Formation of the Eurasian “Steppe Belt” of Stockbreeding Cultures: Viewed through the Prism of Archaeometallurgy and Radiocarbon Dating

Formation of the Eurasian “Steppe Belt” of Stockbreeding Cultures: Viewed through the Prism of Archaeometallurgy and Radiocarbon Dating

E.N Chernykh.

The Eurasian “steppe belt” is a region peculiar for its nomadic and semi-nomadic stockbreeding cultures. It extends 8 thousand kilometers west to east (from the Black Sea to the Yellow Sea), spanning an area of 8 million sq. km. The beginnings of the “steppe belt” cultures coincide with the Copper Age (5th millennium BC) and the activation of the Carpatho-Balkan Metallurgical Province. In the Early and Middle Bronze Age (4th–3rd millennia BC), advanced pastoral cultures emerged in the Circumpontic Metallurgical Province. The appearance of the Maykop culture in the Northern Caucasus represents a signifi cant marking point at that time. Changes were initiated including unambiguous evidence of horse riding (prehistoric cavalry) and the introduction of metal weapons such as shafthole axes and spearheads. In the late 3rd millennium BC, military-oriented stockbreeding societies emerged in Eastern Central Asia (Sayan-Altai and Mongolia). The period around 2000 BC was marked by two migration waves moving in opposite directions. Steppe semi-nomads associated with the Abashevo-Sintashta and later with the Srubnaya-Andronovo communities moved from Eastern Europe eastwards to the Altai and even to Xinjiang. Warring Seima-Turbino groups migrated from Central Asia towards the Urals and further into Eastern Europe. By the mid-2nd millennium BC, the formation of the “steppe belt” cultures was completed, and these cultures continued to exist until relatively recently. The stockbreeding societies of the steppes often played a key role in Eurasian history.