4,250 to 3,400 Year old Stonehenge from Russia: Arkaim?

Arkaim: the “Stonehenge” of Russia, a Henge-like Structure with a Nearby Kurgan Burial, Ritual Stone Cercles, and Pyramidal Houses

Arkaim it thought to be associated with Early Proto-Indo-Iranian of the Sintashta Culture, which Dates to Around 4,420–3,820 Years Ago. The Sintashta culture, also known as the Sintashta-Petrovka culture or Sintashta-Arkaim culture, is a late Middle Bronze Age archaeological culture of the northern Eurasian steppe on the borders of Eastern Europe and Central Asia. ref, ref

“The earliest known chariots have been found in Sintashta burials, and the culture is considered a strong candidate for the origin of the technology, which spread throughout the Old World and played an important role in ancient warfare. Sintashta settlements are also remarkable for the intensity of copper mining and bronze metallurgy carried out there, which is unusual for a steppe culture. The Sintashta culture emerged from the interaction of two antecedent cultures, the Poltavka culture, and the Abashevo culture. Because of the difficulty of identifying the remains of Sintashta sites beneath those of later settlements, the culture was only recently distinguished from the Andronovo culture. It is now recognized as a separate entity forming part of the “Andronovo horizon”. Genetic results suggest that the Sintashta culture emerged as a result of eastward migration of peoples from the Corded Ware culture.” ref

The Bronze Age People of the Arkaim Valley (the problem of continuity of population from the Yamnaya to the Sintashta culture) ref

“This paper deals with cranial remains from the cemeteries of the Yamnaya (Pit-grave) and Sintashta archaeological cultures investigated in the areas directly adjacent to the fortified settlement Arkaim, which belongs to the Chelyabinsk State Historical and Cultural Reserve «Arkaim» and the Kizil Valley. Each sample has its unique morphological features. Based on the similarity of some features, the authors suggest a probable genetic link between the carriers of both cultures; however, this relationship is not linear. These two groups of people belong to different archaeological cultures. Morphological differences indicate a chronological gap between the groups which was required for the formation of the specific image of the Sintashta residents. Trans-Urals’ steppe exploration by the people of the Yamnaya (Pit-grave) culture was apparently accompanied by a certain cross-breeding with indigenous inhabitants of the territory, i. e. Botai Late Copper Age culture.” ref

Andronovo Culture

“The Andronovo culture is a collection of similar local Bronze Age cultures that flourished c. 2000–900 BC in western Siberia and the central Eurasian Steppe. The older Sintashta culture (2200–1800 BC), formerly included within the Andronovo culture, is now considered separately within Early Andronovo cultures. Most researchers associate the Andronovo horizon with early Indo-Iranian languages, though it may have overlapped the early Uralic-speaking area at its northern fringe. According to a genetic study, the Andronovo culture and the preceding Sintashta culture are partially derived from the Corded Ware culture, given the higher proportion of ancestry matching the earlier farmers of Europe, similar to the admixture found in the genomes of the Corded Ware population.” ref

Warfare and Linguistic identity

Indo-Aryan migration

“The people of the Sintashta culture are thought to have spoken Proto-Indo-Iranian, the ancestor of the Indo-Iranian language family. This identification is based primarily on similarities between sections of the Rig Veda, an Indian religious text which includes ancient Indo-Iranian hymns recorded in Vedic Sanskrit, with the funerary rituals of the Sintashta culture as revealed by archaeology. Many cultural similarities with Sintashta have also been detected in the Nordic Bronze Age of Scandinavia. There is linguistic evidence of interaction between Finno-Ugric and Indo-Iranian languages, showing influences from the Indo-Iranians into the Finno-Ugric culture. From the Sintashta culture, the Indo-Iranian followed the migrations of the Indo-Iranians to Anatolia, India, and Iran. From the 9th century BCE onward, Iranian languages also migrated westward with the Scythians back to the Pontic steppe where the proto-Indo-Europeans came from.” ref

“The preceding Abashevo culture was already marked by endemic intertribal warfare; intensified by ecological stress and competition for resources in the Sintashta period, this drove the construction of fortifications on an unprecedented scale and innovations in military technique such as the invention of the war chariot. Increased competition between tribal groups may also explain the extravagant sacrifices seen in Sintashta burials, as rivals sought to outdo one another in acts of conspicuous consumption analogous to the North American potlatch tradition. Sintashta artifact types such as spearheads, trilobed arrowheads, chisels, and large shaft-hole axes were taken east. Many Sintashta graves are furnished with weapons, although the composite bow associated later with chariotry does not appear. Sintashta sites have produced finds of horn and bone, interpreted as furniture (grips, arrow rests, bow ends, string loops) of bows; there is no indication that the bending parts of these bows included anything other than wood. Arrowheads are also found, made of stone or bone rather than metal. These arrows are short, 50–70 cm long, and the bows themselves may have been correspondingly short.” ref

Iranian peoples

“The Iranian peoples are a diverse Indo-European ethno-linguistic group. The Proto-Iranians are believed to have emerged as a separate branch of the Indo-Iranians in Central Asia in the mid-2nd millennium BCE. At their peak of expansion in the mid-1st millennium BC, the territory of the Iranian peoples stretched across the entire Eurasian Steppe from the Great Hungarian Plain in the west to the Ordos Plateau in the east, to the Iranian Plateau in the south. The Western Iranian empires of the south came to dominate much of the ancient world from the 6th century BCE, leaving an important cultural legacy; and the Eastern Iranians of the steppe played a decisive role in the development of Eurasian nomadism and the Silk Road.” ref

“The ancient Iranian peoples who emerged after the 1st millennium BCE include the Alans, Bactrians, Dahae, Khwarezmians, Massagetae, Medes, Parthians, Persians, Sagartians, Sakas, Sarmatians, Scythians, Sogdians, and probably Cimmerians, among other Iranian-speaking peoples of Western Asia, Central Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Eastern Steppe. In the 1st millennium AD, their area of settlement, which was mainly concentrated in steppes and deserts of Eurasia, was reduced as a result of Slavic, Germanic, Turkic, and Mongol expansions and many were subjected to Slavicisation and Turkification. Modern Iranian-speaking peoples include the Baloch, Gilaks, Kurds, Lurs, Mazanderanis, Ossetians, Pamiris, Pashtuns, Persians, Tajiks, the Talysh, Wakhis, Yaghnobis, and Zazas. Their current distribution spreads across the Iranian Plateau, stretching from the Caucasus in the north to the Persian Gulf in the south and from Eastern Turkey in the west to Western Xinjiang in the east—a region that is sometimes called the Iranian Cultural Continent, representing the extent of the Iranian-speakers and the significant influence of the Iranian peoples through the geopolitical reach of Greater Iran.” ref

