The search for the homeland of the Indo-Europeans began in the late
18th century with the rediscovery of the Indo-European language
family.[16] The methods used to establish the homeland have been
drawn from the disciplines of historical linguistics, archaeology, physical
anthropology and, more recently, human population genetics.
Hypotheses
Main theories
The steppe model, the Anatolian model, and the Near Eastern (or
Armenian) model are the three leading solutions for the Indo-European
homeland.[note^ 2] The steppe model, placing the Proto-Indo-European
(PIE) homeland in the Pontic-Caspian steppe around 4,000 BCE,[5] is the
theory supported by most scholars.[note 1]
According to linguist Allan R. Bomhard (2019), the steppe hypothesis
proposed by archeologists Marija Gimbutas and David W. Anthony "is
supported not only by linguistic evidence, but also by a growing body of
archeological and genetic evidence. The Indo-Europeans have been
identified with several cultural complexes existing in that area between
4,500—3,500 BCE. The literature supporting such a homeland is both
extensive and persuasive [...]. Consequently, other scenarios regarding
the possible Indo-European homeland, such as Anatolia, have now
been mostly abandoned,"[17] although critical issues such as the way
the proto-Greek,[18] proto-Armenian,[19][20] proto-Albanian,[ citation
needed ] proto-Celtic,[21] and proto-Anatolian[22] languages became spoken
in their attested homeland are still debated inside the steppe model.[23]
The Anatolian hypothesis proposed by archeologist Colin
Renfrew places the pre-PIE homeland in Anatolia around 8,
BCE,[7] and the homeland of Proto-Indo-European proper in the Balkans
around 5,000 BCE, with waves of linguistic expansion following the