Page "Tocharians" Paragraph 8

J. P. Mallory and Victor H. Mair argue that the Tocharian languages were introduced to the Tarim and Turpan basins from the Afanasevo culture to their immediate north.

The Afanasevo culture ( c. 3500 – 2500 BC ) displays cultural and genetic connections with the Indo-European-associated cultures of the Central Asian steppe yet predates the specifically Indo-Iranian-associated Andronovo culture ( c. 2000 – 900 BC ) enough to isolate the Tocharian languages from Indo-Iranian linguistic innovations like satemization.