“The remains of four individuals ascribed to the Sintastha culture were analyzed. One male carried haplogroup R1a and J1c1b1a, while the other carried R1a1a1b and J2b1a2a. The two females carried U2e1e and U2e1h respectively. The study found a close autosomal genetic relationship between peoples of Corded Ware culture and Sintashta culture, which “suggests similar genetic sources of the two,” and may imply that “the Sintashta derives directly from an eastward migration of Corded Ware peoples.” Sintashta individuals and Corded Ware individuals both had a relatively higher ancestry proportion derived from Central Europe, and both differed markedly in such ancestry from the population of the Yamnaya Culture and most individuals of the Poltavka Culture that preceded Sintashta in the same geographic region. The Bell Beaker culture, the Unetice culture, and contemporary Scandinavian cultures were also found to be closely genetically related to Corded Ware. A particularly high lactose tolerance was found among Corded Ware and the closely related Nordic Bronze Age. In addition, the study found the Sintashta culture to be closely genetically related to the succeeding Andronovo culture. Researchers analyzed the remains of several members of the Sintashta culture. mtDNA was extracted from two females buried at the Petrovka settlement. They were found to be carrying subclades of U2 and U5. The remains of fifty individuals from the fortified Sintastha settlement of Kamennyi Ambar was analyzed. This was the largest sample of ancient DNA ever sampled from a single site.” ref

“The Y-DNA from thirty males was extracted. Eighteen carried R1a and various subclades of it (particularly subclades of R1a1a1), five carried subclades of R1b (particularly subclades of R1b1a1a), three carried R1, two carried Q1a and a subclade of it, one carried I2a1a1a, and one carried P1. The majority of mtDNA samples belonged to various subclades of U, while W, J, T, H, and K also occurred. A Sintashta male buried at Samara was found to be carrying R1b1a1a2 and J1c1b1a. The authors of the study found the Sintashta people to be closely genetically related to the people of the Corded Ware culture, the Srubnaya culture, the Potapovka culture, and the Andronovo culture. These were found to harbor mixed ancestry from the Yamnaya culture and peoples of the Central European Middle Neolithic. Sintashta people were deemed “genetically almost indistinguishable” from samples taken from the northwestern areas constituting the core of the Andronovo culture, which were “genetically largely homogeneous”. The genetic data suggested that the Sintashta culture was ultimately derived of a remigration of Central European peoples with steppe ancestry back into the steppe. Some Sintastha individuals displayed similarities with earlier samples collected at Khvalynsk.” ref

The origin of social complexity in the development of the Sintashta culture ref

BRONZE AGE HERDERS OF THE EURASIAN STEPPES ref

by Dr. DAVID W. ANTHONY

Archeological Cultures of Steppe Nomads
Neolith (5000-3300BC)	Tripolye Culture (4000 – 3500 BC)
	Sredny Stog Culture (4000 – 3000 BC)
	Khvalynsk Culture
	Karanovo VI Culture
	Kemi Oba Culture
	Usatovo Culture
	Botai Culture
	Poltavka Culture
	Fatyanovo Culture
	Abashevo Culture
	Sintashta-Arkaim Culture
Early Bronze Age (3300-1900BC)	Maikop Culture 3500 – BC
	Pit Grave Culture ( 3300 – 2300 BC
	Baden culture
	Funnel Beaker Culture (3300 – 3000 BC)
	Catacomb Culture (2800 – 1900 BC
Middle Bronze Age (1900-1200BC)	Timber Grave Culture (1900 – 1200 BC)
	Andronovo Culture (1800 – 1200 BC)
	Mnogovalikovaya Culture
	Glina III/Monteoru Culture

“The “walled cities of the Earth” were a great discovery located on the eastern slopes of the Urals, the fortified cities date from the Middle Bronze Age. These fortified structures are particular to the archeology of the steppes. They were built according to geometric plans, the cities in oval being the oldest, the rectangular cities being the most recent. The most remarkable is the set of fortified structures specific to the culture of Sintachta-Arkaïm. This city is distinguished from the others by the unique integrity of the fortification works and by the burials which are linked to them. Located on a prominence, Arkaim consists of two defensive walls, perhaps a third, a rampart and a ditch. The space between the defensive walls was occupied by trapezoidal houses oriented like rays towards the center of the city. The center of the city, rectangular in shape, was not built and formed a place where homes were found. Complex entrances were in the four corners of the city. Excavations of fortified cities and burials have given us an idea of the level of development of daily life during the Middle Bronze Age in the Transoural Plains.” ref

“Some scholars believe represents the proto-Indo-Iranians before their split into different groups and migration to Central Asia and from there to Persia and India and other parts of Eurasia.” ref

“Arkaim was a fortified settlement, an outstanding memorial of the Bronze Age in Eurasia in the Chelyabinsk region. This is one of the 22 settlements of Sintashta culture of the South Trans-Ural. Its diameter is 170 m. The planning is well-preserved: the outer ditch, ruins of two concentric defensive walls with 66 dwellings. Up to two thousand people, the old metallurgists, and cattlemen could live there. Arkaim is an important page of the early history of the Indo-European population of the steppes. Based on the study of spore-pollen spectra and ancient buried paleosols ecological conditions of the Bronze Age with higher heat and water supply as compared to the current ones were restored. Ancient buried and modern soils, vegetation, and changes of their characteristics under the effect of burial, human impacts, and reserve regime have been studied. It is discussed the possible existence of ancient agriculture.” ref

