Encyclopedia of Prehistory, Volume 4, Europe

ABSOLUTE TIME PERIOD: 4000-2800 B.P. by calibrated

radiocarbon dating. 3700-2800 B.P. according to the traditional European timeline.

RELATIVE TIME PERIOD: Follows the Kelteminar and Yamnaya traditions and precedes the Scythian tradition.

LOCATION: Originating in the forest/steppe and steppe zones to the west of the Ural mountains, the left bank of the Ural river, and Kazakhstan. The culture then advanced eastward to the Yenisei river, northward to the Siberian taiga zone, southward to the partly barren zone. The culture further advanced toward the Karakum and Kysilkum deserts, the Tien-Shan mountains, and the Pamirs of central Asia. Ceramics and metal artifacts have been found at the Volga river, the Dnieper river, in agricultural settlements in southern central Asia, in Afghanistan, and in Xinjiang.

DIAGNOSTIC MATERIAL ATTRIBUTES: Handmade flat-bot-

tomed jars and pots, decorated with rich geometrical designs, which are created by stamping techniques. A rich set of metal artifacts: weapons and tools worked from bronze, decorative artifacts made from copper and gold, stone arrowheads, axes, and maces. Large rectangular half-dugout dwellings of frame/post construction, made from wood, sometimes with stone bases or clay daubing. Specific funeral rites: graves, consisting of (l) dirt burial mounds; (2) usually a round or rectangular

stone wall, sometimes with a burial mound embankment at the center. The burial is in a dirt grave pit, often with a wooden lining, a stone box, or a cyst for ritual inhumation and cremation. Accompanying the burial may be a horse, ox, ram (or parts of these animals), vessels, decorations, and occasionally knives, weapons, or chariots.

REGIONAL SUBTRADITIONS: Alakul, Alexeevka, Fedorovo,

Kozhumberdy, Sintashta-Petrovka.

SITES: Alakul, Alexeevka I, Atasu, Borovoe, Ustie-

Solnze II.

CULTURAL SUMMARY

Environment

The steppe ecosystem is unstable. The amount of yearly precipitation reduction from the north to the south is from 430-150 mm a year. The climate is continental, cool, and dry.

Climate. In the scheme of Blitt-Sernander, the subboreal third period from 3800-2500 B.P. was characterized by some changes in the climate, essentially changing the situation of the region and influencing cultural development. The western part of the Andronovo area

2Andronovo

experienced a more arid and warmer climate, changing the poaceous zone of the steppes to the forest/steppe zone and spreading deciduous forest into the taiga. Around 3600 B.P. came a wetter and cooler climate, and the steppes were dominated by mixed grasses, with forests in the river valleys, including deciduous oak and lime trees, but dominated by birch, pine, and in some places, Siberian pine. During the period 3500-3400 B.P., the climate was warmer. The balance of heat and moisture was favorable for the development of the steppe ecosystem. Around 3300 B.P., an ecological crisis occurred: a sharp cooling trend and a pronounced continental climate, accompanied by an expansion of the Siberian anticyclone. A poaceous-mixed grass and absinthial-grazing pasturage steppe; deciduous breeds vanished; pines and spuces dominated. In the Siberian steppe zone at all stages, a continental climate was more sharply pronounced; there was the Siberian anticyclone. The forest/steppe zone was dominated by pine groves. Around 2700 B.P., there was a new ecological crisis,

mar~ed by a cooling trend and increase in humidity. COlllferous forest, marshy areas, and river systems with increased water volume dominated the forest/steppe zone in the river systems.

Topography. Andronovo monuments are located in groups (microregions) on the shores of smaller rivers usually on the first terrace above the riverbed. Late; Andronovo tribes adapted to the deserts of central Asia and their localized springs and wells, and also to the Tien-Shan and Pamir mountains where their crumbled ruins can be found in the mountain valleys. Large concentrations of ruins from the entire epoch are noted in the ancient copper and tin mining regions.

Geology. The Andronovo area is highly varied. Large parts of the forest/steppe and steppe zones consist of fertile black soil and chestnut soil, alternating in the south with less fertile brown soil, saline and sandy semidesert and desert soils, and mountains. Mineral resources of the region are rich veins of copper in the Urals, in the north-central regions, eastern Kazakhstan, and the Altai; tin in central regions and especially in eastern Kazakhstan; complex ores in central Asia; and gold in northern Kazakhstan and central Asia.

Biota. The Andronovo was a major zone of forest/ steppe and feather grass-mixed grass pasturage steppes, where are found saiga, koulan, roe deer, wild boar, wolf, fox, polecat, beaver, and hare. In the forest/steppe zone, there are also elk. In eastern Kazakhstan and the Altai there are reindeer, red deer, argali, and Siberian gazelle:

Settlements

Settlement System. There are five known types of settlements: (1) The early Andronovo Sintashta-Petro- vka subtradition (3700-3500 B.P.), with typically fortified settlements in square, oval, or round layouts. They have two concentric walls, built from clay, sometimes with a stone base, and further fortified by a wooden fence or wall, a ditch, and a porte cochere. In the center is a common square; small trapezoidal or rectangular lodgings are enclosed between the surrounding walls and this contained center, where copper is smelted and the well is located. (2) The prevalent type of settlement characteristic for the rest of the Andronovo subtraditions is a settlement consisting of 10-20 large dwellings, situated on one or two lines (streets) along a river. (3) This settlement, containing two to six dwellings, is characteristic of the western Andronovo area. (4) The fourth type is characteristic of the late Andronovo Alekseevka subtradition (3300-2800 B.P.). This is a large settlement, consisting of 30-100 or more dwellings with a central square, occasionally built chaotically. (5) This type is also characteristic of the late Andronovo epoch. It is a smaller, temporary encampment in the semidesert and desert regions or in the high mountainous regions and is located near seasonal livestock pastures.

