobook explores the deep past and examines the latest knowledge on bison anatomy and physiology, how bison responded to climate change (especially drought), and early bison hunters and pre-contact trade. It also focuses on the era of European contact, in particular the arrival of the horse, and some of the first known instances of over-hunting. By the 19th century, bison reached a "tipping point" as a result of new tanning practices, an early attempt at protective legislation, and ventures to introducing cattle as a replacement stock.
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Buffalo Gone Baby Gone
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Minoans
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- By: Captivating History
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The Minoans were an ancient civilization that built their settlements on islands in the Aegean Sea. They lived almost 5,000 years ago and left behind traces of their lives, but not enough for people to create a complete picture. Ever since the early 20th century, the Minoans have been a subject of interest, thanks to the discoveries and excavations by Sir Arthur Evans, a British archaeologist who found the first Minoan ruins and named them after the mythological King Minos and his Minotaur.
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Scholarly
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Against the Grain
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Why did humans abandon hunting and gathering for sedentary communities dependent on livestock and cereal grains and governed by precursors of today's states? Most people believe that plant and animal domestication allowed humans, finally, to settle down and form agricultural villages, towns, and states, which made possible civilization, law, public order, and a presumably secure way of living. But archaeological and historical evidence challenges this narrative.
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World without Women
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First Peoples in a New World
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More than 12,000 years ago, in one of the greatest triumphs of prehistory, humans colonized North America, a continent that was then truly a new world. Just when and how they did so has been one of the most perplexing and controversial questions in archaeology.
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Last Gasp of American Anthropological Orthodoxy
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Dark Emu
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Dark Emu argues for a reconsideration of the 'hunter-gatherer' tag for pre-colonial Aboriginal Australians and attempts to rebut the colonial myths that have worked to justify dispossession. Accomplished author Bruce Pascoe provides compelling evidence from the diaries of early explorers that suggests that systems of food production and land management have been understated in modern retellings of Aboriginal history, and that a new look at Australia's past is required.
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One of the best books ever!!!!
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A Brief History of the Celts
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For centuries the Celts held sway in Europe. Even after their conquest by the Romans, their culture remained vigorous, ensuring that much of it endured to feed an endless fascination with Celtic history and myths, artwork and treasures. A foremost authority on the Celtic peoples and their culture, Peter Berresford Ellis presents an invigoration overview of their world. With his gift for making the scholarly accessible, he discusses the Celts' mysterious origins and early history and investigates their rich and complex society.
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A bit dry, but overall interesting
- By Lokkish on 04-13-15
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Sumerians: A History from Beginning to End
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A legendary civilization vanished under the Fertile Crescent and escaped a fate worse than death until Sumerologists questioned widely accepted truths. The Sumerians reemerged onto the extraordinary timeline of human history. Their tales of kings and gods, including the Epic of Gilgamesh, and their fearless trade in distant lands, during the remarkable Bronze Age, centered in the world’s first city-states that chronicled ancient rivalries and their enduring impact.
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The writing is so poor I could not listen.
- By Erin on 12-04-21
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Who Discovered America?
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Greatly expanding on his blockbuster 1421, distinguished historian Gavin Menzies uncovers the complete untold history of how mankind came to the Americas - offering new revelations and a radical rethinking of the accepted historical record in Who Discovered America? The iconoclastic historian's magnum opus, Who Discovered America? calls into question our understanding of how the American continents were settled, shedding new light on the well-known "discoveries" of European explorers, including Christopher Columbus.
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Like reading an appendix
- By D. McCracken on 01-23-15
By: Gavin Menzies, and others
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To an extraordinary extent we continue to live in the shadow of the classical world. At every level, from languages to calendars to political systems, we are the descendants of a “classical Europe,” using frames of reference created by ancient Mediterranean cultures. As this consistently fresh and surprising new audio book makes clear, however, this was no less true for the inhabitants of those classical civilizations themselves, whose myths, history, and buildings were an elaborate engagement with an already old and revered past - one filled with great leaders and writers....
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What listeners say about The Horse, the Wheel, and Language
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Mark Hutchings
- 01-08-22
Great book
Great book but requires some patience. While the archeological detail is admirable, it could have been condensed and summarized, which would have made the book better. Also, there is more exposition into surrounding non Indo European cultures than is required for the ultimate conclusions the author draws. However, very fascinating, intellectually honest, and worth the time for anyone interested in the subject.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Erin McGann
- 05-12-22
Interesting, but there is a LOT about pots
I agree with the other reviewer that this has some fascinating elements, but the depths to which the author goes about pots is… intense. Well, not even whole pots, bits of pots. It is also amusing to hear the academic griping about other archeologists and linguists in general.
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- Anika
- 06-14-22
could use more extra materials
There's a lot of data in this book. It's an amazing research and I'm very happy it was made into an audiobook, because as someone who is only a casual listener to such content, I would not have went for a book I need to sit down and read. But some information like mentioned places at least could be helpful in a written form. As a Polish, I would have loved to know the exact places this book speaks of in area close to my country, but given the English pronounciation and obscurity of the some places in the modern era I cannot be sure I have found the exact ones the book speaks of.
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- Anonymous User
- 03-27-24
Fascinating History
My first dive into prehistoric Indo-European language and history was fascinating! Very well thought out and supported, along with a PDF. Thank you Professor Anthony! JSelway
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- Andrew
- 11-30-23
Great Insight, Well Performed
I’ll admit, this book is geared towards a specific audience, so it isn’t for everyone. As someone that loves archeology, ancient nomadic history, and the process of deeply proving a case, this is a fantastic read. His great efforts in research are clear.
The performance was very well done. When the author is digressing into a point he wants to emphasize, the speaker often shifts his tone slightly. I love this detail, as it makes clear what is pure evidence and information, and what is author perspective or interjection.
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3 people found this helpful
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- William B. Hart
- 07-02-21
not as expected
seems the author is well acquainted with the history and archaeology of the Ukraine, and surrounding regions. i found the book tedious, with too much detail, and not enough dynamic storytelling, nor explanations of the importance of the developments of these civilizations. i am plowing through slowly, but hoped for a more interesting read.
i am fascinated by the trypillian/cucutani civiliation
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- Peter Chmiel
- 08-23-21
Helps with our understanding of of shared past which came out of the steppe and spread east and west.
A lot of historical detail is in this story that comes out of the Steppes. Important ideas and innovations such as the wheel, governance, and animal husbandry are layered thru out this book. Really good listen even thru the numerous tribes and groups that you will encounter.
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- Paul
- 03-07-23
Fascinating
This book was a fascinating dive into the linguistic and archeological history of the central Eurasian steppes and how those cultures shaped the modern world.
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- Amazon Customer
- 01-17-19
Interesting but dense
Very data heavy and dense with archaeological detail. A truly fantastic book can create interest where none exists, and brings a distant culture to life. This book did neither. The point almost got list in the pottery shards. I wouldn’t have made it through this one if not for an intense pre-existing interest. Since I was interested, I survived the litany of Bronze Age grave site descriptions that started to run together. Ultimately worth the effort to pay attention.
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4 people found this helpful
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- A customer
- 12-29-18
dense and fascinating
This book goes into the minute details of archeological dogs and linguistic theory to reconstruct the story of the step people who spread the Indo-European language. it is a rich, dense book about a mysterious and fascinating topic.
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2 people found this helpful