Due to recent advances in ancient genetics, a new picture of prehistory is emerging. In the LAMP project we cast light on the aspects of prehistoric peoples that make them human: their languages and beliefs. The project asks three fundamental questions about the early speakers of Indo-European:
- How did they talk?
We reconstruct the sounds, grammar and vocabulary of the prehistoric language stages from which the extant languages descend.
- What did they talk about?
We compare the relevant parts of the reconstructed vocabulary with mythological and archaeological evidence in order to establish fragments of the myths, poetry and rituals of prehistory.
- How can we know?
We integrate the methodologies currently developing in the interfaces between the traditional fields of linguistics, archaeology and mythology.