The depth of the cultural layers at Andronovo settlements is not large, and this is linked to particularities of interactions with economics and the ecosystem. Under localized pastoralism for meat and dairy purposes, the livestock is pastured not far from the settlement, bringing the pastures to exhaustion after 20-25 years and requiring the settlement to move to a new location. It was the conflict between the growing population pressures and the limited resources of the steppe that stimulated the transition to a seminomadic type of pastoralism and the construction of large, stationary settlements (winter quarters) with transitory encampments of herders in summer pastures. Large late Andronovo settlements were centers for metallurgical production, including areas with specialized production. Facts about social stratification, property differentiation, or the existence of cultural centers are not available.

Community Organization. Andronovo tribes settlements were located not far from sources of copper and tin, or on fertile plots of land in forest/steppe or steppe zones with black or chestnut soil. In the Andronovo area, local variants are identified and are used to distinguish different cultural groups and territorial separation of tribes. Within the tribal subcultures, based around small

rivers, ruins are concentrated in microregions, probably belonging to individual families; each settlement has its related burial site and apparently contained united clans.

Housing. Permanent Andronovo dwellings are large, from 8 x 10 to 12 m to 20 x 10 to 15 m in area, in rectangular form, and sometimes with annexes. They are built partially below ground level, from 0.6-1 to 2 m below the ground. There are two types of construction:

(1) In the forest/steppe zone, houses can have frame and post construction, using timber or vertical sunken posts around the perimeter of the dwelling and a slanted roof (either twoor four-planed) supported by central posts, with smoke slits in its center. (2) In the treeless region, along the walls are vertical sunken stone slab bases, covered by either a roof (either twoor four-planed) supported by central posts, or a postless, pyramidal terraced vault. The dwellings can have elaborate entranceways, with ramps or sometimes underground passages uniting neighboring dwellings. In the center is found a rectangular religious fireplace and a circle or oval economic fireplace, usually 1ayed out with tile or brick, for industrial activities such as smelting of copper or baking of pots. The dwellings were each intended for one large patriarchal clan of 30--50 or more people. There are no signs of social stratification. All the houses have signs of industrial activities. In the late Alekseevka subtradition, there is a third type of dwelling intended for herders for temporary encampments: a protoyurt, which was temporary, easily built, circular or manysided, framed, and constructed of wattle.

Population, Health, and Disease. Extensive commerce in metal and optimal ecological conditions allowed Andronovo to behave like a complex agricultural/pastoral economy. It became a powerful democrafic explosion. On the Asiatic steppes, the Andronovo sites considerably surpass the number of sites of all other epochs. The Andronovo population is characterized by tall height and robust build. The anthropological type is massive European with a high forehead, a distinctively sharp nose and large eyes, probably light in color. In the west, they coexisted with a more gracile group of Europeans who would became the population of the Volga region. The remains from all areas display visible signs of military injury: broken skulls or bodies pierced by arrows. They had a medium lifespan: an average of 30--33 years (not taking into account infant mortality to 2 years of age). Infant mortality was very high-around 50 percent. The family resided in one house and consisted of 30--50 or more people of three to four

Andronovo 3

generations, judging from the graves of the settlements. The settlements, based on the burial sites, functioned for 25 years. The population density of the steppe was medium, apparently 0.8-1.3 people per 100 sq km. In the late Andronovo era (3300--2900 B.P.), the population density sharply declined, probably as a result of a general southward migration of the population.

Economy

Subsistence. The Andronovo peoples had an agriculturecattle breeding economy, with cattle breeding dominant. The cattle were grazed on grasslands near settlements and were driven home every evening for milking, guaranteeing a stable milk ration. This stable subsistence led to increasing population, increasing need for food; as a result, herds became larger. But more cattle also strained the limited resources of the steppe ecosystem, because on the steppe it is possible to graze only six or seven bulls or horses per sq km. Intensification of pastoralism and the transition to seminomadic life (moving between lowland and mountain pastures) took place in the late Andronovo period. This economy was characterized by some populations settling down into permanent villages; others drove cattle to temporary pastures in deserts and alpine regions, coming back in the autumn.

Wild Foods. Wild food did not play an important role in the Andronovo people's diet. There is little information about the use of wild plants as food, and fishing is almost nonexistent. Wolf, fox, rabbit, and other animals were apparently hunted for fur, and some may have been hunted for meat as well.

Domestic Foods. The Andronovo peoples were familiar with wheat, millet, and probably rye. Grain, stems, grainaries, bronze sickles, pestles, grinding stones, and even some representative art depicting on the petroglyphs of the ploughing scenes demonstrate the importance of agriculture.

Cattle breeding was the basis of the Andronovo economy. In addition to cattle, sheep, goats, and horses were also used for food, and dogs and Bactrian camels were kept. There were regional differences in the makeup of herds. According to osteological data, cattle made up 37-52 percent, and sheep and goats 37-44 percent of herds in forest-steppes; in the open steppes, cattle made up 26-34 percent, and sheep and goats 50-- 63 percent. When considering individuals of different species and fertility of sheep, one can say that 60--70 percent of Andronovo's meat was beef, 20--30 percent horsemeat, and 10 percent mutton. The large number of horses in some herds points to the transition from home-

4Andronovo

attached to a more nomadic type of cattle-breeding because horses and sheep are able to move looking for pastures and food under snow.

Industrial Arts. Andronovian production was domestic. Evidence of ceramic production, stone, hide, and bone processing, and spinning and weaving for satisfying the necessities of every family is found in houses. The peculiarity of Andronovian production was developed metallurgy, from extraction and processing to smelting and producing goods. Evidence of metalwork is found in most Andronovo settlements, and evidence of metallurgy is found in settlements close to mines, which are representing by open pits and shaft mines. Andronovians are credited with establishing the method of making bronze (an alloy of copper and tin) and of creating distinct alloys depending on functions of the goods being produced.

Utensils. Four major classes of utensils were used by the Andronovo peoples: (1) Ceramics were made by hand by coiling and were fired in pits or primitive kilns. Vessels were globular in shape and with flat bottom. The surfaces were smoothed. Ceramics were decorated according to horizontal zones (bottom, shoulders, necks) with different geometrical elements, such as pyramids, triangles, swastikas, meanders, festoons, and zigzags, made by combing and incising. Every ceramic subtradition has its own pecularities (local and chronological). (2) Implements of food production, such as bronze (sometimes copper) awls, knives, with one or two blades, axes, sickles, chisels; instruments for skin processing made of bone; stone axes; grinding stones and pestles. (3) Weapons, including copper and bronze axes, knives, and spears; stone maces or axes; and bone axes.

(4)Bridle for chariots, including bone and horn cheekpieces, sometimes with ornament.

Ornaments. Gold, copper, and bronze beads were worn by the Andronovo peoples; earrings, rings animal teeth, mirrors, bracelets and imported stone beads were also worn. Some female interments have rich decorations, but it is unknown if these rich burials reflect high social status or other peculiarities (eg. engaged or just-married intermen ts).

Trade. The basis of the Andronovo economy was domestic production, and individual families were capable of producing all necessities. However, metallurgy and metalwork were often intended for export: more than one-fourth of all metal goods of neighboring

cultures on the Volga, the Don, and even the Dneiper is made of Andronovo metal (copper and bronze). The Andronovians also exported ingots and bronze finished goods. The latter are found in Chorasmia, in settlements of South Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and even China.

In Andronovo settlements, imported lapis and turquoise beads and vessels made on potters' wheels are found. Trade was intertribal. The use of transportation was very important for developing relations, and the Andronovians made valuable contributions to transportation developments in Eurasia. They used a heavy solid four-wheel carriage with yoked oxen. They used a light two-wheeled military chariot with spoked wheels, yoked with two horses with cheek-pieces. Some scholars have argued that the Andronovians invented wheeled military tactics and spread them all over the Old World. In addition, more than 3000 years ago, the Andronovians began to ride on horses with bridles, which allowed a rider to use spears and bows and thus to make up a military cavalry. Finally, the Andronovians used camels as transport animals.

Division of Labor. There are no signs of a division of labor in Andronovo society. The hypothesis that metal processing became a separate field, with family specialization in metallurgy, mining, foundry working, jewelery manufacturing, and the like has not been corroborated in the archaeological record. In virtually all settlements, there is evidence of a complex economy mixing cattle breeding, pottery, domestic production, and metal processing. In terms of the division of labor by sex, it is likely that women were occupied with pottery and the making of clothes, and men did metallurgy. Specialized metallurgists appear only at the very end of the Andronovo epoch.

Differential Access or Control of Resources. During the early Andronovo period of the Sintashtin subtradition, copper ore fields of the Urals were captured by a group of metallurgists. They created a system of fortified settlements, which were protected by chariot-warriors, who were apparently the elite of society and controlled ore processing. Then, the stabilization of the steppe took place. Fortifications disappeared, stable local settlements formed, and the local population residing at these settlements appear to have gained control of local resources. In the late Andronovo epoch, the nomadic economy conditions for cattle theft became ripe, as house-attached pasturing became less common. One can suppose that cavalry protected herds, water sources, and pastures.

Sociopolitical Organization

Social Organization. Andronovian society was based on extended nuclear families, including patriarchal families. Internments appear sometimes to hold a married cou- ple-two sexes with the man on the left side in dominant position and woman on the right side in dependent position. Descent is unclear, but frequent internments of mothers with children perhaps point to matrilineal descent. Long-term maintenance of pottery traditions (females' occupation) may show endogamy or matrilocal residence patterns. Settlements appear to cluster by small rivers into microregions, which may correspond to the territory of a clan. Local populations probably form a tribe.

Political Organization. Settlements and houses do not provide information on social stratification. According to the early Andronovo interments of the SintashtaPetrovka subtradition (3700-3600 B.P.) there are two groups: (1) commoner and (2) elite male interments, located in big graves of complicated construction and accompanied by sacrifices of oxen and horses, sometimes with chariots with yoked horses and rich collections of weapons and symbols of power. It is likely that these warriors were a social elite and perhaps represented formal political leaders. Their duties certainly included protecting ore fields and fortified settlements of metal-producing centers and organizing fort building and ore field processing work. After stabilization of the situation on the steppe (3500 B.P.), the forts and burials interments of warriors disappear, but in most of necropolis there are large tombs of complicated construction, animal sacrifices, prestige goods including metallic goods, and sometimes gold. These are likely interments of highly respected figmen. It is not clear whether these individuals were political leaders. General equality of houses points to general egalitarianism in Andronovo society, but these elite burials suggest that there were elites in Andronovo society. What social stratification was present was apparently not accompanied with marked differences in property. There is no evidence for groups of shamans or priests; spiritual functions were probably implemented by elders, who also implemented social control.

