Ancient language spoken for the first time in thousands of years.

All Indo-European languages spoken today descended from one primary source. That primary language--known today as the Proto-Indo-European (or PIE) language--is believed to have been spoken between 4500-2500 BC, yet there has never been any written text to go off (our ancient ancestors slacked a bit in this regard), and obviously no recordings of the language spoken (our ancient ancestors slacked a bit in this regard, too).

But as Archeology magazine tells us, what that language sounded like is no longer a mystery. University of Kentucky's Dr. Andrew Byrd used a reconstructed alphabet of PIE that was created in 1868 by German linguist August Schleicher and read a fable (also created by Schleicher) to finally put the language to sound.

And what you get is this:

While no one can be certain if the pronunciations are quite perfect (linguists are sticklers on these things), Byrd says his recreation is "a very educated approximation."

In case you're wondering what Byrd is saying in PIE while reciting the Sheep and Horses fable, Archeology supplies us with this translation:

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The Sheep and the Horses

A sheep that had no wool saw horses, one of them pulling a heavy wagon, one carrying a big load, and one carrying a man quickly. The sheep said to the horses: "My heart pains me, seeing a man driving horses." The horses said: "Listen, sheep, our hearts pain us when we see this: a man, the master, makes the wool of the sheep into a warm garment for himself. And the sheep has no wool." Having heard this, the sheep fled into the plain.
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What can we take away from this fable? Sheep are sensitive. Also cold.