The Indo-European languages is the most widespread language family in the world, and was traditionally located in Europe, southern, and south-western Asia.Theil, 2024.
Proto-Indo-European is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, hypothesized to have been spoken about 6500–4500 years ago on the steppes of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia.Joseph, 2018.
There are two competing hypotheses about how the language spread from this area. Colin Renfrew’s Anatolian hypothesis holds that agriculture drove the Indo-European’s mobility,Renfrew, 1987. while Marija Gimbutas propose that the Indo-European’s where a nomadic pastoral society motivated by economic trade and military conquest.Gimbutas, 1956.
Through European colonisation, starting in the 1500s, the Indo-European languages have spread across the globe and are currently spoken by about 3.3 billion people.Theil, 2024.
Renfrew, C. (1987). Archaeology and Language: The Puzzle of Indo-European Origins. Cape.
Gimbutas, M. (1956). The Prehistory of Eastern Europe. Part I: Mesolithic, Neolithic and Copper Age Cultures in Russia and the Baltic Area. Peabody Museum.
Jospeh, D. (2018). The Indo-Europeanization of Europe: An Introduction to the Issues. Ohio State University
Theil, R. (27 May 2024). Indoeuropeiske språk [Indo-European languages]. In Store norske leksikon. Retrieved 20 September 2026 from snl.no