Conflict. Fortified settlements and burials of warriors with violent injuries demonstrate that the early Andronovo epoch was a time of conflict over territory and ore fields. There are few signs of war during the stablization period. In the late Andronovo epoch, after the transition

Andronovo 5

to seminomadic cattle breeding, cattle became easily alienable property. It led to property inequality, the appearance of cavalry warriors, and fights over cattle, pastures, water, and metal. This increasing level of conflict is confirmed by the spread of new types of arms and buried bronze treasures.

Religious and Expressive Culture

Religious Beliefs. Andronovian religion was naturalistic and based on obeying the power of nature and of cults of ancestors. The head of the pantheon was the sun god, whose image is found on petroglyphs. The fire cult was very important and is confirmed by hearth altars, associated with the ceremony of cleansing and cremation with fire. To keep universal order, sacrifices of horse, ox, camel, and dog were made to the gods or to the ancestors; the spreading of water, milk, and honey are also known.

Ceremonies. Family sacrifices were done by the head of the family by the hearth in the house. Public ceremonies were implemented when founding a new settlement, during funerals and annual holidays celebrated in sanctuaries, where they often created petroglyphs.

Arts. Andronovian art is represented by petroglyphs depicting animals such as horses, oxen, rams, camels, as well as the sun god, battles with axes, and ritual dances. Ceramics and costumes indicate highly developed geometrical ornament, which is a main indicator of the Andronovo tradition.

Death and Afterlife. Andronovians believed in an afterlife and made elaborate graves for their dead, for whom they provided food and other goods. Inhumation and cremation were used.

Suggested Readings

Chernikov, S. S. (1960). Vostochnyi Kazakhstan v epochu bronzy: Materialy i issledovaniia archeologii SSSR, No. 88 (Eastern Kazakhstan in the bronze age: Material and Research in USSR Archeology No. 88). Moscow-Leningrad: Nauka.

Gening, V. F., G. B. Zdanovich, V. V. Gening, (1992). Sintashta Cheliabinsk: South Uralian Press.

Grjaznov, M. P. (1927). "Pogrebeniia bronzovoi epokhi v Zapadnom Kazakhstane. Kazaki." ("Excavations from the Bronze Age in Western Kazakhstan. Kazaki."): Leningrad: 172-215.

Kadyrbaev, M. K. and Zh. Kurmankulov (1992). Kul'tura drevnich skotovodov i metallurgov Sary-Arki. (The Culture of Ancient Pastoralism and Metallurgy of Sary-Arki). Alma-Ata: Gylym.

6 Andronovo

Komarova, M. N. (1962). "Otnositel'naia khronologiia pamiatnikov andronovskoi kyl'tury" ("A Relative Chronology of Monuments of the Andronovo Culture"). Arkheologicheskii sbornik Gosudarstvennovo Ermitazha, (Archeological anthology of the National Hermitage)

Issue 5, 50-75.

Krivtsova-Grakova, O. A. (1949). "Alekseevskoe poselenie i mogil'nik. Gosudarstvennyi istoricheskii muzei. Trudy." ("Alekseevka settlements and necropolis." Transactions of National Historical Museum.) Moscow: 59-172.

Kuzmina, E. E. (1986). (Ancient pastoralism from the Urals to the TienShan Mountains). Frunze: Nauka.

Kuzmina, E. E. (1994). Otkuda prishli indoarii? (Where Did the IndoAryans Come From?). Moscow: Nauka.

Kuzmina, E. E. (1985). "Classification and Periodization of Andronovo Cultural Community Sites." International Association for the Study of the Cultures of Central Asia, Information Bulletin 9:

23-46.

Maximenkov, G. A. (1978). Andronovskaia kul'tura na Enisee. (Andronovo Culture at the, Yenisei River). Leningrad: Nauka.

Margulan, A. H., K. A. Akishev, M. K. Kadyrbaev, and others (1966)

Drevniaia kul'tura Tsentrarnovo Kazakhstana "Ancient Culture in Central Kazakhstan" Alma-Ata. Nauka.

Matjushchenko, V. I. (1973). Andronovskaia kul'tura na Verkhnei Obi. Iz istorii Sibiri. 11. (Andronovo Culture on the Upper ~b' river. From the History of Siberia. 11). Tomsk: Tomsk University.

Orazbaev, A. M. (1958). Severnyi Kazakhstan v epokhu bronzy. Trudy instituta istorii, arkheologii i etnografii Akademii nauk Kazakhskoi SSR ("Northern Kazakhstan in the bronze age. Works of Institute of History, Archeology and Ethnography Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh S.S.R.). Alma-Ata: Kasekh Academy.

Salnikov, K. V. (1967). Ocherk drevnei istorii Yuzhnovo Urala

(Outline of ancient history of the southern Ural region). Moscow: Nauka.

Sorokin, V. S., ed. (1966). Andronovskaia kul'tura: Pamiatniki zapadnykh oblastei. Svod arkheologicheskikh istochnikov, Vyp. 2-3 (Andronovo culture: Monuments of western region. Collection of archeological sources, Issues 2-3). Moscow.

Zdanovich, G. B. (1988). Bronzovyi vek Uralo-Kazakhstanskikh stepei

(Bronze age of the Uralo-Kazakh steppe). Sverdlovsk: Ural University Press.

SUBTRADITIONS

Alakul

TIME PERIOD: 3500-3300 (3250) B.P. Chronologically follows the Sintashta-Petrovka subtradition and precedes the Alekseevka subtradition.

LOCATION: Forest steppe and open steppe zones, southern Urals, northern, western, and central Kazakhstan.

