The “Steppe Belt” of stockbreeding cultures in Eurasia during the Early Metal Age

Abstract

El "Cinturón estepario" de culturas ganaderas en Eurasia durante la Primera Edad del Metal Evgeny Chernykh (*) ABSTRACT province (V millennium BC). These cultures developed during the span of the Circumpontic metallurgical province (IV-III millennium BC). Their maturation coincided with the activity of the various centers of the giant Eurasian and East-Asian metallurgical provinces (II millennium BC RESUMENLas culturas ganaderas del "cinturón estepario" de Eurasia cubrieron aproximadamente 7-8 millones de km 2 , entre el bajo Danubio al oeste y Manchuria al este (una distancia de más de 8000 km). La formación inicial de estas culturas coincide con el florecimiento de la provincia metalúrgica Cárpato-Balcánica (V milenio AC). Estas culturas se desarrollaron durante la provincia metalúrgica Circumpóntica (IV-III milenios AC). Su madurez coincide con la actividad de varios centros de las grandes provincias metalúrgicas Euroasiática y del Asia oriental (II milenio AC). La influencia de estas culturas ganaderas en los procesos históricos de las gentes de Eurasia fue muy intensa. El colapso de este "cinturón estepario" sucedió en una fecha tan tardía como los siglos XVIII-XIX AD.

Human Y Chromosome Haplogroup N: A Non-trivial Time-Resolved Phylogeography that Cuts across Language Families

“…Another pattern involves the similarity in the range of hg N3a3'6, especially in the western part of Eurasia and the distribution of the Seima-Turbino trans-cultural phenomenon during the interval of 4.2-3.7 kya. 51 Extending across northern Eurasia from Mongolia to the Baltic region, this phenomenon encompasses the cultures of nomadic forest and steppe societies with advanced metal-working technology. 51 Taken together, these facts hint at the Seima-Turbino metalsmith-traders as the probable primary carriers of hg N3a3'6 lineages.…”

Bronze Age human–landscape interactions in the southern Transural steppe, Russia – Evidence from high-resolution palaeobotanical studies

“…Climate is often seen as one of the major driving forces for human migration and other socio-economic changes in the Eurasian steppe ecoregion. Many scholars also believe that periodic climate changes have caused several shifts between nomadism and sedentarism in the last millennia (Chernykh, 2008). The construction of fortified settlements during the Sintashta period also seems to be related to climatic conditions and can thus be understood as a subsistence strategy against the background of a specific ecological and socio-political framework.…”

“…The Transural, situated at the periphery of the Eurasian steppe belt at the northern fringe of Central Asia (see Figure 1a and b), is predestined to be a zone of cultural contact, connecting areas east and west of the Ural Mountains. Accordingly, many hypotheses on the genesis of various cultures assume migrations to and from this area (see discussions in Bochkarev, 2010; Chernykh, 2008; Epimakhov, 2010a, 2010b; Koryakova and Epimakhov, 2007; Mei, 2003), often with the attempt to correlate linguistics and archaeology (see Anthony, 2013 and references therein). After the occupation of the forest steppe by local Eneolithic foraging–hunting–fishing groups and the sporadic occurrence of burials by Yamnaya cattle breeding people (3400–2300 cal.…”

Celestial Symbolism of the Vučedol Culture

“…The analogies, including the symbols, justify arguments not only on the usual Aegean and Anatolian/Near Eastern influence as over the last six millennia, from the Copper Age to the Modern Era; the steppe belt cultures undoubtedly played one of the most striking roles in the history of Eurasia (Anthony 2007;Chernykh 2008 and many others).…”