“The bones belong to a woman who lived almost 2,000 years ago and had an elongated skull because it was bound out of tribal tradition. A skeleton with an unusual-shaped skull (pictured) has been unearthed on a site known as Russia’s Stonehenge. The remains were found in Arkaim, near Chelyabinsk in central Russia – a settlement dating back almost 4,000 years. It is believed the woman belonged to a tribe that was part of what is now modern-day Ukraine. Archaeologists have revealed that the bones (pictured left) belong to a woman who lived around 6,000 years ago and had an elongated skull (shown right) because it was bound out of tribal tradition Arkaim known as Russia’s Stonehenge, which is believed to have been built in the 17th century BC. It is believed by some that, like its 5,000-year-old English counterpart, it was used to study the stars. But Arkaim is thought to be more advanced. Stonehenge allows for observations of 10 astronomical phenomena using 22 elements, while Arkaim enables observations of 18 phenomena using 30 elements. This means that ancient people could have observed and tracked certain events in the sky by using the site in certain ways from particular positions and that Arkaim offered more observable events than Stonehenge. It is just another of the mysteries to be unearthed at the spectacular site of Arkaim known as Russia’s Stonehenge. It is believed by some that, like its English counterpart, it was used to study of the stars, but Arkaim is thought to be more advanced. Stone circles found near the site are shown. A Russian archaeologist made the comparison between the two sites saying, Stonehenge offers an observational accuracy of 10-arc minutes to a degree, whereas Arkaim offers accuracy of a one-arc minute. This precision was unheard of at the time the monument is thought to have been built. As well as being a primitive astronomical observatory it was also a village that was fortified by two large stone circular walls. The settlement covers an area of some 220,000 square feet and consists of two circles of dwellings separated by a street, with a central community square in the center.” ref

Arkaim the Forgotten Valley

“Arkaim, the Russian equivalent of Stonehenge was discovered. It is an ancient fortress in the Southern Urals steppe near the Kazakhstan border. Archeologists vary on the age of the site as artifacts found there range from the 4^th millennium BC to the 20^th century BC. Arkaim is actually a valley where a significant number of archeological monuments from several different epochs have been exhumed. Also called the “Land of Cities,” the Arkaim site contains Middle Bronze Age fortified settlements and necropolises. More than 20 such remanents have been excavated over an area that extends approximately 200 miles between rivers flowing to the Caspian Sea and into the Artic Ocean. “A geographical and mythological analysis of the ancient texts of Rigveda and Avesta allows…to infer that the “Land of Cities” was connected with the legendary countries of the ancient Aryans. At the Arkaim excavation site, it has been proposed, from a chain of horse burials, that the site has produced evidence that the cities could have been the home of the Aryans. Numerous ancient Indian texts believed to have been written by the Aryans communicate analogous rituals. These ancient Indian manuscripts and hymns tell of sacrifices and burials of horses, including the way the flesh is removed and the fact that the horse is buried with its master. When paralleled with the way the skeletons and the graves were being dug up in Russia, it was concluded the sites were a millimeter-perfect match. If archeologists confirm the cities as Aryan, they could be the fragments of a civilization that spread through Europe and much of Asia. Their dialect has been identified as the precursor of modern Indo-European tongues, including English. Words such as brother, guest, and oxen have been traced back to this archetype language. After much discussion, archeologists have come to the agreement that there is some type of mother tongue, Proto-Indo-European, from which all languages emerged. Arkaim is not only a remarkable site historically, but there is also a large amount of evidence implying that it is one of the strongest anomaly zones in Russia.” ref

“Locals believe Arkaim to be a sacred place. Travelers go there all year round to acquire some of the healing water from the Bolshaya Karaganka River, and in the summer they coat themselves with clay, which they say helps to treat skin diseases. There are several spirals next to the Arkaim fortress that visitors have made out of local stones. Sightseers and locals alike have recommended that people walk on the stones barefooted or even better, naked, then stand in the center of the spiral and make a wish. The mountains encompassing the fortress are also unusual. The most famous one is Shamanka (or Bold Mountain). People have been known to climb to the top of it to get positive energy, pray or even meditate. It has also been known that people with serious medical conditions have been brought there for healing purposes. Some of the lesser famous mountains encircling Arkaim are; Repentance Mountain, where visitors ascend to the top to ask for forgiveness, and Love Mountain, which is believed to bring personal luck to those who scale it. Nearby is Male Forest, which is frequently visited by women who have relationship troubles. The rumor surrounding it is that a walk through the forest will make a woman popular with men. Finally, the Drunken Forest near Grachinaya Mountain (also known as Blessed Mountain) is infamous for the Birch trees, whose trunks are abnormally crooked at the bottom. It is alleged that people cannot stay there too long; otherwise, they risk losing their minds.” ref

“”4,250 to 3,400-Year-old Stonehenge from Russia: Arkaim?

Prehistory of the Steppes: ~5,000 – 1,000 BCE (7,000 to 3,000 years ago)

5,500 Years old birth of the State, the rise of Hierarchy, and the fall of Women’s status

The Fire Peoples-urns & metals. The R1b Conquest of Europe.

The Conquest of “Old Europe” and Central Europe (4200-2500 BCE)

Kultepe? An archaeological site with a 4,000 years old women’s rights document.

Structure of Arkaim

“Arkaim (Russian: Аркаим) is an archaeological site in Russia, situated in the steppe of the Southern Ural, 8.2 km (5.10 mi) north-to-northwest of the village of Amursky and 2.3 km (1.43 mi) south-to-southeast of the village of Alexandrovsky in the Chelyabinsk Oblast of Russia, just north of the border with Kazakhstan. It was discovered in 1987 by a team of archaeologists led by Gennady Zdanovich, preventing the planned flooding of the area for the creation of a reservoir. Arkaim is attributed to the early Indo-Europeans of the Sintashta culture, which some scholars believe represents the proto-Indo-Iranians before their split into different groups and migration to Central Asia and from there to Persia and India and other parts of Eurasia (see Indo-Aryan migration theory). Scholars have identified the structure of Arkaim as the cities built “reproducing the model of the universe” described in the ancient Indo-European spiritual literature, the Vedas, and the Avesta. The structure consists of three concentric rings of walls and three radial streets, reflecting the city of King Yima described in the Rigveda. The foundation walls and the dwellings of the second ring are built according to swastika-like patterns; the same symbol is found on various artifacts. Arkaim is designated as a “national and spiritual shrine” of Russia and has become a holy site for Rodnover, Zoroastrian, and other religious movements. The fortified citadel of Arkaim dates back to the 17th and 16th century BCE. More than twenty other structures built according to similar patterns have been found in a larger area spanning from the southern Urals’ region to the north of Kazakhstan, forming the so-called “Land of Towns“. Artifacts found at these sites date between the 4th millennium and the 20th century BCE.” ref

