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Merlijn de Smit Northern European Prehistory, from above Riho Grünthal & Petri Kal- logical culture thought to represent lio (eds): A linguistic map of a network of armed traders around prehistoric Northern Europe� 2000 BC� Ante Aikio (2004, this Suomalais-Ugrilaisen Seuran Toi- volume) has convincingly demon- mituksia 266� Helsinki: Suoma- strated the presence of a substratum lais-Ugrilainen Seura 2012� of unknown origin in the Saami languages, signifying a language The present volume, which contains shift towards Saami in the far north a series of articles synthesizing lin- in comparatively recent times – per- guistic and archaeological results haps around halfway through the on the prehistory of North-eastern first millennium AD� Jaakko Häk- Europe and is based on a sympo- kinen (2009) has argued that the sium with the same title as the book Ugric languages should be grouped held in Rakvere, Estonia, in 2008, is with Samoyedic into a primary East the latest in a series of such works, Uralic branch, which means that for example Fogelberg 1999 and the old bifurcation between Proto- Carpelan, Parpola and Koskikallio Finno-Ugric and Proto-Samoyedic 2001� This latest addition is very wel- needs to be abandoned� In their come indeed, as the past decade has focus on detailed linguistic argu- seen great developments in the pre- mentation, shallow rather than very history of Uralic languages and peo- large time depths, and in some cases ples� Whereas throughout the 1980s the rehabilitation of old ideas such and 1990s, comparatively great time as Wiklund’s notion of a language depths for the presence of Uralic shift among the Saami, these devel- languages around the Baltic were opments represent what Janhunen in vogue, Petri Kallio (2006) has ar- (2001) dubs the ‘counterrevolution- gued for a much later dating for the ary’ paradigm in Uralistics coming Uralic proto-language� Arguments into maturity� Many of the articles such as the clear presence of Indo- in this volume base themselves spe- Iranian loans in Proto-Uralic mean cifically on these new results� that it significantly postdates Proto- Indo-European, and Proto-Uralic is In the Introduction (XI–XXVIII), connected by Kallio to the Sejma- Riho Grünthal sets out the scope of Turbino phenomenon, an archaeo- this volume, focusing as it does on 466 Northern European Prehistory, from above the area around the Baltic Sea (XV) one-to-one correspondence be- and on the Early Metal and Iron Age tween archaeological cultures and (XVIII); introduces the individual ethnolinguistic entities, and this is articles (XX–XXIII) and describes explicitly defended by Kallio in a some of the problems that haunt at- footnote (225)� I find this acceptable, tempts to synthesize archaeological at least when the archaeological cul- and linguistic results, such as those tures are well-defined and based on that arise when trying to correlate a conglomeration of artefact types, archaeological cultures and linguis- technological features, etc� – sug- tic areas (XIV–XV) and the oppo- gesting social cohesion and thereby sition of models which are predi- the use of a specific language, or cated on such notions as continuity perhaps a lingua franca used for and diffusion versus those based intergroup communication in the on migration and discontinuity case of multilingual speech com- (XIX–XX)� Grünthal covers a lot of munities� This said, in the face of the ground in the introductory chapter, critique of authors such as Saarikivi but the style of writing is sometimes and Lavento (2012), a more detailed overly concise and a bit gnomic� theoretical and methodological Thus, for example, the statement defence of such correlations would that “Our perception of time is, in have been welcome� principle, clockwise, whereas the Secondly, it seems to me that description of prehistoric processes many of the articles in the volume demands an anticlockwise perspec- tend towards the migrationist side tive” (XVIII) is not really explained of the spectrum, which seems to or expanded upon� me justified� After all, ancient his- On the problem of correlating tory is full of recorded migrations, archaeological cultures and eth- some of which (such as that of the nolinguistic entities, it should be Celts from Central Europe all the noted that, while criticism towards way to Asia Minor) seem a priori correlating ethnolinguistic and ar- almost implausible� Furthermore, chaeological entities is expressed in the problem of correlating archaeo- this volume by Charlotte Damm, logical cultures and ethnolinguistic and it has elsewhere has been sub- groups seems to be compounded jected to a detailed methodological in radically “continuist” theories critique by Saarikivi and Lavento such as Wiik’s (2002), wherein the (2012), many of the articles in this whole of European ethnolinguistic volume, particularly Asko Parpo- history after the Palaeolithic is cast la’s, are based on a very traditional in terms of interactions between 467 Merlijn de Smit the Uralic, Indo-European and namely human population genet- Vasconic groups, and this com- ics – is not represented in this vol- bined with an eccentric view on ume (though results from genetics linguistic change� A compromise are referred to by, for instance, position, allowing for periods of Kroonen (241))� This absence is long-term continuity and linguistic understandable: reconciling ar- convergence as well as for periods chaeological and linguistic results of migration and language spread, already presents formidable meth- has been proposed by Dixon (1997)� odological and theoretical chal- The downside of Dixon’s view is lenges� With genetics, there is a fur- that periods of continuity and con- ther hindrance in that the genetic vergence are periods which are not mode of transmission is individual, within the reach of the comparative whereas that of language and cul- method: it would (as Dixon argues ture is social and collective� it does with Australian languages) simply fail to turn up anything use- The first two papers of the collec- ful� Periods when this equilibrium tion, Mika Lavento’s and Charlotte is ‘punctuated’, however, by rapidly Damm’s, deal with purely archaeo- spreading languages and language logical issues� Mika Lavento’s Cul- families, are periods where the tivation among hunter-gatherers comparative method and its meth- in Finland – evidence of activated odologically inbuilt family tree connections? (1–40) deals with the model do apply� As Parpola notes in introduction of agriculture in Fin- this volume (127–128, 156), both the land� Noting that the introduc- Indo-European and the Uralic lan- tion of agriculture has often been guages spread quickly – breaking depicted as a revolution, allowing up swiftly into a number of daugh- for larger population sizes, greater ter branches rather than diversify- social stratification, and the emer- ing in a slow, binary manner over a gence of civilizations such as those very long period of time� This sug- of the ancient Near East (1), Laven- gests that for Indo-European and to deconstructs this view when Uralic at least, it is the punctuation applied to Finland: the introduc- phase, not the equilibrium phase, tion of agriculture in Finland is re- that is relevant, and hence a more garded as a piecemeal process, with or less migrationist view is appro- agriculture being incorporated for priate� a long time into a lifestyle based A third, emerging, scientific on hunting and fishing (31–33)� discipline relevant to prehistory – The evidence Lavento deploys re- 468 Northern European Prehistory, from above lies on, for example, dwelling sites etc� (44–45)� She believes that this and house type (5–6, 10–11), fossil neglects the fact that archaeologi- evidence of, for example, pollen cal cultures are not discrete enti- and cereals (7–9, 16–17), as well as ties: various features may overlap loanword evidence (18–19)� Animal and spread without any concomi- husbandry possibly has its roots in tant ethnolinguistic diffusion (45)� the Battle Axe culture (7), where- In this light, it is problematic that as the coastal Kiukainen culture some of the features traditionally shows clearer evidence for agricul- used in defining archaeological ture in terms of fossils and stone cultures, such as decoration pat- tools (7–9), and in the inland, the terns, are precisely the ones which later Bronze Age brings evidence may diffuse without any great need for crops (11, 17)� However, there for communication and the trans- is a very long term of transition mission of knowledge (52)� As an from the first introduction of agri- alternative, Damm suggests taking culture to agriculture becoming a up a chaîne opératoire approach, dominant way of life, with a long- in which the whole production term degradation of climate condi- process of an artefact type such tions from approx� 3000 BC being a as pottery is taken into account possible reason, though hardly the (46)� Some features of this produc- only one (31)� tion process, such as the usage of e� g� asbestos in tempering, are In her article From entities to in- dependent on the local availabil- teraction: replacing pots and peo- ity of resources (49–50)� Others, ple with networks of transmission such as firing techniques, require (41–62), Charlotte Damm casts a direct transmission of knowledge sceptical look on the whole enter- between potters: unlike decorative prise of correlating archaeologi- patterns, they leave no overt traces cal cultures with ethnolinguistic which can be “read off” the pot and groups� Damm