Pre-Indo-European languages are any of several old languages, not necessarily related to one another, that existed in
prehistoric Europe and
South Asia before the arrival of speakers of
Indo-European languages. The oldest Indo-European language texts date from
19th century BC in
Kültepe in modern-day Turkey, and while estimates vary widely, spoken Indo-European languages are believed to have developed at the latest by the third millennium BC (see
Proto-Indo-European Urheimat hypotheses). Thus the Pre-Indo-European languages must have developed earlier than, or in some cases alongside, the Indo-European languages.