 The past two years we have had at our disposal a new grant narrative, which is both genetic and archaeological, concerning the spread of Indo-European languages. Toward the end of the 4th millennium BC, members of the pedgraf culture, the Yamnaya Kultura in Russia, scattered northwestwards, accompanied by their newly domesticated horses, herds of cattle, and their newly invented four-wheeled ox-drawn carts. Their migration may have been triggered by climatic deterioration associated with increased aridity in the steppes. Without knowing it, they also brought with them the world's oldest known plague bacterium, Yersina pestis, to which they were immune in much the same way that Europeans arriving in the Americas were immune to missiles. They had developed the ability to assimilate milk in adulthood thanks to the lactase gene. As they advanced, they cleared wide areas of forest in order to graze their cattle. The plague that they carried decimated the local population of present-day Northern Poland and Germany and South of Scandinavia, where they finally halted their expansion. They formed a new culture known as the Corded Ware culture. In contrast to the local population who buried their dead in collective megalithic tombs, the new arrivals buried the important members of their communities beneath small individual tummies. Little is known of their settlements, which might be an indication of their nomadic character. In the west of Europe, this migration gave rise, at least in part, to the emergence of the so-called Bell Beaker culture, although it appears that this culture also owes part of its origin to the Iberian Peninsula. It is therefore difficult to avoid correlating this various Greek migration to the dispersal of Indo-European language throughout Europe and part of Asia. Thus, the solution provided by genetics has definitely established and conformed to that outlined by the philosopher Leibniz 300 years ago, confirmed by the philologist Otto Schrader a little over a century ago, developed by the archaeologist Gordon Child in the 20s before he retracted it and reworked by the archaeologist Maria Gimbutas in the 70s and subsequently by Jim Mallory or David Anthony. That is that the Indo-European did indeed originate in the steppes. We encounter now this narrative not only in the scientific literature but more widely in various languages on the internet whether it be on Wikipedia, various forms or in blogs dedicated to genetics. It is true that in the latter cases we are dealing for the most part with the accounts of amateurs who are more or less informed and who are more enthusiastic when it comes to easily understood solutions. No one's less, there are a number of points that remain problematic. First point, the exact nature of the Yamunaya culture is not clear given that it extends over a vast area forming a diagonal band some 3,000 kilometers long and 700 kilometers wide and encompassing a total area of about 2 million square kilometers. In the system developed by Maria Gimbutas, the Yamunaya culture is not the earliest population but rather is a local evolution termed the Kogan 4 period which follows three earlier migratory movements, Kogan 1, 2, 3. Second point, there are considerable stylistic differences between the material culture of the Yamunaya and that of the corded ware. From a stylistic point of view some of the forms and decoration of the corded ware are rooted in the local culture that immediately preceded it particularly the so-called globular amphora culture. Cattle and carts are already important elements of this culture the position of cattle sometimes rule animals in funerary context the existence of figurine of cattle some of which are of copper etc. There is no genetic component from the steps in the people of the globular amphora culture. The idea that corded ware vessels are reposition of Yamunaya organic vessels is interesting but is hampered by the reasoning based on the absence of the letter that is ex-filancio reasoning. Finally, the corded ware funerary and ritual practices differ greatly from those of the Yamunaya culture. Anthropomorphics, tele and figurative standing stones representing warriors bearing axes and beggars are absent as are carts either wool or dismantled within corded ware tombs. Deep funerary pits which give their name to the Yamunaya culture are likewise absent. Finally, the funerary ritual of the corded ware is much more strict and rigid than that of the Yamunaya culture which tends to be more varied. Third point, while funerary mounds or burrows are typical of elite tombs of both the Yamunaya and corded ware they are not specific to these cultures. In fact they appeared in different parts of Europe including western Europe from the fifth millennium onwards. That is from the point when marked social differentiation emerged on the continent. It is therefore a ubiquitous practice that occurs in very different places at different times. Four point, the hypothesis that the initial migration was composed exclusively of male warriors is also interesting but to date we have no archaeological evidence for a wide-scale massacre of local male populations. Furthermore, there is a lack of expert consensus regarding this subject with the genetic sex bias proposed by one team of geneticists being refuted by one or another team. In any case, genetic analysis reveals that the flow of genes from the south to the northwest while massive took place over a number of generations and was not a sudden event. As regards the association of this migration with the emergence of warrior initiation customs which are attested to in historic times well after the period in question among several Indo-European speaking population we can only cite one archaeological example that is the