DIAGNOSTIC MATERIAL ATTRIBUTES: Flat-bottomed cera-

mics with a rib on the shoulder, decorated with geometrical designs. Bronze knifes, axes, spears, and ornaments;

bone check-pieces; large square houses of frame pole construction; burials consist of (1) in the forest steppe, earthen barrows; (2) in the open steppe, barrows with a ring of vertical stone slabs, and (3) stone rings surrounding a square grave sometimes with timber-frame construction or stone box of vertical slabs covered with wood or stone slabs. Inhumations placed on the left side, head to the west or southwest, often with two vessels near the head.

CULTURAL SUMMARY

Environment

Forest steppe and open steppe with a continental climate that was generally warm and humid. Birch and pine grew in the forest steppes and river valleys. The open steppes were excellent pasture for cattle. Saiga, roe-buck, wild boar, and fur-bearing animals were present. Hunting was not very important, and fishing was nonexistent. Processing minerals was of great importance. Copper ore finds are common throughout the region; tin is found in central Khazakstan and gold in the Urals and northern Caucasus.

Settlement Patterns. Settlements are found primarily in the valleys of small rivers, especially on fertile parts of water-meadows and ore fields. The settlements consisted of 10-20 or more houses situated along the river in one or two lines. Houses were large, semisubterranean dwellings built of frame-pole construction, and 80 to over 200 sq m in floor area. Walls were built from clay and logs. Roofs were two-sloped or pyramidal in shape. Most had an entrance ramp, several hearths, both oval and square, and also two-chambered hearths for copper smelting and firing. Households appear to have been self-sufficient, satisfying their own necessities. It is thought that a single large extended family lived in each house and consisted of 30-50 people, divided into individual nuclear families. There is evidence in settlement patterns and burial grounds that groups controlled local territories, perhaps as clans.

Optimal climatic conditions were the reason for population explosion during the Alakul subtradition. Population growth is confirmed by the increase in burial monuments, which are much more frequent than the monuments of other epochs. Average life span for those who lived past infancy was 30-33 years or more. The infant mortality rate was high-about 50 percent.

Economy

The Alakul subtradition economy combines cattle breeding and agriculture, which was more developed in the forest steppe zone. Home-attached cattle breeding for meat and milk was the basis of the economy. Cattle, sheep, and horses were bred. The meat portion of the diet consisted of roughly 60-70 percent beef, 20-30 percent horse meat, and 10 percent mutton.

Ceramics, which are the main diagnostic feature of the Alakul subtradition, are represented by flat-bottom pots with a rib on the shoulder. The pots are decorated by a smooth stamp with geometric designs on the shoulder and rim.

Transportation was of primary importance in the economy, and numerous bone and horn cheek-pieces of bridle have been found. Axes, maces, and ore-working tools were made from stone. Metallurgy and metal processing were highly developed. Ore fields were either large open mines, long ditches, or galleries. Bronze was widespread and more common than copper. Axes, spears, sickles, and knives were made of bronze.

Bronze was also used for ornaments, as was gold or gold leaf. Rings, bracelets, and beads were common ornaments, and beads were sometimes used to decorate clothing. Metal was traded to the west as far as the Donets and to the south as far as Chorasmia and to the north into the northern forests.

The division of labor was based on age and sex. Women made pottery and clothing; men did metallurgy and metal processing. All the settlements have signs of metal processing, but there is no evidence of craft specialization in metallurgy appearing.

Sociopolitical Organization

The analysis of the settlements and burials suggests a clan-tribal organization of society, which was apparently based on large extended families living in one house and consisting of smaller nuclear families. The clan was patriarchal: in intersex burials, the male lies in leading position on his left side, the female in front of him on her right. There is no reasons to believe that some women were slaves because combined burials of couples are well known, especially among Indo-Irani- ans. Probably endogamy and matrilocal marriage existed, because in necropolis there are numerous women with children in a barrow, even in one grave, and the ceramic complex of the settlement is uniform; it points to the maintenance of pottery traditions from mother to daughter. There are no signs of social or wealth

Andronovo 7

differences, but the society was apparently not egalitarian either. Most graves are barrows and enclosures less than 10 m in diameter and less than 1 m in height. But there are several barrows larger than 40 m in diameter and 2 m in height, each with complex construction. These suggest difficult collective work. These graves contain a large collection of goods, including symbols of power (weapons and gold) and are likely the burials of leaders and elders. There are also burials of well-dressed women, but it is not clear if this is related to women's social status or the circumstances of death (engaged, just married). There are no fortified settlements in the Alakul subtradition, and the number of weapons is fewer than it was in the Sintashta-Petrovna subtradition, suggesting that the situation in the steppe was more stable.

Religion and Expressive Culture

The cult of ancestors was of great importance. Necropolis contain several (10 or more) Kurgans or stone enclosures with one grave in each. In the center of the barrows was a large tomb with timber construction or a box made of vertical stone plates, covered with wood or timbers. It was typical in the Urals for graves to be situated in a line around the central tomb. Interments are made with the head facing the west or southwest, the body positioned on its left side (in intersex graves with the woman on her right side; in mother and infant graves with the infant on his or her right side). At the head of the dead, there were usually two vessels. Women were buried with bracelets, beads, and other decorations; in men's burials there are often a knife and weapons. There are several reported dog burials. Sacrifices were apparently of great importance. During the interment, sacrifice of horses, oxen, and sheep took place. Sacrifice of animals and vessels with ritual food also accompanied the construction of houses and settlements.

References

Ahinzhanov, S. M., L. A. Makarova, et al. (1992). K istorii skotovodstva i okhoty v Kazakhstane [History ofpastoralism and hunting in Kazakhstan]. Alma-Ata: Gylym.

Akishev, K. A., ed. (1977). Istoriia Kazakhskoi SSSR, I [History of Kazakh SSR. I]. Alma-Ata: Tasakh Academy of Science.

