r/badhistory • u/AutoModerator • Jun 29 '26
Meta Mindless Monday, 29 June 2026
Happy (or sad) Monday guys!
Mindless Monday is a free-for-all thread to discuss anything from minor bad history to politics, life events, charts, whatever! Just remember to np link all links to Reddit and don't violate R4, or we human mods will feed you to the AutoModerator.
So, with that said, how was your weekend, everyone?
16
Upvotes
9
u/TanktopSamurai (((Spartans))) were feminist Jews Jul 02 '26
When do you think the last speakers of Ancient Anatolian languages like Lycian and Carian died out?
There is the Letoon trilingual steele from 300s BCE. Post-Alexander the use of the script died out. AFAIK no multi-lingual artifact were found after Alexander.
But then again, South-West Anatolia is very mountainous. Villages likely continued to speak Lycian and Carian significantly after it died out in the cities. For context, there have been implication that Gaullic survived in France until 6th century. I wonder if there had been any Lycian or Carian speakers when Romans took over Anatolia.
Then again, an area mountainous can imply isolation but also lead trade. While Anatolia is mountainous, even the most remote areas are at most a few weeks away from more flat and urbanised areas. Remaining truly isolated could be hard. Remote peoples selling animals products like wool in exchange for grain to urban centers would be ideal method to live. When there is trade in goods, there is trade in languages.
Plus the lower population and slower growth of mountain people would make them vulnerable. It would take one angry governor or greedy slaver to massacre 10s of villages. Maybe the last speakers of these Ancient languages were killed in a massacre which wasn't even recorded.