discovery of the remains of 50 dogs and seven wolves deliberately beheaded across no Samarovskoye near Samara in Russia. However, it has not yet been proven that this butchery had a ritual purpose and was not simply carried out to exploit the first as has been attested later during the European Iron Age, for example. Moreover, this site dates to the Timbergrave culture, the Kruvnaya Kultua, some 1000 years later than the migration. Anyway, it is a common feature of most human societies that male burials predominate in elite tombs. Fifth point, as regards exogamy and virillocality, this has already been demonstrated through strontium analysis carried out at Orlau in Germany, admittedly on a very small population, and on 60 individuals from the corded-wear cemetery at Laudakonikshofen in Baden-Württemberg and at Bergheimfeld in Bavaria. Even through the results are not always very clear. However, exogamy is a very widespread phenomenon throughout the world, and it is difficult to determine a birth place because different regions can produce similar chemicals spectra due to their geology. Sixth point, regarding diets, evidence from corded-wear cemeteries indicating a combination of vegetable and animal food is not very different from that for preceding Neolithic societies. The diet was, in fact, far from being exclusively based on meat and dairy products. In addition, adult tolerances to lactose, thanks to the lactase enzyme, does not appear to have been genetically present at this time. Seventh point, concerning the importance of cattle and carts, the raising of cattle becomes dominant in Europe as early as the linear band Keramik, that is the first Neolithic in Central Europe during the six millennium BC, particularly so if we base our calculations not only on the number of animals but on their weight in meat. The importance of belts is clearly evident in the ideology of the early Neolithic on the Near East, like for example in Chattaluik and in the European Neolithic, like in Au Bevoir in Normandy in the fifth millennium or in the globular anthra culture. Representation of carts on Yorkt-Oxson appear from the beginning of the fourth millennium in the Cucoutini culture of Romania, in the Lengel and Baden culture of Hungary, in the Wabbe culture in Germany, or in the Funnel Biker culture in Poland, etc. Furthermore, getting back to the original Indo-Europeans, the common vocabulary for the various parts of carts is heterogeneous, while the most likely birthplace of the invention remains the Near East. As regards the massive deforestation that is said to have accompanied the emergence of the Corded Way culture, we have fallen evidence for such clearance in certain regions while others clearly retained their forest cover. Eighth point, regarding the plague, an interesting and important study undertaken by Alemtof and Trasmussen has revealed that of 100 individuals whose DNA is preserved, only seven wear carriers of the plague gene Yersina Pestis. However, of these seven individuals who are dated to between 2800 BC and 900 BC, no one comes from northwestern Europe or from the Funnel Biker culture. The single individual from Sope in Estonia belongs to the Corded Way culture. The other individuals are more recent or are far or are from very distant regions like Siberia. Nor do we know if the bacillus were already life-threatening. Certain demographic studies taking the number of C14 days as a proxy reveal a deep in population between 3300 BC and 3100 BC. However, an epidemic is but one of several possible explanations and in any case not all studies reveal this deep. Furthermore, this proxy only reflects the interest of researchers in a certain site type and in C14 dates in general and does not take account of the nature and size of the sites or of their preservation conditions, the taphonomy. Nothing excludes the possibility of their having been an epidemic at the end of the first millennium BC but nothing proves it either. Ninth and last point. From a linguistic point of view, the language spoken by the Corded Way people would have been a so-called pre-proto-Germanic. Within the Indo-European family of languages, Germanic possesses a number of linguistic particularities that suggest the presence of a previous local sub-phratome and that a third of the Germanic vocabulary is of non-Indo-European origin. Part of the agricultural vocabulary could originate from this indigenous Neolithic sub-phratome. However, in this case we should encounter the same sub-phratome phenomenon in all of the other Indo-European languages. Paradoxically, the only Indo-European migration that would be undeniable on the grounds of genetic and linguistic evidence, that is the Corded Way culture migration, would subsequently give rise to the most deviant Indo-European languages. To sum up, those recent combined genetic, archaeological, and linguistic analysis undoubtedly represent very interesting scientific advances. But it is important not to run ahead of ourselves and to avoid making the same mistakes as those made by 19th century racial anthropologists who sought to identify links between skull shape, culture, and language. Two cautionary examples can be cited. Volkswagen Hacks' team's seminal study reveals that in Europe today there is no genetic difference between populations who speak Indo-European languages and those who speak other languages like Basque, Estonian, or Hungarian. Likewise, the most recent study this year of the Bell Beaker culture has shown that part of this culture is of Iberian origin while the other is Central European with elements from the steppes. However, they are all part of the same cultural universe. As a provisional conclusion, therefore, we should be optimistic about while remaining cautious. Thank you very much.