Sauromatian culture

For the later people descended in part from the Sauromatians, see Sarmatians.

Sauromatian culture
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Location of the Sauromatian culture and contemporary cultures circa 500 BCE.[1]
Geographical rangeSouthern Ural
PeriodIron Age
Dates6th-4th century BCE
Preceded bySrubnaya culture
Andronovo culture
Cimmerian culture[2]
Followed bySarmatian culture

The Sauromatian culture (Russian: Савроматская культура, romanized: Savromatskaya kulʹtura) was an Iron Age culture of horse nomads in the area of the lower Volga River to the southern Ural Mountain, in southern Russia, dated to the 6th to 4th centuries BCE. Archaeologically, the Sauromatian period itself is sometimes also called the "Blumenfeld period" (6th-4th centuries BCE), and is followed by a transitional Late Sauromatian-Early Sarmatian period (4th-2nd centuries BCE), also called the "Prokhorov period".[3]

The name of this culture originates from the Sauromatians (Ancient Greek: Σαυρομάται, romanized: Sauromatai; Latin: Sauromatae [sau̯ˈrɔmat̪ae̯]), an ancient Scythian people mentioned by Graeco-Roman authors, and with whom it is identified. The Sauromatian culture was nomadic: no permanent settlements have been found, and they are only known from some temporary camps and large kurgan tombs.[4]

  1. ^ The Golden Deer of Eurasia: Scythian and Sarmatian Treasures from the Russian Steppes : the State Hermitage, Saint Petersburg, and the Archaeological Museum, Ufa. Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2000. p. 43, Fig.44. ISBN 978-0-87099-959-8.
  2. ^ Vyazov, Leonid A.; Ershova, Ekaterina G.; Ponomarenko, Elena V.; Gajewski, Konrad; Blinnikov, Mikhail S.; Sitdikov, Ayrat G. (2019). "Demographic Changes, Trade Routes, and the Formation of Anthropogenic Landscapes in the Middle Volga Region in the Past 2500 Years". Socio-Environmental Dynamics along the Historical Silk Road. pp. 411–452. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-00728-7_19. ISBN 978-3-030-00727-0.
  3. ^ Gursoy, M. (28 February 2023). "Жазба Және Археологиялық Деректер Негізінде Савромат-Сармат Тайпаларының Шығу Тегі". BULLETIN Series Historical and Socio-political Sciences. 1 (72): 158. doi:10.51889/2022-1.1728-5461.16. In particular, B. N. Grakov proposed a general four-stage chronology of the Savromat-Sarmatian tribes, based on the specifics of their burial structures, burial traditions and material world: 1.The Savromat period or Blumenfeld -VI-IV centuries BC. 2.Savromat-Sarmatian or Prokhorov period-IV-II Centuries BC. 3.The middle Sarmatian period or Suslov -II BC -II Centuries AD. 4.The late Sarmatian period or Shipov –II –IV centuries AD. Since this proposal is generally supported by the majority, this chronology is taken as a basis in the research papers.
  4. ^ Yang, Jianhua; Shao, Huiqiu; Pan, Ling (2020). The metal road of the Eastern Eurasian steppe: the formation of the Xiongnu Confederation and the Silk Road. Springer. p. 287. ISBN 978-981-329-155-3. No permanent settlements were found in the Sauromatian culture; only some temporary camps were found. The excavation materials mainly focused on the tombs. Based on current research findings, the Sauromatian culture can be classified into two types: the Lower Volga type and the Samara-Ural type. The artifacts in these two types have regional differences. The tombs in the Sauromatian culture are covered with enormous mounds. The tombs of the Lower Volga type are covered with earthwork mounds, while those of the Samara-Ural type are covered with stone-piled mounds or cairns. Some of the tombs are surrounded by a layer of pebbles, while some are set with deer stones.