<Tr> <Td> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> </Td> </Tr> <Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> Indo - European migrations were the migrations of pastoral peoples speaking the Proto - Indo - European language, who departed from the Yamnaya and related cultures in the Pontic--Caspian steppe, starting at c. 4000 BCE . Their descendants spread throughout Europe and Asia, forming new cultures with the people they met on their way, including the Corded Ware culture in Northern Europe and the Vedic culture in the Indian subcontinent . These migrations ultimately seeded the cultures and languages of most of Europe, greater Persia, and much of the Indian subcontinent (and subsequently resulted in the largest and most broadly spoken language family in the world). </P> <P> Modern knowledge of these migrations is based on data from linguistics, archaeology, anthropology and genetics . Linguistics describes the similarities between various languages, and the linguistic laws at play in the changes in those languages . Archaeological data, describes the spread of the Proto - Indo - European language and culture in several stages from the Proto - Indo - European Eurasian homeland in the Pontic--Caspian steppe, into Western Europe and Central and South Asia, by migrations, and by language shift through elite - recruitment as described by anthropological research . Recent genetic research has a growing contribution to the understanding of the historical relations between various historical cultures . </P>

Who were the indo-europeans and where did they originate