“Arkaim was a circular stronghold, surrounded by two concentric bastions made of adobe with timber frames, and covered with unburnt clay bricks. Within the circles, close to the bastions, were around sixty dwellings with hearth, cellars, wells and metallurgical furnaces. They opened towards an inner circular street paved with wood. The street was lined by a covered drainage gutter with pits for water collection. At the center of the complex, there was a rectangular open space. The complex had four entries, consisting of intricately constructed passages and oriented towards the cardinal points. Evidence suggests that the complex was built according to a plan, which indicates that the society had a developed structure of roles and had leaders with great authority. The settlement covered about 220,000 square feet. The diameter of the enclosing wall was about 520 feet, and its thickness was of 13 to 16 feet. The height was of 18.04 feet. The settlement was surrounded with a 6-foot-7-inch-deep moat. Among the four gates, the main was the western one. The dwellings were between 1,200 to 1,900 square feet in area. The dwellings of the outer ring were thirty-nine or forty, with doors opening towards the circular street. The dwellings of the inner ring numbered twenty-seven, arranged along the inner wall, with doors opening towards the central square, which was about 82 by 89 feet in area. Zdanovich estimates that approximately 1,500 to 2,500 people could have lived in Arkaim. Surrounding Arkaim’s walls, were arable fields, 430–460 feet by 150 feet, irrigated by a system of canals and ditches.” ref

Religious movements and mysticism surrounding Arkaim

The discovery of Arkaim reinvigorated the debate about the original homeland of the Indo-Europeans, seemingly confirming its location in central Eurasia. After their discovery, Arkaim and the Land of Towns have been presented as the “land of the Aryans“, the centre of a statehood of a monarchical type, and ultimately the model for a new spiritual civilization harmonized with the universe. Agencies related to the Russian Orthodox Church have been critical of such activities of Arkaim’s archaeology. The discovery of Arkaim and the Land of Towns has fueled the growth of schools of thought among Rodnovers, Rerikhians, Zoroastrians and other movements which regard the archaeological site as the second homeland of the Aryans, who originally dwelt in Arctic regions and migrated southwards when the weather there became glacial, then spreading from central Eurasia to the east, south and west, founding other civilisations. According to them, all Vedic knowledge originated in the southern Urals. Some of them identify Arkaim as the Asgard of Odin spoken of in Germanic literature. The Russian Zoroastrian movement started by the Globa family identifies Arkaim as the place where Zoroaster was born. A great white swastika was carved on the nearest hill, and visitors to the site may buy swastika-shaped medallions. ref

The Sintashta-Arkaim culture

This site may have connections to the Sintashta culture, also known as the Sintashta-Petrovka culture or Sintashta-Arkaim culture, is a Bronze Age archaeological culture of the northern Eurasian steppe on the borders of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, dated to around 4,100 years ago or in the period of 2100–1800 BCE. The culture is named after the Sintashta archaeological site, in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. The Sintashta culture is widely regarded as the origin of the Indo-Iranian languages. The earliest known chariots have been found in Sintashta burials, and the culture is considered a strong candidate for the origin of the technology, which spread throughout the Old World and played an important role in ancient warfare. Sintashta settlements are also remarkable for the intensity of copper mining and bronze metallurgy carried out there, which is unusual for a steppe culture. The Sintashta culture emerged from the interaction of two antecedent cultures, the Poltavka culture, and the Abashevo culture. Because of the difficulty of identifying the remains of Sintashta sites beneath those of later settlements, the culture was only recently distinguished from the Andronovo culture. It is now recognized as a separate entity forming part of the “Andronovo horizon”. Its immediate predecessor in the Ural-Tobol steppe was the Poltavka culture, an offshoot of the cattle-herding Yamnaya horizon that moved east into the region between 2800 and 2600 BCE. Several Sintashta towns were built over older Poltavka settlements or close to Poltavka cemeteries, and Poltavka motifs are common on Sintashta pottery. The Petrovka fortified settlement, namesake of the 2nd millennium BC Sintashta-Petrovka culture lies at the Ishim River, near the modern village of Petrovka in Zhambyl District, North Kazakhstan Region, Kazakhstan. Sintashta material culture also shows the influence of the late Abashevo culture, derived from the Fatyanovo-Balanovo culture, a collection of Corded Ware settlements were found close autosomal genetic relationship between peoples of Corded Ware culture and Sintashta culture, which “suggests similar genetic sources of the two,” and may imply that “the Sintashta derives directly from an eastward migration of Corded Ware peoples.” Sintashta individuals and Corded Ware individuals both had a relatively higher ancestry proportion derived from the early farmers of Central Europe, and both differed markedly in such ancestry from the population of the Yamnaya Culture and most individuals of the Poltavka Culture that preceded Sintashta in the same geographic region.” ref, ref

“The first Sintashta settlements appeared around 2100 BCE, during a period of climatic change that saw the already arid Kazakh steppe region become even more cold and dry. The marshy lowlands around the Ural and upper Tobol rivers, previously favoured as winter refuges, became increasingly important for survival. Under these pressures both Poltavka and Abashevo herders settled permanently in river valley strongholds, eschewing more defensible hill-top locations. The Abashevo culture was already marked by endemic intertribal warfare; intensified by ecological stress and competition for resources in the Sintashta period, this drove the construction of fortifications on an unprecedented scale and innovations in military technique such as the invention of the war chariot. Increased competition between tribal groups may also explain the extravagant sacrifices seen in Sintashta burials, as rivals sought to outdo one another in acts of conspicuous consumption analogous to the North American potlatch tradition. Sintashta artefact types such as spearheads, trilobed arrowheads, chisels, and large shaft-hole axes were taken east. Many Sintashta graves are furnished with weapons, although the composite bow associated later with chariotry (A chariot) does not appear. Sintashta sites have produced finds of horn and bone, interpreted as furniture (grips, arrow rests, bow ends, string loops) of bows; there is no indication that the bending parts of these bows included anything other than wood. Arrowheads are also found, made of stone or bone rather than metal. These arrows are short, 50–70 cm long, and the bows themselves may have been correspondingly short. The people of the Sintashta culture are thought to have spoken Proto-Indo-Iranian, the ancestor of the Indo-Iranian language family. This identification is based primarily on similarities between sections of the Rig Veda, an Indian religious text which includes ancient Indo-Iranian hymns recorded in Vedic Sanskrit, with the funerary rituals of the Sintashta culture as revealed by archaeology. There is, however, linguistic evidence of a list of common vocabulary between Finno-Ugric and Indo-Iranian languages. While its origin in the Ural region may ascribe the Sintashta culture exclusively to Indo-Iranian ethnicity, interpreting this culture as a blend of two cultures with two distinct languages is a reasonable hypothesis based on the evidence. From the Sintashta culture, the Indo-Iranian languages migrated with the Indo-Iranians to Anatolia, India, and Iran. From the 9th century BCE onward, Iranian languages also migrated westward with the Scythians back to the Pontic steppe where the proto-Indo-Europeans came from.” ref, ref

