Pt. I: Language and archaeology. The promise and politics of the mother tongue ; How to reconstruct a dead language ; Language and time 1: the last speakers of Proto-Indo-European ; Language and time 2: wool, wheels, and Proto-Indo-European ; Language and place: The location of the Proto-Indo-European homeland ; The archaeology of language

Pt. II: The opening of the Eurasian steppes. How to reconstruct a dead culture ; First farmers and herders : the Pontic-Caspian Neolithic ; Cows, copper, and chiefs ; The domestication of the horse and the origins of riding : the tale of the teeth ; The end of Old Europe and the rise of the steppe ; Seeds of change on the steppe borders : Maikop chiefs and Tripolye towns ; Wagon dwellers of the steppe : the speakers of Proto-Indo-European ; The western Indo-European languages ; Chariot warriors of the northern steppes ; The opening of the Eurasian steppes ; Words and deeds.