Britannica
Sources used in this answer
What are the two leading proposed homelands for Proto-Indo-European speakers?
Created from Britannica articles
using AI.
AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Celtic languages
Britannica editor Jeff Wallenfeldt provides an overview of the Irish language.
In the 21st century, scholars have converged on two primary hypotheses regarding the homeland of the speakers of Proto-Indo-European:1
- Neolithic Anatolia: Proponents of this theory, such as archaeologist Colin Renfrew, argue that the language originated in Anatolia during the 7th millennium BCE and spread into Europe alongside the adoption of agriculture.12
- Pontic-Caspian Steppe: This is the more widely accepted hypothesis, which suggests that the language was spoken approximately 6,000 years ago in the steppe region north of the Black Sea and Caspian Sea, covering parts of modern-day Ukraine, Russia, and Kazakhstan.12