Proto-Greeks and the Kurgan Theory

The Journal of Indo-European Studies. — Spring/Summer 2000. — Volume 28, Number 1 & 2 — pp. 65-100.Michael B. Sakellariou deals with the origins oi the Proto-Greeks in many publications, and in connection with this topic, also with problems of IE prehistory. His interpretation is close to the Kurgan Theory of Marija Gimbutas. His method is interdisciplinary, combining history and archaeology with linguistics. J. Makkay has published a monograph on the same subject in which startlingly enough, Sakellariou’s work is almost entirely ignored. Makkay's negativism towards the Kurgan Thery is shown to be inconsistent, and, to a certain extent, selfcontradictory.
This paper presents a survey of Sakellariou's views in favor of extending the force of Kurgan Theory also to Greek soil, with emphasis on his recent publications, and makes an effort to find links between the two approaches.