| Abstract: |
It is suggested in this paper that language macrofamily relationships may chart ancient population dispersals on scales that the archaeological record often does not or cannot reveal. For instance, patterns of language family distribution and human biology suggest that population dispersals and replacements consequent on early developments of agriculture were probably of very great significance on many occasions in Holocene prehistory throughout the world. These observations should be of equal interest to archaeologists and linguists, who are encouraged to undertake very broad comparative research, both in time and in space, in order to overcome the restrictions on historical interpretation that result from high degrees of disciplinary specialization.
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