Late Holocene Technology Words in Proto-Athabaskan: Implications for Dene-Yeniseian Culture History

This study will review previously published Proto-Athabaskan (P-A) linguistic reconstructions related to weapons and ceramics technologies present on both sides of the Bering Strait. Na-Dene (N-D) is a large family of indigenous languages of North America, consisting mostly of the Athabaskan languag...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Humans
Main Author: Joseph A. P. Wilson
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023
Subjects:
Athabaskan
Dene-Yeniseian
historical linguistics
sinew-backed bows
low-fire ceramics
copper metallurgy
Anthropology
GN1-890
Archaeology
CC1-960
Bering Strait
eyak
tlingit
Alaska
Siberia
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3390/humans3030015
https://doaj.org/article/2c431e4ff13f4b1fb6a119377d9fbdbb
Description
Summary:This study will review previously published Proto-Athabaskan (P-A) linguistic reconstructions related to weapons and ceramics technologies present on both sides of the Bering Strait. Na-Dene (N-D) is a large family of indigenous languages of North America, consisting mostly of the Athabaskan languages of the western interior, plus the Eyak and Tlingit languages of the southern Alaska coast. Athabaskan-Eyak (A-E) constitutes a distinct branch of Na-Dene. Dene-Yeniseian (D-Y) is a proposed transpacific family comprised of Na-Dene in addition to the Yeniseian languages of Siberia. Reconstructions pertaining to several specific technologies will be discussed in relation to likely cognates within broader A-E, N-D and D-Y historical contexts. Although D-Y is sometimes assumed to have originated near the conclusion of the Pleistocene Epoch (prior to ~11,500 years BP), this study will refocus fundamental questions on the current Holocene Epoch (after ~11,500 BP), and particularly the Late Holocene (after ~3000 BP).

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