The Urnfield culture, after developing iron (and cremation), took over northern Italy as “proto-Villanova” but stalled out in Campania. Urnfield outside Italy is considered a Celtic culture; and in north Italy, Golasecca entered literacy speaking the “Lepontic” dialect of Gaulish.
I should add that Villanova culture proper, by the time it adopted literacy, spoke no Celtic (nor Italic) but only Etruscan. The Lepontics were strong enough to take Tuscany; not strong enough to remake Tuscany. It looks like the Mitanni over the Hurrians, or the Huns in Germany.
Further along the boot from Campania, when the Apennine hillfolk who didn’t take on Urnfield characteristics first make themselves read, they are writing in Oscan.
So I propose that “proto-Apennine” from 1700 BC on was already an Umbrian / Oscan / Samnite concern. Of interest is a change in ideography with no change in language - usually I like to say "pots aren't people but they are language". To that, ideograms don't always correlate to the spoken language as witness Linear A/B or, indeed, our own German switch from runes to Latin.
BACKDATING 10/22
DNA 9/26/21: Everything is verified.
No comments:
Post a Comment