Why is Proto-Indo-European considered a reconstructed language rather than an attested language?

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Indo-European languages Approximate locations of Indo-European languages in contemporary Eurasia.

Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is considered a reconstructed language rather than an attested one because no written records of it exist. Its speakers did not have a system of writing, meaning there are no contemporary texts or inscriptions to provide direct evidence of the language.1

Instead, linguists use the comparative method to determine its features. By analyzing and comparing related words, grammatical structures, and phonological patterns across various descendant Indo-European languages, researchers can deduce the characteristics of the ancestral parent language. This process relies on the principle of regular sound change, allowing scholars to "re-create" or model the likely state of the language as it existed thousands of years ago.23