This category is within the scope of WikiProject Europe, an effort to build a comprehensive and detailed guide to European topics of a cross-border nature on Wikipedia.EuropeWikipedia:WikiProject EuropeTemplate:WikiProject EuropeEurope articles
This category is within the scope of WikiProject Asia, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Asia on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.AsiaWikipedia:WikiProject AsiaTemplate:WikiProject AsiaAsia articles
This category is within the scope of WikiProject Ethnic groups, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of articles relating to ethnic groups, nationalities, and other cultural identities on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Ethnic groupsWikipedia:WikiProject Ethnic groupsTemplate:WikiProject Ethnic groupsEthnic groups articles
This category is within the scope of WikiProject Archaeology, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Archaeology on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.ArchaeologyWikipedia:WikiProject ArchaeologyTemplate:WikiProject ArchaeologyArchaeology articles
This category is within the scope of WikiProject Anthropology, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Anthropology on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.AnthropologyWikipedia:WikiProject AnthropologyTemplate:WikiProject AnthropologyAnthropology articles
Latest comment: 6 years ago1 comment1 person in discussion
I've made a bold move and recreated this category. It was deleted after a quiet discussion back in 2015 in which a very few number of votes and arguments were made. Deleting a category which exists in at least 35 different languages at Wikipedia should not have been done based on such a tiny discussion. The key argument made was that being Indo-European is not a defining characteristic of the peoples contained in the category. This is contrary to scholarship. Here are a few examples:
"Illyria, northwestern part of the Balkan Peninsula, inhabited from about the 10th century bce onward by the Illyrians, an Indo-European people."[1]
"Mycenaean, Any member of a group of warlike Indo-European peoples who entered Greece from the north starting c. 1900 bc and established a Bronze Age culture on the mainland and nearby islands."[2]
"The Celts, an ancient Indo-European people, reached the apogee of their influence and territorial expansion during the 4th century bc, extending across the length of Europe from Britain to Asia Minor."[3]
"The Armenians, an Indo-European people, first appear in history shortly after the end of the 7th century bce."[4]
"Lithuanians are an Indo-European people belonging to the Baltic group."[5]
"Hittite, member of an ancient Indo-European people who appeared in Anatolia at the beginning of the 2nd millennium bce; by 1340 bce they had become one of the dominant powers of the Middle East."[6]
"Celt, also spelled Kelt, Latin Celta, plural Celtae, a member of an early Indo-European people who from the 2nd millennium bce to the 1st century bce spread over much of Europe."[7]
"The first recorded inhabitants of Dalmatia were Illyrians (the name Dalmatia probably comes from the name of an Illyrian tribe, the Delmata, an Indo-European people who overran the northwestern part of the Balkan Peninsula beginning about 1000 bce)."[8]
"Mede, one of an Indo-European people, related to the Persians, who entered northeastern Iran probably as early as the 17th century bc and settled in the plateau land that came to be known as Media (q.v.)."[9]
"The original home of the Celts cannot be located precisely, but, on the whole, the evidence points to the eastern part of central Europe. There is more evidence for their contacts with other Indo-European peoples. One group of Celts, at least, found themselves neighbours of the Germanic peoples and were often confused with them by classical writers."[10]
"At the dawn of recorded history, two Indo-European peoples dominated the area: the Illyrians to the west and the Thracians to the east of the great historical divide defined by the Morava and Vardar river valleys."[11]
"Scholars believe that they were created either by the Cimmerians, a nomadic people from southern Russia who may have invaded Iran in the 8th century bce, or by such related Indo-European peoples as the early Medes and Persians."[12]
"Lorestān was inhabited by Iranian Indo-European peoples, including the Medes, c. 1000 bce."[13]
By deleting this category, a crucial link between several categories was removed. Category:Indo-Iranian peoples was for example left empty. Removing such a link does not contribute to building an encyclopedia. It is also inconsistent with the fact that Wikipedia contains categories on several other ethnolinguistic groups: