Reflections of a stormy petrel

I wonder whether we understand each other about "Indo-European". I am interested in the cultures, and in the prehistory in so far as it can be discovered, of the group of peoples who share a common linguistic and cultural origin and are defined as "Indo-European", which include Germanic, Romance, Greek, Slavonic, Albanian, Armenian, Iranic, and Indo-Aryan language groups, plus a number of dead ones. The research this involves begins with comparative mythology and religion (which is why I know a bit more about the Indian epics than the average Western person, though not nearly enough), and would have fairly little to do with Indian history proper - at least no more than with Roman, Greek and other groups.