Avanesova, N. A. (1991). Kuftura pastusheskikh plemen epokhi bronzy Aziatskoi chasti SSSR (po metallicheskim izdeliiam)

Science.

Chernych, E. N. (1970). Drevneishaia metallurgiia Urala i Povolzh'ia [Ancient metallurgy of the Urals and Volga regions]. Moscow: Nauka.

8 Andronovo

Griaznov, M. P. (1927). Pogrebeniia bronzovoi epokhi v Zapadnom Kazakhstane [Burial sites from the bronze age in western Kazakhstan].

Leningrad.

Evdokimov, V. V. (1984). "Narodonacelenie stepnovo Pritobofia v epokhu bronzy" [The population of the Pritobol'ian steppes in the bronze age] Ph.D. diss., Kiev.

Kadyrbaev, M. K., and Zh. Kurmankulov (1992). Kuftura drevnikh skotovodov i metallurgov Sary-Arki [Culture of ancient pastoralism and metallurgy of Sary-Arka]. Alma-Ata: Tasakh Academy of Science.

Kadyrbaev, M. K., and A. H. Marjashev (1977). Naskal'nye izobrazheniia khrebta Kara Tau [The petroglyhs of the Kara Tau peaks].

Alma-Ata: Tasakh Academy of Science.

Komarova, M. H. (1962). "Otnositel'naia khronologiia pamiatnikov andronovskoi kul'tury" ["Relative chronology of monuments of the Andronovo culture"]. Arkheologicheskii sbornik Gosudarstvennovo Ermitazha [Archeological anthology of the National Hermitage Museum] 5. Leningrad, 32-73.

Kuzmina, E. E. (1974). "0 nekotorykh voprosakh andronovskoi demografii" ["About a few questions of Andronovo demography"].

Izvestiia Sibirskovo Otdeleniia Akademii nauk SSSR [News of the Siberian branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences] 6,2: 102-106.

Kuzmina, E. E. (1985). "Classification and Periodization of Andronovo Cultural Community Sites." International Association for the Study of the Cultures of Central Asia Information bulletin 9: 23--46.

Kuzmina, E. E. (1994). Otkuda prishli indoarii? [Where did the IndoAryans come from?]. Moscow: Nauka.

Kuzmina, E. E., and N. M. Vinogradova (1966). "Contacts between the Steppe and Agricultural Tribes of Central Asia." Anthropology and Archaeology of Eurasia 34,4: 29-54.

Kuznetsova, E. F., and T. M. Teplovodskaya (1994). Drevniaia metallurgiia i goncharstvo Tsentral'nogo Kazakhstana [Ancient metallurgy and pottery production of central Kazakhstan]. Alma-Ata: Gylym.

Margulan, A. H., K. A. Akishev, et al. (1966). Drevniaia kul'tura Tsentral'novo Kazakhstana [Ancient culture of central Kazakhstan].

Alma-Ata: kasakh Academy of Science (Nauka).

Novozhenov, V. A. (1994). Naskal'nye izobrazheniia povozok Srednei i Tsentrafnoi Azii [Petroglyphs with vehicles of northern and central Asia]. Almaty: Institute of Archaeology.

Salnikov, K. V. (1951). "Bronzovyi vek JuzhnovoZaural'ia." [The bronze age in southern Transuralia]. In Materialy i issledovaniia po arkheologii SSSR [Materials and Research in Soviet Archeology]

21: 94-151.

Salnikov, K. V. (1952). "Kurgany na ozere Alakul" [Burial mounds at Alakul' lake]. In Materialy i issledovaniia po arkheologii SSSR [Materials and Research in Soviet Archeology] 24: 51-71.

Salnikov, K. V. (1967). Ocherki drevnei istorii Juzhnovo Urala [Outline of Ancient History in the Southern Ural Region]. Moscow: Nauka.

Sorokin, V. S., ed. (1966). Andronovskaia kul'tura: Pamiatniki zapadnykh oblastei. (Andronovo-culture: Monuments in Western districts). Svod arkheologicheskikh istocknikov (Collection of archeological sources), B 3-2. Moscow: Nauka.

Sher, J. A. (1980). Petroglify Srednei i Tsentral'noi Azii (Petroglyphs in northern and central Asia). Moscow: Nauka.

Tkachev, A. A. (1992). "Kul'tura naceleniia Tsentral'nogo Kazakhstana v epokhu razvitoi bronzy" [Culture of the tribes of central Kazakhstan in the bronze age]. Ph.D. diss., Moscow.

Tsalkin, V. I. (1992). "Fauna iz raskopok andronovskikh pamiatnikov v Priural'e" [Fauna from excavations of Andronovo monuments in the pre-Ural region]. In Osnovnye problemy teriologii (Fundamental Problems of Teriology). Moscow: 66-81.

Zdanovich, G. B. (1988). Bronzovyi vek Uralo-Kazakhstanskikh stepei

[The Bronze Age of the Ural-Kazakh steppes]. Sverdlovsk: Ural University.

Alexeevka

TIME PERIOD: 3300 (3250)-2800 B.P. Genetically connected and chronologically follows the Alakul subtradition; is synchronistic to the Cheraskul tradition in the Urals forests, Begazy in central Kazakhstan, and Karasuk in Siberia. Precedes the Scythian tradition.

LOCATION: The forest steppe and open steppe zones of the southern Urals, Kazakhstan, southern Siberia, and the deserts of central Asia up to the oases of southern Turkmenistan and Tajikistan.

