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Migrations and language replacement: farming-language dispersal and the Anatolian hypothesis
Conference
Published on
10 June 2015
Updated on
13 June 2017
Colloquia
The archaeology of Migrations
International colloquium organized by Inrap, in partnership with the National Museum of Immigration History.
November 12 and 13, 2015 at the National Museum of Immigration History.
Archaeology of Migrations
by Colin Renfrew, university of Cambridge
The 'Anatolian hypothesis' proposes that the origin of the Indo-European language family was in Anatolia, and that the key process for the transmission of early Indo-European speech was through the population expansion associated with the coming of farming from Anatolia to Europe. Various other models for language replacement have been proposed, including that of 'élite dominance', often associated with a notional steppe homeland, and these will be discussed. The application of archaeogenetic studies to the problem will also be reviewed, with particular emphasis on recent work on ancient DNA. The role of the farming-language dispersal model for some other language families will also be considered.
Andrew Colin Renfrew, Born 25th July 1937.
Life Peer 1991.
University of Cambridge, M.A. 1962, Ph.D 1965, Sc.D. 1976.
Lecturer then Reader in Prehistory and Archaeology at the University of Sheffield 1965 – 1972.
Professor of Archaeology and Head of Department at the University of Southampton 1972-81.
Disney Professor of Archaeology in the University of Cambridge 1981-2004, and founding Director of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research 1990-2004.
Master of Jesus College, Cambridge 1986-97.
Fellow of the British Academy 1980,
Member, Academia Europaea 1988,
Hon. Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 2001.
Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 1996.
Rivers Memorial Medal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 1979.
Huxley Memorial Medal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 1991.
Prix International Fyssen of the Fondation Fyssen, Paris, 1997.
Lucy Wharton Drexel Medal of the University of Pennsylvania Museum, 2003. European Science Foundation Latsis Prize 2003.
Balzan Prize (in the field of Prehistoric Archaeology) 2004
Hon. Degrees from the Universities of Sheffield, Athens, Southampton, Liverpool, Edinburgh, St. Andrews, Kent, and London.
Foreign Member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, and of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Corresonding Member of the German Archaeological Institute, Foreign Member of the American Philosophical Society.
Life Peer 1991.
University of Cambridge, M.A. 1962, Ph.D 1965, Sc.D. 1976.
Lecturer then Reader in Prehistory and Archaeology at the University of Sheffield 1965 – 1972.
Professor of Archaeology and Head of Department at the University of Southampton 1972-81.
Disney Professor of Archaeology in the University of Cambridge 1981-2004, and founding Director of the McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research 1990-2004.
Master of Jesus College, Cambridge 1986-97.
Fellow of the British Academy 1980,
Member, Academia Europaea 1988,
Hon. Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 2001.
Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 1996.
Rivers Memorial Medal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 1979.
Huxley Memorial Medal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 1991.
Prix International Fyssen of the Fondation Fyssen, Paris, 1997.
Lucy Wharton Drexel Medal of the University of Pennsylvania Museum, 2003. European Science Foundation Latsis Prize 2003.
Balzan Prize (in the field of Prehistoric Archaeology) 2004
Hon. Degrees from the Universities of Sheffield, Athens, Southampton, Liverpool, Edinburgh, St. Andrews, Kent, and London.
Foreign Member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, and of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Corresonding Member of the German Archaeological Institute, Foreign Member of the American Philosophical Society.
Present position
Senior Fellow, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research,
Emeritus Disney Professor of Archaeology, University of Cambridge
Senior Fellow, McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research,
Emeritus Disney Professor of Archaeology, University of Cambridge
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