pt. 1. Language and archaeology. -- The promise and politics of the mother tongue -- How to reconstruct a dead language -- Language and time 1: the last speakers of Proto-Indo-European -- Language and time 2 : wool, wheels, and Proto-Indo-European -- Language and place : the location of the Proto-Indo-European homeland -- The archaeology of language -- pt. 2. The opening of the Eurasian steppes. -- How to reconstruct a dead culture -- First farmers and herders : the Pontic-Caspian Neolithic -- Cows, copper, and chiefs -- The domestication of the horse and the origins of riding : the tale of the teeth -- The end of Old Europe and the rise of the steppe -- Seeds of change on the steppe borders : Maikop chiefs and Tripolye towns -- Wagon dwellers of the steppe : the speakers of Proto-Indo-European -- The western Indo-European languages -- Chariot warriors of the northern steppes -- The opening of the Eurasian steppes -- Words and deeds