A European origin for the PIE language was first suggested by Heinrich Schulz in 1826. Most people still thought it was in Asia because Sanskrit is so archaic. In 1851 Robert Gordon Latham, in a prologue for Germania by Tacitus, argues again for a European urheimat on the basis that most linguistic diversity of IE languages is inside Europe.

Latham suggested Lithuania as a possible origin, but significantly, he also identified the Pontic-Caspian steppe as of likely significance to the PIE speakers, mentioning the Volga and the Dnieper.

The South-Russian/Ukrainian homeland was properly considered by Otto Schrader in 1890, who cites a paper from 1875 by Theodor Benfey. It is to these men that a great deal of credit is therefore due. However Latham did some of the groundwork

La Tene era Celtic princess from the 5th century BC burial on the banks of the Moselle, in Luxembourg, between Schengen and Remerschen

This is what late Roman soldiers in Britain looked like - trousers and tunics from barbarian influence on the late Romans. The crested helmet famous for Vendel era Swedish and early Anglo-Saxon examples is based on Late Roman ridge helmets - the only real difference being that the Germanic people added their zoomorphic knotwork designs to the mix. What is surprising is how similar this soldier looks to the Anglo-Saxon invaders who were yet to arrive. Their arrival was perhaps not as much of a culture shock as people sometimes make out...