A hybrid model is proposed for the Indo-European origin

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Heggarty and colleagues published a phylogenetic analysis using a substantially revised cognate dataset and a model allowing sampled ancestors — that is, allowing attested ancient languages to sit on the tree as ancestors rather than only as tips — and reported a root age older than the steppe hypothesis allows, with an origin south of the Caucasus and a subsequent role for the steppe in the dispersal of the European branches. The result is a hybrid rather than a vindication of either earlier position. As of the compiling of this pack in August 2026 the question is open, and this record deliberately does not report a resolution.

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