Here is archaeology info from Research Gate:

“In the southern Transural region, 22 fortified settlements and numerous archeological sites forming a complex named Country of Towns were found. For the last 20 years, data on the paleosols there have been obtained. The reconstructions of the climate of the Bronze Age in the Cis-Urals and Transurals were carried out after studying some archeological sites of the Country of Towns. Archaeologists refer many of these sites to the Middle Bronze Age, the Sintashta archeological culture (3800–4100 years ago), and the Pit Grave culture. The culture was named after the archeological complex located on the bank of the Sintashta River in Chelyabinsk oblast. The paleosols of the great Sintashta mound were characterized. The evolution of the Transural chernozems for the last 4000 years is shown; the similarities and differences in their development as compared to the chernozems of East Europe and northern Kazakhstan are shown. The possibility to use various characteristics of humic acids isolated from paleosols for the reconstruction of the six natural and agricultural landscapes in the past was revealed. The first well-preserved fortified site of the Bronze Age was found in Chelyabinsk oblast in 1987 and called Arkaim after the name of the highest point of the locality (398 m a.s.l.).” Ref

“The archeological sites occupy about 1% of the Arkaim valley area according to the interpretation of aerial photographs with the help of a special method. People developed this territory mainly in the Bronze Age (74% of all the sites (out of the total of 73) are referred to this time). In 1991, the reserve with the same name was organized to preserve this unique object. The reserve is located in the territory of the steppe zone of the southern Transural region (Bredinskii district, Chelyabinsk oblast; 52 ° 37–40 ′ N, 59 ° 32–37 ′ E). This article first presents the detailed characteristics of the paleosols and the results of the plant cover’s reconstruction at the site of Arkaim. These data are important for characterizing the development of the soils, the environmental conditions, and the variability of the climate in the Bronze Age and revealing the reasons for the phased settlement of the Urals region. The paleosols buried under the walls of the fortified settlement of Arkaim and the present-day background soils were the objects for the studies. The archeological excavations were conducted under the guidance of Zdanovich. The basis of the Arkaim fortifications was a ditch and inner and outside walls made of earthy materials and wood. According to the calculations of the archeologists, the height of the earth walls of the settlement was 0.7 and 1.4 m; presently, their height is approximately twice lower.” Ref

“The archeological site is located on a remnant (200 × 300 m 2 ) of the proluvial–alluvial surface at the confluence of the Utyaganka and Bol’shaya Karaganka Rivers (a tributary of the Ural River) at the altitude of 314.5 m (Fig. 1). This remnant is isolated and surrounded by river valleys and a depression—the former channel. The background recent soils occupy small areas and are represented by ordinary chernozems. Nowadays, the territory studied is referred to the steppe zone. The climate of the region is continental. The mean annual temperature is +1 to +3°C, the mean temperatures of January and July are –17 to –18°C and +19 to +20°C, respectively. The sum of the temperatures above 10 ° C is 1950–2300; the duration of the frost-free period is 111–125 days. The annual precipitation is 300–360 mm: 45% of it falls as showers in the summer and 10–12% in the winter. The depth of the snow cover does not exceed 25 cm. The soils freeze to a depth of 0.8–2.0 m. Snow thaws on the frozen soil, and the water does not penetrate into it. The moisture coefficient is 0.4–0.8. Hot winds and deflation significantly damage the soils and crops. Before the organization of the reserve, the territory of the remnant was used as a pasture. The vegetation is represented by forbs–sheep fescue–stipa associations and spirea ( Spiraea hypericifolia L. and S. crenata L.) and caragana ( Cargana frutex (L.) C. Koch). The background soil is a shallow, lowhumus, mid and weakly saline, strongly solonetzic, sandy loamy ordinary chernozem. The field morphological method comprising the profile’s description and photography was used for studying the soils. The reconstruction of the environmental conditions of the Bronze Age was performed considering the properties of the buried paleosols (seven pits) and the present-day background soils (ten pits). For the characterization of the background soils, the areas close in their altitude and texture to the soils of the cultural–historical complex were chosen. The territory is heterogeneous in terms of the particle-size composition of the parent rocks and soils. Therefore, ten test pits were made to the depth of 50 cm for the characterization of the background soils and their comparison with the paleosols. After analyzing their morphology, the place for the key pits for the background soils was chosen. The chemical properties of the soils were analyzed by traditional methods. The age of the site was determined from archeological findings according to the periodization and chronology of the historical cultures and using the radiocarbon dating of the paleosols’ humus.” Ref

“The dating was accomplished at the Kiev Radiocarbon Laboratory (supervised by N.N. Kovalyukh) of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. A sample of the paleosol was taken from the depth of 0–2 cm, i.e., directly from the buried surface. This sample was analyzed using the palynological method by Gerasimenko and the microbiomorphic one by Gol’eva. The percentage of different higher plant microfossils was determined using a semigroup method. The ratio of the woody plant taxa to the total pollen of trees and shrubs was calculated; that of the herbaceous plants, to the total pollen of grasses and dwarf shrubs; and the ratio of the spores, to the total microfossils. The plants producing pollen and spores and the reconstructed zonal and local paleophytocenoses existed and exist in a definite landscape–climatic environment. Therefore, the results of the spore–pollen analysis of the paleosols allow one to obtain information on the formation and evolution of the landscapes. The fortress site of Arkaim has a cultural layer testifying to one stage of its settlement, although, according to the results of the archeological method, the majority of the localities from the Country of Towns functioned in two (3800–4100 and 3600 years ago) or more stages. The accuracy of determining the age by this method for archeological sites of the Bronze Age is ±100–200 years. The dating of constructing the walls at the ancient site was also performed according to the 14 C of the organic matter in the upper (0-5 cm) layer of the paleosols buried under its walls. The age of the humus was determined from the 14 C of the background soils. As the data of the radiocarbon dating of the paleosol humus were used for determining the time of constructing the artificial mounds and burying the soils, an approach suggested by Chichagova and Aleksandrovskii was used.” Ref

“According to this method, the age of the buried paleosols is calculated as the difference between the age of the humus in the 0 to 5cm layer of the paleosol and the age of the background soil. The uncalibrated age of the humus in the 0 to 5cm layer of the paleosols is 3840±140 years; its age in the 0 to 25cm layer of the background layer is 450±60 radiocarbon years. Thus, the uncalibrated date of constructing the earth mound of Arkaim is about 3400 years ago, or the calibrated dates with the significance of 1 σ and 2 σ are 3700–4000 (57.4%) and 3400–4250 (95.4%) years ago, respectively. Spore–pollen analysis. The palynological analysis of the 0 to 2cm paleosol layer was performed in 3 replicates. All the microfossils, including the pollen of the gramineous plants, were well preserved, although usually it is weakly preserved. The spore–pollen spectrum contained pollen of herbaceous plants (68%), tree species (20%), and spores of ferns and mosses (12%). The pollen’s composition was dominated by that of gramineous plants (33.5%) and forb species of 11 families (43.5%). The participation of sedges was 9%. Among the other monocotyledons (except for grasses and sedges), Liliaceae and Typhaceae were represented by a few pollen grains. The participation of xerophytic palinoforms was insignificant: Artemisia pollen (6.5%); the pollen of Chenopodiaceae, including Chenopodium album, Ch. botrys, and Kochia prostrata (5%); and one pollen grain of ephedra. In the pollen of the forbs group, the pollen of Lamiaceae predominated (14%); the participation of Rosaceae (6.5%, including Spiraea steppe shrub), Cichorinoideae (6%), Asteroideae (4%), and Fabaceae (5%) was also noticeable. The amount of Plantaginaceae (2%) and Ranunculaceae and Cannabaceae (1%) pollen was insignificant; a few pollen grains of Umbelliferae, Papaveraceae, and Boraginaceae were found. Among the pollen grains of grasses, large grains similar to those of cultural grasses (Cerealia) occurred. The rich forbs and the significant share of Rosaceae and Cichorinoideae, among which there were few steppe plants, show that precisely meadow plants formed the vegetation cover. However, the elevated share of Cichorinoideae and Asteroideae may be also explained by the anthropogenic factor. Their pollen was usually found in settlements.” Ref

“In addition, the distribution of Plantaginaceae and Chenopodiaceae ( Ch. album is a typical weed) might be related to the anthropogenic factor (trampling). Papaveraceae and Cannabaceae could also be weeds. The pollen of steppe plants predominated among the grains of Lamiaceae and Papaveraceae that were represented in the spectrum. Artemisia, hemp, and ephedra also belonged to these plants. The hemp pollen (in the size of its grain and pores) is very similar to that of the cultivated Cannabis sativa. On the whole, the participation of meadow elements was higher than that of steppe ones. The problem of the cultivated cereals will be considered separately. The existence of farming in Arkaim in the Late Bronze Age (3600 years ago) is supposed. The deposits studied by the authors of the article belong to an earlier time interval than that described by E.A. Spiridonova; the amount of pollen morphologically similar to that of Cerealia was greater than that in the settlements of the Srubnaya culture in the steppe zone of Ukraine. At the site of Arkaim, the macroremains of Phragmites and Bromopsis were found, and the pollen grains of these wild grasses (especially of Phragmites ) were similar to the pollen of cultivated grasses. The presence of other hydro- and hygrophytic plants ( Typha and sedges) confirms the relative closeness of the site to aquatic and waterlogged objects, from which Phragmites pollen could also be brought. Among the spores, those of ferns (Polypodiaceae (5.5%) and Pteridium (2%)) predominated; the amount of green moss spores was 4%. Among the remains of tree species, the microfossils of pine amounted to 80%. Pollen of alder (2 grains), spruce, birch, apple, and honeysuckle (1 grain) were found. The presence of a few microfossils of broadleaved species (elm, Tatarian maple, and Tilia cordata ) is of special interest. Well-preserved grains of Tatarian maple and elm were reliably identified. Macroremains of elm were also found in the ancient settlement of Arkaim. One can suggest that, along with the above mentioned shrubs, these plants were in the undergrowth of pine forests or occurred as small steppe groves. The size of the lime tree pollen grains, as compared to those of this species palynoforms in Eastern Europe, was smaller as it was reduced (probably, it was produced by trees growing at the periphery of their natural range).” Ref

“Based on the content (%) of the tree species pollen, one can suggest that the forests were located at some distance from the settlement. Probably, at that time, as nowadays, they occupied the upper parts of the valley slopes. When the settlement existed, pine forests with birch and spruce grew there; the forest margins were occupied by honeysuckle and representatives of Maleae (hawthorn, hedge rose, and gean). The ground cover consisted of Polypodiaceaeand, Pteridium ferns, and green mosses. Probably, on the steppe, the named Maleae shrubs (along with spiraea) formed separate formations that occupied small areas. On the shrub steppe of Donbass and eastern Crimea, the participation of Maleae (hawthorn, hedge rose, wild pear, and black thorn) in the spore–pollen spectra was much higher. Alder rarely occurred on the floodplains. Thus, during the time under discussion, the Arkaim settlement was located on the forbs–grass or grass–forbs steppe with the significant participation of meadow forbs. At some distance from the settlement, open pine ( Pinus sylvestris ) forests with ferns in the ground cover and shrubs at their margins grew. Probably, there were small groups of steppe shrubs and not very high trees, including broadleaved species— elm and Tatarian maple. At a small distance from the settlement, there were moist areas with sedges; typha; alder; and, probably, reed.” Ref

