Indo-European Migrations
Chapter 3 Section 1
Steppes
• A large area of flat grassland in southeastern Europe and / or Siberia.
Migration
• The movement of animals from one region to another.• Birds migrate south for winter. • Humans migrated from one region of the Earth to
another, until they covered the entire planet.
Indo-European Languages
• A family languages spoken mostly in Europe and southwestern and southern Asia. These languages are descended from a single language about 5,000 years ago in the steppe regions north of the Black Sea.
Vedas
• The oldest and most important of the Hindu sacred texts, composed in Sanskrit and gathered into four collections.
• Think of the Vedas as the Hindu version of the Bible.
Caste System
• A social structure (ranking system) in which classes are determined by birth.
Mahabharata
• A sacred Hindu epic poem written in Sanskrit. Taking place in India and dealing with the struggle between two rival families.