Linguistics and Archaeology

Heggarty P. · International Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics, Third Edition: 14 Volume Set (2026) · DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-323-95504-1.00613-x

Resumen

Archaeology and (historical) linguistics open up independent windows on our past that can valuably complement and inform each other. A whole toolkit of methods aims to link up the material culture record left by past societies with the language lineages they would have spoken, as they spread and diverged through time and geographical space: ‘cultural reconstruction' from proto-words; ancient loanwords; placenames; substrates; language family trees; and attempts to date past languages based on how fast they change over time. But misconceptions between the disciplines can still leave them working at cross purposes, as new technological approaches emerge and as the ancient DNA revolution also unfolds.

Instituciones: Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú