• In Greece, we find the earliest Neolithic culture in Europe, called the Sesklo culture. This culture probably derived from similar ancient cultures in Anatolia, and in turn influenced the Balkan cultures and possibly the Cardium Pottery culture as well. The Sesklo people probably spoke an "Aegean" language, none of which survive, but which may have included Minoan and Eteocretan.
• In Epirus and Corfu (northwestern Greece, southern Albania) was the Cardium Pottery culture, which reached Italy by 6000 bc. It probably originated in the Levant, but skipped over Crete and Greece and left the rest of the Balkans untouched. It is possible that this culture was adopted by the non-Proto-Indo-European people who would eventually become the Etruscans.
• In western Europe, most particularly in what is now France, was the ancient Tardenosian culture. It is possible that these people included the ancestors of the Aquitanians and the modern Basques.
• In northwestern Russia was the Kunda culture, which may have been a proto-Uralic people.
• In southern Russia, there was the Samara culture. Although many believe this was home to proto-Indo-Europeans, it may have been home to another people altogether, perhaps proto-Uralic or a mixture of peoples, as is not uncommon in the steppes.
• In the Balkans, there was a cluster of cultural groups that were fairly advanced, including the Starçevo-Körös-Cris culture in Dacia and Karanova culture in Thrace. These were followed by the Vinça-Turdas in Dacia and the Hamangia in Thrace. Following Igor M. Diakonov, I believe these represent the core of the neolithic Proto-Indo-Europeans (PIE).
• And to the north, in parts of Germany, Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, and Hungary, there were hunter-gatherer tribes who were either PIE or pre-PIE. Similar people inhabited the Ukraine.
• Note: Most linguists follow Marija Gimbates' Kurgan theory. A smaller group follow Colin Renfrew's Anatolian theory. I am admittedly only an amateur, but I prefer Diakonov's Balkan theory, which is also a part of Renfrew's extended theory

• In the Ukraine, there was the Dnieper-Donets culture, which may have included the ancestors of the Indo-Iranians, the Hittites, and the Tokharians.
• In the north, there was the Ertebolle culture of southern Scandinavia, and the related Ellerbek and Swifterbant cultures in northern Germany and the Netherlands respectively. These cultures may represent the earliest ancestors of the Germanic people, or non-PIE hunter-gatherers later absorbed or displaced.
  
• In the eastern Baltic area was the Narva culture, which was likely proto-Uralic.
• In central Europe were the Danubian cultures, starting with the Linear Pottery culture (or LBK). We also find the Eastern LBK (or Bükk) culture in Hungary. And there was the Rössen culture from the Netherlands and western Germany south to north-eastern France, Switzerland, and western Austria. I believe that these all represent the proto-Celtic people, beginning to differentiate themselves from the broader PIE collection of dialect.
• And we see a Stroked Pottery culture (STK) in eastern Germany, much of Poland, and northern Czechoslovakia, which may have included the earliest ancestors of the Balto-Slavic people and, possibly, the Germanic people as well.
• In the Balkans, we find the sophisticated Vinça-Turdas and Hamangia cultures mentioned above, and the Cucuteni-Trypillian culture to their east.

• Along the Atlantic coast, from England down to Portugal, were the Megalithic cultures, creators of giant stone edifices such as Stonehenge. These are still likely pre-PIE, including the ancestors of the Aquitanians and the Basques.
• In the Ukraine, there was the Sredny Stog culture. These people may have been the first horse breeders. By 3600, they were replaced by the Yamna (or Pit Grave) culture, a cattle-herding culture which may represent the first signs of the proto-Indo-Iranians. The Yamna culture would strongly influence western European cultures, via expansions of pastoralists into steppe-like areas such as the Hungarian plain.
• The proto-Tokharians, also originating in the Ukraine, continued their movement east, where they would create the Afansevo culture by 3300.
• In the north-east (northern Russia, northern Scandinavia, Finland), there developed the Pit-Comb Ceramics culture, which is likely proto-Uralic.
• West of this culture was the Funnelbeaker culture (TRB), the first farming culture of northern Europe, ranging from the Netherlands, to Poland, which likely encompassed both the proto-Germanic and proto-Balto-Slavic peoples.
• In central and western Europe, the Danubian culture continued, especially the Michelsberg culture of southern Germany and northern France , which were likely proto-Celtic, and the Globular Amphora culture of eastern Germany and Hungary, which may be an indication of an early proto-Balto-Slavic presence.
• In Moldova and western Ukraine, the Cucuteni-Trypillia culture had built some of the largest towns of the time. We also see the Varna culture in Bulgaria, and the Boian (or Marita) culture in Romania, which was an extension of the Danubian culture. By 3500, the Balkan Bronze Age begins. Some portion of these may have been ancestors of the Greeks.
• Towards the end of this millenium, the Cycladic civilization developed on the Greek islands. It likely represented a pre-PIE Aegean culture.
  
• Finally, in this time period, we assume that the Hittites and their relations have at least begun to split from the rest of the PIE languages. Guesses vary as to where they originated: Thrace, the Ukraine, or the Caucasus, or that they were native to Anatolia. My guess is that they originated in the Maykop culture of the north-west Caucasus, south of the Yamna culture.

• The Minoan civilization developed in Crete. This culture was probably Aegean and not PIE.
• The Poltavka culture, an offshoot of the Yamna, moved east into southern Russia. This was probably a proto-Indo-Iranian culture.
• The Corded Ware (or Battle Ax) culture took over northern Europe. This culture likely represented the proto-Germanic and proto-Balto-Slavic speaking peoples, as well as the uralic proto-finnic people to their north and east.
• The Windmill culture entered southern Britain, probably the first infiltration of the proto-Celts into the British Isles.
• On the continent, we see expansion of the Bell-Beaker culture. This culture originated in Portugal and moved northward along two paths. One was into southern France, up the Loire River valley, to Germany and Austria. The other was along the Atlantic coast of France, up to the lower Rhine River valley and across the Channel to England and Ireland. This may have been a non-PIE cultural innovation that was adopted by the proto-Celts.

• The Hittites and their relations entered Anatolia. The Hittite Empire controlled most of Anatolia from 1650 to 1200 bc.
• The Sintashta culture of the southern Urals area was likely Indo-Iranian, and the home of the earliest known chariots. It was followed by the Andronovo culture in 1800. The Indic and Iranian languages began to split and, around 1500, Vedic Sanskrit began in northwestern India.
• At the same time, the Srubna culture of the Ukraine and southern Russia - possibly Cimmerian - retreated under pressure from the Indo-Iranian Scyths.
• The Mycenaean civilization of mainland Greece began around 1600 bc. This is believed to have been proto-Greek.
• Also around 1800 was the beginning of the Nordic Bronze age - clearly proto-Germanic. Contact or mixing with Celtic tribes to the south, the Baltic tribes to the east, and the uralic tribes to the north, may have been the source of some of the distinctive qualities of Germanic.
• And also at this time the first proto-Italic tribes crossed into Italy, either via the northeast or across the Adriatic, and developed the Terramare culture.
• By 1600, the Tumulus culture developed in southern Germany and spread across western Europe, from Britain to Iberia. This culture, again, represents the Celts.
• The Trzciniec culture developed in eastern Germany, Poland, and Belarus, and the Baltic and Slavic languages began to differentiate.

• Around 1300, the Urnfield culture developed. Clearly Celtic, it ranged from Austria, through Germany and the Netherlands, to eastern and southern France, and Catalonia. It would be succeeded by the Halstatt culture.
• Also at this time, the Lusatian culture flourished in Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, and parts of Germany and the Ukraine. It was most likely Slavic.
• In 1100, the Villanovan culture, a branch of the Urnfield culture and the first Iron Age culture of Italy, developed. It may have been passed from the Celts of Austria to the non-PIE Raeti and then on to their Etruscan relatives. Its range was nearly identical to the home of the Etruscans.
• The Balkan Iron Age began around 1100, and we see several "Paleobalkan" Indo-European languages differentiated. Venetic and Liburnian were possible relatives of Italic. Illyrian and its relative Messapian across the Adriatic were also possible relatives of Italic. Daco-Thracian (and possibly Mysian) were Satem languages, probably akin to Balto-Slavic. Experts disagree as to whether modern Albanian is a descendant of Illyrian or Daco-Thracian. Macedonian, Phrygian, and possibly Armenian may be related to Greek.
• Around 1200 bc, in Greece, we see the Homeric (or "Dark") Age, presumably due to the invasion of the Dorian Greeks from the north.
• The Medes, Parthians, and Persians began to move into the Iranian plateau from around 800 bc.

Notes:

The relationships among culture, language, and genetics are not terribly strong. I believe that groups of people picked up technologies from other groups without reservations, and probably weren't too hesitant to try out new stylistic changes either. Language is not so easily shared, but the constant exchange of spouses (predominantly women) among bands and tribes probably lead at least to changes in language, if not straight-forward adoption. And genetics is susceptible to a variety of influences such as the founder effect, bottlenecks, genetic drift, and sexual selection, that can easily lead to a detachment of genetic heritage from cultural or linguistic heritage.

There are many theories about the evolution of language in Europe:

• The most common one (focused on the proto-Indo-European languages which today dominate the continent) suggests that there was a multitude of languages in Europe after the ice age (say 8000 bc), which was then overwhelmed by powerful militaristic PIE tribes from the steppes of the Ukraine and southern Russia. This is Marija Gimbuta's Kurgan theory.
• A second major theory suggests that the PIE languages originated in Anatolia, then expanded to the Balkans, and spread with the spread of farming into the rest of Europe. This is Colin Renfrew's Anatolian theory.
• A less-accepted theory holds that the PIE languages have dominated much of Europe continuously from the end of the ice age on. This is Mario Alinei's Paleolithic Continuity theory.
• And another less-accepted theory says that Europe was divided into three linguistic areas - the ancestors of the Basques, the Uralic languages, and the PIE languages - which each expanded from three "refuges" - Spain, the Ukraine, and the Balkans, respectively. This is Kalevi Wiik's Refuges theory.
  

My theory (admittedly that of an amateur!) is that all of these are, in part, correct. I suggest that there were actually five linguistic areas at the end of the ice age: the Atlantic area (Spain, Portugal, France), the area of the Cardial pottery (from the east coast of the Adriatic, into Italy, and on to the Mediterranean coasts of France and Catalonia), the Aegean area (Greece, Crete, Cyprus, and much of Anatolia), the Proto-Uralic area (Finland, the Baltic area, and northern Russia), and the PIE area (central Europe, from the Balkans to Denmark, and the Ukraine).

The PIE people were among the earliest to domesticate the horse, adopt farming from the Middle-East, and develop metal-working. The combination of these probably allowed them to expand, demographically and culturally, at the expense of others.

© 2013, C. George Boeree