Blurb:

Questioning language through archaeology is obviously, and by definition,an impossible task. What we attempt to do here is only to inquire as to how archaeology can contribute to the question, in addition to insights gained from textual and linguistic evidence.This paper would have reached its goal if it could be a step in a dialogue, if not a synthesis, between culture (as rebuilt by archaeologists) and languages (as rebuilt by philologists). Considering the complexities of history already by
the 4th millennium BC in the Ancient Orient and the state of the art on physical anthropology in these regions, there may be a long way to go until genetics can add to the picture.