“The human effect on the vegetation was manifested in the higher participation of herbaceous plants (weeds) occupying the disturbed areas—Cichorioideae; Asteroidaea; Chenopodiaceae; and probably Plantaginaceae, Cannabaceae, and Papaveraceae. The morphology of the pollen of the grasses and cannabis, which are similar to their cultivated variants, requires further study. Thus, the spore–pollen spectrum of the paleosol from the Arkaim settlement is referred to the steppe type, which is close to the transitional forest-steppe one. Based on the composition of the vegetation, the climate (or microclimate) was not supposed to be droughty and cool. The presence of pollen of broad-leaved species (elm, Tatarian maple, and lime trees), typha, and cannabis allows one to suggest that, at the time considered, the climate was somewhat warmer than the present-day one. In the remnant nearby the river, where the settlement was located, there were as many meadow plants in the grass cover as at the present time. The recent forest vegetation (small aspen–birch and larch–birch–pine forests with grass cover in steppe saucers), as compared to the pine forests with fern cover, reflects the more continental and cool climate conditions. Larch pollen did not occur in the paleosol; it is worth noting that this pollen is poorly preserved. In the present-day vegetation, alder and spruce are absent; these hygrophytes occurred at the time when the settlement existed. The main thing was that the low content of pollen of xerophytic and halophytic herbaceous plants in the paleosols did not correspond to the recent wide distribution of Artemisia and the vegetation typical for solonetzes. Thus, the results of the palynological analysis showed that, during building the wall around the settlement, the climate of the region was more humid and warm than the recent one. The microbiomorphic analysis of the 0- to 2-cm layer of the paleosol performed by A.A. Gol’eva allowed one to find well-preserved phytoliths: the content of dicotyledons was 46%, and those of steppe and meadow grasses were 29 and 17%, respectively.” Ref

“The number of phytoliths of coniferous trees, forest grasses, mosses, and ferns amounted to 2–3% each. One whole diatom and many cuticular clots of plants and the animals’ coprolites were observed. The presence of whole diatom skeletons testified to the rather humid conditions that existed when the biocenosis developed, while water stagnation and water logging were not recorded. Thus, the microbiomorphic analysis showed that, during the formation of the ancient upper soil layer, meadow forbs and the steppe grasses predominated. A spore–pollen analysis was first performed during the archeological excavations in the Arkaim settlement in the 1990s. The palynological studies of the reference soils from the depth of 65 to 70 cm having the 14 С uncalibrated age of 4130±110 demonstrated the existence of arid conditions at that time. These data do not agree with our results, probably, due to the fact that E.A. Spiridonova used the soil samples of the more ancient radiocarbon age for the spore–pollen analysis. The reference soils for the Arkaim site were studied in 10 pits. The lithological profiles are as follows: the upper layer up to the depth of 80–100 cm is sandy-loamy or loamy sandy with a great amount of coarse and fine sand (57–68%), pebbles, and gravel (6–17%). The underlying layer 100–220 cm thick consisted of alternating coarse and fine sandy layers. Therefore, the pits were not dug deeper than 1.8–2.2 m. The upper horizons of the reference soils and the paleosols did not differ in their texture. In the reference soils, the texture of the second 0.5cm layer became heavier; in the 50 to 100cm layer of the paleosols, the content of physical clay decreased. The main properties of the soils studied are given in Table 4. The reaction (pH water) in the A1 and AB horizons of the reference soils was neutral to weakly alkaline; in the deeper horizons, it was alkaline.” Ref

“The humus profile (A + AB) of the reference soils was 37±4 cm, changing from 26 to 45 cm. The thickness of the humus horizon (A1) in these soils was 22±6 cm (18–27cm). In the surface layer, the organic matter content was 3.04±0.38%, and it drastically decreased downwards: in the AB horizon, down to 1.43±0.18%; in Bca, down to 0.51±0.14%. In this part of the soil profile, the dark-colored tongues alternated with the yellow-brown ones. The tongues are formed due to the alternation of winter freezing and summer drying. The reference soil effervesced from HCl at the depth of 25–35 cm in the space between the humus tongues; continuous effervescence was observed in the 38 to 220cm layer. At the depth of 3–53 cm, the content of carbonates was 4.9±3.7%. Their maximum (9.3–10.5%) was found at the depth of 70–150 cm; in the underlying rock, the carbonate content was insignificant. In the 0 to 1cm layer, the weighed average of the СаСО 3 content was 7%. Carbonates occurred as rare mottles, small dots, and in a finely dispersed form. Gypsum was registered from the depth of 50 cm. Readily soluble soils appeared at the depth of 20–25 cm, and their content was 0.4–0.7%. In the upper soil layers, HCO 3- predominated among the anions; in the lower layer, a significant share belonged to SO 4-2 and С l – along with HCO 3- . Among the cations, the ions of sodium were the dominant ones. In the reference soils, alkalinity was revealed in the AB horizon. The degree of the soil’s salinization is medium, while that of alkalinity is strong. The content of the clay fraction determined using the elutriation analysis was 15–17%; the differentiation of the studied soil profiles in terms of the clay content is weak. The traditional method for the determination of the clay content with the preliminary treatment with sodium pyrophosphate provides for the weaker extraction of the clay fraction, especially from the A1 horizon.” Ref

