, ▁and ▁German ic ), ▁in ▁the ▁Dan ube ▁valley , ▁B alk an ▁Pro to - Ind o - Europe an ▁( cor respond ing ▁to ▁G im but as ' ▁Old ▁European ▁culture ) ▁and ▁Early ▁Ste ppe ▁Pro to - Ind o - Europe an ▁( the ▁ancest or ▁of ▁To char ian ). ▁ ▁The ▁main ▁strength ▁of ▁the ▁far ming ▁hypothesis ▁lies ▁in ▁its ▁linking ▁of ▁the ▁spread ▁of ▁Ind o - Europe an ▁languages ▁with ▁an ▁arch ae olog ically - known ▁event , ▁the ▁spread ▁of ▁far ming , ▁which ▁sch ol ars ▁often ▁assume ▁involved ▁significant ▁population ▁sh ifts . ▁ ▁Bay esian ▁analysis ▁Research ▁published ▁in ▁ 2 0 0 3 ▁of ▁" 8 7 ▁languages ▁with ▁ 2 , 4 4 9 ▁lex ical ▁items " ▁by ▁Russell ▁Gray ▁and ▁Qu entin ▁At kin son ▁found ▁an ▁age ▁range ▁for ▁the ▁" initial ▁Ind o - Europe an ▁diver gence " ▁of ▁ 7 8 0 0 ▁to ▁ 9 8 0 0 ▁years , ▁which ▁was ▁found ▁to ▁be ▁consistent ▁with ▁the ▁An atol ian ▁hypothesis . ▁Using ▁st ochastic ▁models ▁to ▁evaluate ▁the ▁presence ▁or ▁absence ▁of ▁different ▁words ▁across ▁Ind o - Europe an , ▁ ▁concluded ▁that ▁the ▁origin ▁of ▁Ind o - Europe an ▁goes ▁back ▁about ▁ 8 5 0 0 ▁years , ▁the ▁first ▁split ▁being ▁that ▁of ▁H itt ite ▁from ▁the ▁rest ▁( Ind o - H itt ite ▁hypothesis ). ▁ ▁In ▁