00:00 The Proto-Indo-Europeans were nomadic herders who spoke a language that would eventually evolve into the Indo-European language family, which is spoken by over three billion people today.

04:47 The Proto-Indo-European language is the common ancestor of many modern languages, and its existence and origins have been the subject of study and debate for centuries.

09:04 The Anatolian Hypothesis suggests that proto-Indo-European was spoken by the first farmers who migrated from Anatolia into the Aegean and then spread into the rest of Europe, but the more likely homeland for proto-Indo-European is the Pontic-Caspian steppe around 6,000 years ago.

13:17 The Proto-Indo-Europeans had wheeled vehicles and words related to sheep, cattle, and horses, suggesting they were mobile herders from the Eurasian grasslands, supporting the steppe hypothesis as the homeland of proto-Indo-European.

18:01 During the availability phase before 5,000 BC, the people living in Old Europe introduced the practice of keeping and herding domesticated animals, especially cattle and sheep, to the foragers living on the steppe, leading to some adoption of farming practices but not a complete transition.

22:22 The foragers living on the steppe began to invest more in herding, accumulating larger herds through selective breeding and rustling cattle, leading to the development of hierarchy and social obligations in their society, as well as the domestication of horses.

26:44 The domestication of horses by the Steppe people occurred between 5,000 BC and 4,800 BC, and while horseback riding was not initially practiced, it was happening by 3,700 BC, with evidence of specialized horse hunting strategies and the use of horses in rituals and burials, indicating the increasing importance of horses as symbols of wealth and power, as well as their role in expanding trade networks and facilitating greater mobility and communication among different groups on the steppe.

31:17 The Sredni Stog people, who appeared after about 4300 BC, were early speakers of the proto-Indo-European language and their migration to eastern Bulgaria and the northern Balkans, possibly on horseback, is likely related to the earliest split within the Indo-European language family.

36:00 The Anatolian languages may have developed from a related language in the same family rather than being direct descendants of Proto-Indo-European, while the Tokarian languages likely split off from the Indo-European speech community around 3700 BC and originated from the eastern edge of the Indo-European world.

40:27 The Yamnaya culture, which emerged in the steppes of Eurasia, represented the mature culture of the proto-Indo-Europeans and was characterized by a pastoral way of life based on herding, horseback riding, and the use of wagons, allowing for mobility and the maintenance of larger herds.

44:49 The Yamnaya culture introduced new innovations, such as wagons, and had a system of social relations built around hierarchy, with important people being buried in kurgans and funeral feasts involving the slaughter of large numbers of animals, honoring the gods, and celebrating the achievements of the deceased.

49:09 The spread of Indo-European languages was not just about conquest or migration, but also about the attractiveness of the social order and beliefs associated with it, such as oaths, hierarchical social ties, and loyalty to powerful tribal leaders.