Introductory Remarks

Abstract The first chapter lays the foundations for studying the role of the horse within Proto-Indo-European culture. The reader is given background information to understand how the scholarly world came to the concept of Proto-Indo-European and why the role of the horse in the society using that language has mattered to scholars of quite different interests. Marija Gimbutas and David Anthony have seen the horse as pivotal in the development of Indo-European society. Others, like the historian Robert Drews dismiss the presence of the horse in Indo-European vocabulary as of little significance. Many militarists envision an Indo-European society focused chiefly on warfare. For them, the horse powered the wheel and led to the development of a two-wheeled instrument of war, the chariot. After these issues, others concerning the reconstructed language and interrelationships among the later groups of Indo-Europeans are addressed.