DIAGNOSTIC MATERIAL ATTRIBUTES: Ceramic vessels of

lengthened proportions decorated with sticked on roll of clay and rarely with stamped geometrical designs, bronze knives, sickles, chisels, spears, axes, bracelets and different types of cheek-pieces; houses are either square semisubterranean of timber-frame construction necropolis consist of square enclosure or stone box small, round, or eight protoguts with the body positioned on its side, or, in some areas, large round or square mausoleums with cremations or inhumations with ceramics.

CULTURAL SUMMARY

Environment

On the forest steppe and open steppe about 3,300 years ago, an environmental crisis took place: it grew sharply colder and more arid. Deciduous plants disappeared, and pine trees and fir trees came to dominate the flora. The steppe became less fertile, and wormwood plants become widespread. Minerals were of great importance: copper fields were processed all over the territory, tin in the central and especially in eastern Kazakhstan. Fauna was represented by wolf, fox, goose, deer, boar, and elk, although hunting was not an important part of economy.

Settlement Patterns

Alexeevka settlements are situated by small rivers, often near water meadows or ore fields. Three types of

settlements are found: (I) small settlements with two to five houses; (2) settlements with 10-20 structures; and

(3) prototowns of 40 and more structures (primarily in central Kazakhstan). Alexeevka houses are often arranged in one to two lines along a river or have a square in the middle of the community. There are also temporal stands in the deserts and mountains. The houses are either round light surface structures or large, square semisubterranean timber-grave constructions (200-300 sq m in floor area). Roofs are double sloped or pyramidal in shape. Sometimes buildings appear to be for specialized production purposes, as they contain kilns and forges for metal processing. It is thought that the settlements and houses reflect social stratification and craft specialization, as some houses have no evidence of metal processing, whereas in others (primarily in the prototowns) there are special industrial buildings and, perhaps, cult buildings. The blocks connecting large houses, perhaps reflects the formation of clans of several hundred people.

There are fewer dwellings and fewer burials than in the preceding epoch, and this seems to confirm both environmental crisis and migration to the south. The density of population increased only in central Kazakhstan, where prototowns with enormous buildings appeared.

Economy

Andronovian economy was developing extensively as the entire steppe had been opened up for agriculture and pasturage. But by 3300 B.P. a crisis took place. The limited resources of the steppe could not satisfy the needs of increasing population. This economic crisis was aggravated by an environmental crisis. The solution was a transition to a seminomadic way of life. Although most people stayed in a village, herdsman drove the cattle to the uplands and deserts in the spring. The structure of herds changed, with the number of cattle reduced up to 30 percent and the number of horses, which were used for long travel, increased up to 35 percent. The number of sheeps increased up to 80 percent on some settlements. This emerging seminomadic lifestyle was fostered by the spread of proto-yurts, the appearance of horse riding, and mechanisms to protect the herds during their moves. Some communities intensified agriculture and began building large multi houses blocks and became centers for metallurgy and trade. The part of the population that moved to central Asia had an irrigation system for agriculture and assimilated with native people.

Andronovo 9

Alekseevka ceramics include vessels with narrow necks, round shoulders, and elongaged shapes. Vessels were sometimes decorated with sticked on roll of clay on the shoulder, sometimes with incised or stamped decorations. Imported ceramics are also found. Bronze goods of Alexeevka period have been found in Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, and Xingiang.

Important progress took place in bronze processing: forge construction was advanced; special alloys for different goods were developed; and the number and types of bronze goods increased. Bronze items included a variety of different axes, celts, spears, sickles, knives, and chisels. These innovations, along with the absence of evidence for metal processing in most homes and the appearance of clear locations where metallurgy was conducted, suggest that specialization had developed.

Sociopolitical Organization

The presence of large houses connected into blocks, the development of trade and metalwork centers, and the appearance of wealth differences between families and metallurgists what proof the emergence of treasures reflect social stratification. Some individual tombs need 20 to 200 more common efforts for constructing than the tomb of ordinary people's. The progress of advanced kinds of weapons, and the appearance of horse men warriors reflect the development of a military type of society, perhaps with wars fought over pastures, sources of ore, and watering places.

Religion and Expressive Culture

The number of burials was reduced sharply, and interment ceremonies were markedly different from previous periods. Burials in small, round graves with stone boxes or enclosures are common. The orientation of the graves is not stable-the dead lay on the left or right side, extended or flexed. In Kazakhstan, large tombs were built and a rich collection of goods was placed with the dead. The construction of buildings and the prevalence of ceramics of the Begazi tradition suggest that the elite of the society in Kazakhstan were Begazians, who had come from the East and assimilated later with Alekseevka people.

References

Ahinzhanov, S. M., L. A. Makarova, and T. N. Nurumov (1992). K istorii skotovodstva i okhoty v Kazakhstane [History of Pastoralism and Hunting in Kazakhstan]. Alma-Ata: Gylym.

10 Andronovo

Avanesova, N. A. (1991). Kuf tura pastusheskikh plemen epokhi bronzy Aziatskoi chasti SSSR (po metallicheskim izdeliiam) [Culture of Pastoralist Tribes in the Bronze Age of Asiatic Parts of the USSR [by Metal Artifacts]]. Tashkent: Uzbek Academy of Science.

Chernikov, S. S. (1948). "Drevnee gornoe delo v raione goroda Stepniak" ("Ancient Mining in the Region of Stepnyak"). In

Izvestiia Akademii nauk Kazakhskoi SSR [News of the Kazakh SSR Academy of Sciences 46]: 13-38.

Chernikov, S. S. (1949). Drevniaia metallurgiia i gornoe delo Zapadnovo Altaia [Ancient Metallurgy and Mining in the Western Altays]. AlmaAta: Kasakth Academy of Science.