“These data allowed one to conclude that, in the soil studied, a significant part of the clay fraction was in the composition of the aggregates that are not dispersed when treating with sodium pyrophosphate. The paleosols buried under the wall of the settlement of Arkaim are dated to the Middle Bronze Age— the explosion of the Sintashta archeological culture. Seven buried soils were studied. The thickness of the humus horizon of the paleosols (35±4 cm) is close to that of the reference soils. The humus content in the paleosols is a bit less than that in the recent soils. In the A1 horizon, the C org content is 1.17%; its reconstructed content is 2.93±0.33; the C org content in the reference soils is 3.04±0.38. In the course of the burial, the humus content in the paleosols decreased by 50–60% due to the diagenetic processes. The morphology and distribution of the humus tongues within the buried and reference soils are similar. In the ancient soils of the Arkaim site, the maximal carbonate content is confined to the same depth as in the reference soils, but it is less strongly pronounced. The СаСО 3 concentration in this horizon is 6.3-7.3%. In the underlying rock, at the depth of 103–130 cm, it decreased to 4.5%. The weighted average of the СаСО 3 content in the 0 to 1m layer is 6%. The reaction (pH water) is alkaline along the whole profile (9.3-9.5). The alkalinity is weak and medium. Readily soluble salts occurred along the whole profile of the buried soils. In the upper layers of the ancient soils buried under the earth walls, they appeared as a result of diagenesis, i.e., due to the partial migration of readily soluble salts from the material of the earth wall. The latter was made of a mixture of the ancient soil horizons that contained some amounts of carbonates and readily soluble salts. Presently, the lower layer of this material contains 0.21% readily soluble salts. Their concentration in the paleosols was less than in the reference soils (0.3%), and their composition was the same as that in the reference soils. The content of the clay fraction was somewhat greater than that in the reference soil (17–19%).” Ref

“According to the data of the elutriation method, the yield of the clay fraction was lower than that determined by the pyrophosphate method. In the A1 horizon, the differences between these values were insignificant. Therefore, the amount of waterstable aggregates that were not disintegrated by pyrophosphate was much lower than that in the background chernozem. Close characteristics of the properties were obtained for the paleosols of a mound constructed 3.9 thousand years ago nearby the settlement of Ale ksandrovskii 1.5 km far from the Arkaim reserve. Thus, one can note that the paleosols and the background soils are identified as ordinary chernozems. The differences between them were related to the higher salinity and alkalinity in the present period. Based on the comparison of the properties of the buried and reference soils, one can conclude that the climatic conditions in the time of the functioning of the fortress of Arkaim were close to the present-day ones. According to the data of the palynological studies, we concluded that the climate during the construction of the settlement walls was much more humid and warm than the present-day one. The differences between the conclusions reached can be explained by the fact that the plant cover as compared to the soils is more sensitive to climatic changes. The plant cover reaches equilibrium with the environmental conditions faster than the soil does. Thus, in the time of building the fortress, as judged by the reconstruction of the plant cover using the palynological method, the climate was much warmer and more humid than nowadays. The duration of this period appeared to be shortterm, and the soil’s properties could not be transformed and reach an equilibrium with the changed environment.” Ref

“Therefore, they reflect the situation of the previous period with the climatic parameters close to the recent ones. The southern Trans-Urals is a compact range of the developing Sintashta culture of the Middle Bronze Age. In this period, a fullscale economy of the productive type was completely established. This type of economy assumes a settled population living in permanent dwellings and fortified urban centers; developed pastoral herding and early farming first appeared in this region. For the organization of the fields, channels were dug, the old river beds were used for irrigation waters, and flood irrigation (liman system) was applied. We should like to compare some characteristics of the paleosols and their environment in different regions during the Bronze Age that were obtained by other researchers. Close characteristics were obtained in studying the properties of the paleosols in the Arkaim site and the soils buried under the mound created 3900 years ago nearby the settlement of Aleksandrovskii at a distance of 1.5 km from the Arkaim reserve. When studying 20 paleosols under mounds in the Orenburg CisUrals region, where archeological findings were dated using the radiocarbon method, it was established that, in the late Yamniy period (4000 years ago), the climate of this region was close to the present-day one; 3700–3800 years ago, the climate in the period of the Srubnaya culture was less continental than that at the present time, probably, due to the cooler summers. The probable cooling in the initial and developed periods of the Srubnaya generality is confirmed by the results of studying the cultural layers of sites and natural sections in northwestern Orenburg oblast.” Ref

“An analysis of the paleosols under the mounds in the Samara–Volga River basin dated by 14 C revealed that, in the period of the Potapovo archeological culture (3799–3900 years ago), the temperature was lower and the precipitation increased. As a result, the steppe chernozems were replaced by forest-steppe ones. Some specialists have not revealed sharp changes in the climate for the territory of the desert–steppe zone in the period of 3500–4000 years ago. This conclusion is derived from considering the main soil properties and the results of the biomorphic analysis of the soils under mounds and the specific features of the paleosols and the deposits of the Ergeni balka systems in the territory of Kalmykia. Similar climatic characteristics of this period in the northwestern Caspian region were obtained when investigating some biogeocenoses: permanent shelters of mammals and birds and the vegetation (palynological data). According to the results of the spore–pollen analysis and the radiocarbon datings of the samples from several pits (5 and 10 m deep) in the VolgaAkhtuba floodplain, continuous paleoclimatic records for 10 years were obtained. Bolikhovskaya first revealed 26 stages of changes in the vegetation and climate of this region in the Holocene; the period of the Bronze Age (4200–3700 years ago), as compared to the present-day one, was characterized as the climatic optimum with warmer and more humid conditions. There are contradictory opinions on the climate at that time in the southern Volga River and lower Don River basins and in the Middle Russian Upland. The existence of contradictory conclusions concerning the paleoclimate during the Middle Bronze Age is explained by many reasons; they need special consideration. (1) The comparison of the properties of the recent reference (10 pits) soils and paleosols (7 pits) preserved under the walls of the fortified settlement of Arkaim belonging to the Sinashta archeological culture (southern Transurals) at the turn of the 2nd to 3rd millennia BC has been accomplished. (2) Based on the results of the palynological and microbiomorphic analyses, the plant cover of the paleosols (0–2 cm) was reconstructed. The pine forests with fern ground cover, the admixture of hygrophytic.” Ref

Strange ‘conehead’ skeleton unearthed at Russia’s Stonehenge: Elongated head was bound in tribal tradition 2,000 years ago

Skeleton with long skull was unearthed in Arkaim, central Russia
It’s thought to belong to a woman living almost 2,000 years ago
Her skull is elongated because it was bound out of tribal tradition
Arkaim is known as Russia’s Stonehenge because it may have been used by ancient people to study the stars, like the British Stonehenge

4,250 to 3,400 Year old Stonehenge from Russia: Arkaim?

Warfare and Linguistic identity

The Atheist-Humanist-Leftist Revolutionaries Shows in the prehistory series:

Damien Marie AtHope (Said as “At” “Hope”)/(Autodidact Polymath but not good at math):

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