Chernikov, S. S. (1966). Vostochnyi Kazakhstan v epokhu bronzy

[Eastern Kazakhstan in the Bronze Age]. 88. Moscow: Nauka. Evdokimov, V. V. (1975). "Novye raskopki Alekseevskovo poseleniia"

[New Excavations of the Aleseevka settlement]. Sovetskaia arkheologiia [Soviet Archeology] 4: 163-172.

Evdokimov, V. V. (1984). "Narodonaselenie stepnovo Pritobol'ia v epokh bronzy" (Population of the Pritobol'ia steppes in the bronze age). Ph.D. diss., Kiev.

Kadyrbaev, M. K., and Zh. Kurmankulov (1992). Kul'tura drevnikh skotovodov i metallurgov Sary-Arki (Culture of ancient pastoralists and metallurgists of Sary-Arka). Alma Alta: Tasakh Academy of Science.

Kiryushin, J. F., G. E. Ivanov, and V. S. Udodov (1990). "Novye materially epokhi pozdnei bronzy stepnovo Altaia" (New material of the late bronze age in the Altai steppes). In Arkheologiia i etnografiia Juzhnoi Sibiri (Archeology and ethnography of southern Siberia). Barnaul: Altai University.

Kozhomberdyev, I., and E. E. Kuzmina (1980). "Shamshinskii klad epokhi pozdnei bronzy v Kirgizii" (Shamshinskii treasure of the late bronze age in Kyrgyzstan). Sovetskaia arkheologiia (Soviet archeology) 4: 140-153.

Krivtsova-Grakova, O. A. (1948). Alekseevskoe poselenie i mogil'nik

(Alekseevka settlements and necropolis). Trudy Gosudarstvennovo Istoricheskovo muzeia (Transactions of National Historical Museum), (Issue XVII) Moscow. 59-172.

Kuzmina, E. E. (1966). Metallicheskie izdeliia eneolita i bronzovovo veka v Srednei Azii (Metal artifacts of the bronze age in central Asia). Svod arkheologicheskikh istochnikov (Collection of archeological sources). B 3-9. Moscow: Nauka.

Kuzmina, E. E. (1994). Otkuda prishli indoarii? (Where did the IndoAryans come from?). Moscow: Nauka.

Kuzmina, E. E. (1997). "Ekologiia stepei Evrazii i problema proiskhozhdeniia nomadizma" (The ecology of the Eurasian steppes and problem of the origins of nomadism). Vestnik drevnei islorii (Bulletin of ancient history) 2: 81-95.

Kuznetzova, E. F., and T. M. Teplnovodskaya (1994). Drevniaia metallurgiia i goncharstvo Tsentral'novo Kazakhstana (Ancient metallurgy and pottery production in central Kazakhstan). Alma-Ata: Gylym.

Loman, (1987). "Dongal'skii tip keramiki" (Dongal' type of ceramics). In Voprocy periodizatsii arkheologicheskikh pamiatnikov Tsentral'novo i Severnovo Kazakhstana (Chronological questions of the archeological monuments of central and northern Kazakhstan). Karaganda: Karaganda University, 115-129.

Margulan, A. H. (1979). Begazy-Dandybai sray kul'tura Tsentral'novo Kazakhstana (Begazy-Dandybai culture of central Kazakhstan). Alma-Ata: Nauka.

Salnikov, K. V. (1951). "Bronzovyi vek Juzhnovo Zaural'ia" (The bronze age in southern Transuralia). In Materialy i issledovaniya po

Varfolomeev, V. V. (1991). "Sary-Arka v kontse bronzovoi epokhi" (Sary-Arka at the end of the bronze age). Ph.D. diss., Alma-Ata.

Zdanovich, G. B. (1988). Bronzovyi vek Uralo-Kazakhstanskikh stepei

(The bronze age of the Ural-Kazakh steppes). Sverdlovsk: Ural University.

Zdanovich, S. Va. (1979). "Sargarinskaia kul'tura-Zakljuchitel'nyi etap bronzovovo veka v Severnom Kazakhstane." (Sargaria cul- ture-Concluding epoch of the bronze age in northern Kazakhstan). Ph.D. diss., Moscow.

Fedorovo

TIME PERIOD: 3500-3300 (3250) B.P. Follows the Sint- ashta-Petrovka subtradition and Afanasievo and okunevo subtraditions in Siberia. The relations with Alakul are debatable; either (1) Fedorovo and Alakul are genetically connected, with Fedorovo preceding Alakul;

(2) Alakul precedes Fedorovo; or (3) the Fedorovo and Alakul sub-traditions are related and exist at the same time, but represent different tribes.

LOCATION: The forest steppe and open steppe zones ofthe southern Urals, northern, central, and eastern Kazakhstan, the upper Ob, and the upper Yenisei in southern Siberia. Fedorovo groups moved from central and eastern Kazakhstan to the east and southern Siberia, where they mixed with local populations in the upper Ob and upper Yenisei, also in the south (Tashkent oasis, the TyanShan, Pamir, southern Tajikistan), up to northern Afganistan.

DIAGNOSTIC MATERIAL ATTRIBUTES: Flat-bottom pots with

round shoulders, decorated with geometrical designs; bronze knives, trumpet earrings; square, semisubterranean houses of timber-frame construction; the necropolis include burial mounts of ten enclose by a circular or square stone fence with central stone box tombs. In the Urals and Kazakhstan, cremation ceremonies and sometimes inhumation are practiced; in Siberia, the inhumation is always flexed with the body on the left, usually with two vessels on the head.

CULTURAL SUMMARY

Environment

The forest steppe and open steppe zones had a continental climate that was generally warm and moderately humid. Birches and pines dominated the forest