.png)   Shatar Chuluu Altan Sandal  Afanasieva Gora  Ukok Plateau  Ürümqi Afanasievo culture and contemporary politiesc. 3000 BCE.  : Original site of Gora Afanasieva,Minusinsk Basin.[1] :Ukok Plateau Afanasievo burials.[2] :Ürümqi (Tuqiu) Afanasievo burials.[3] The area ofDzungaria also had Afanasievo burials and close genetic connection.[4] : Afanasievo burials at Altan Sandal andShatar Chuluu in centralMongolia.[5][6] SeeAfanasievo sites in Mongolia | |
| Alternative names | Afanasevo culture; Afanasevans |
|---|---|
| Geographical range | South Siberia |
| Period | Bronze Age |
| Dates | 3300 BCE — 2500 BCE |
| Type site | Gora Afanasieva (Minusinsk Basin)[7] |
| Followed by | Chemurchek culture,Okunev culture,Karakol culture,Andronovo culture,Deer stones culture[8] |
TheAfanasievo culture, orAfanasevo culture (Afanasevan culture) (Russian:Афанасьевская культураAfanas'yevskaya kul'tura), is an earlyarchaeological culture of southSiberia, occupying theMinusinsk Basin and theAltai Mountains during theeneolithic era,c. 3300 to 2500 BCE. It is named after a nearby mountain, Gora Afanasieva (Russian:Гора Афанасьева,lit. 'Afanasiev's mountain') in what is nowBogradsky District,Khakassia,Russia, first excavated by archaeologistSergei Teploukhov from 1920 to 1929.[9] Afanasievo burials have been found as far as Shatar Chuluu in centralMongolia, confirming a further expansion about 1,500 km beyond theAltai Mountains.[5] The Afanasievo culture is now considered an integral part of thePrehistory of Western and Central Mongolia.[10]
According toDavid W. Anthony the Afanasevan population was descended from people who migrated c. 3700–3300 BCE across theEurasian Steppe from the pre-YamnayaRepin culture of theDon-Volga region.[11] It is considered to be "intrusive from the west", in respect to previous local Siberian cultures.[12] According to Anthony, "The Afanasievo culture migration to the Altai was carried out by people with a Repin-type material culture, probably from the middle Volga-Ural region."[11]
A 2021 study by F. Zhang and others found that earlyTarim mummies from the late 3rd and early 2nd millennia BCE were unrelated to the Afanasevians, and came from a genetically isolated population derived fromAncient North Eurasians, that had borrowed agricultural and pastoral practices from neighboring peoples.[13]
Because of its geographical location and dating, Anthony and earlier scholars such asLeo Klejn,J. P. Mallory andVictor H. Mair have linked the Afanasevans to theProto-Tocharian language.[14][15][16][17] Afanasievan ancestry persisted inDzungaria at least until the second half of the 1st millennium BCE.[13] TheShirenzigou culture (410–190 BC), just northeast of the Tarim Basin, also appears to have been derived from the Afanasievans, which, in addition to linguistics, further reinforces an Afanasievo hypothesis for theTocharians.[18]
The first Afanasievo archaeological site was found near the mountain of Gora Afanasieva (Minusinsk Basin). It was excavated in 1920–1929 by Russian archaeologistSergei Teploukhov, and the newly discovered culture was named after the mountain.[7] The original Afanasievo site was on the first floodplain terrace of theYenisei river near Gora Afanasieva, 1 km to the southeast from the village of Bateni-Yarki, and is now submerged in the flood zone of theKrasnoyarsk Reservoir since 1960–1967.[21][22]
Many other Afanasievo sites were found in theUkok Plateau,[2] and as far south as the area aroundÜrümqi (Tuqiu), near theTarim Basin,[3] and the area ofDzungaria.[4]
The area from theMinusinsk Basin toDzungaria is the main area of Afanasievo occupation, but recently, Afanasievo burials were found as far east as Altan Sandal andShatar Chuluu in centralMongolia, confirming an eastward expansion about 1,500 km beyond theAltai Mountains and beyond the previously known area of occupation.[5][6][23]
While the Afanasievo culture was present in the Altai and western and central Mongolia, elements of a distinct neolithic culture were present in eastern Mongolia during the period ofPrehistoric Mongolia.[24]
Conventional archaeological understanding tended to date the Afanasievo culture at around 2500–2000 BC. Howeverradiocarbon gave dates as early as 3705 BC on wooden tools and 2874 BC on human remains.[25] The earliest of these dates have now been rejected, giving a date of around 3300 BC for the start of the culture, and 2500 BC for its termination.[26]
.png)
Mass graves were not usual for this culture.[29] Afanasievo cemeteries include both single and small collective burials with the deceased usually flexed on their back in a pit. The burial pits are arranged in rectangular, sometimes circular, enclosures marked by stone walls. It has been argued that the burials represent family burial plots with four or five enclosures constituting the local social group.
The Afanasievo economy includedcattle,sheep, andgoat. Horse remains, either wild or domestic, have also been found. The Afanasievo people became the first food-producers in the area. Tools were manufactured from stone (axes, arrowheads), bone (fish-hooks, points) and antler. Among the antler pieces are objects that have been identified as possible cheek-pieces for horses. Artistic representations of wheeled vehicles found in the area has been attributed to the Afanasievo culture. Ornaments ofcopper,silver andgold have also been found.[14]
The Afanasievans are now considered to be the earliest herders of East Asia, who were instrumental in the establishment of the long tradition of pastoralism in Mongolia.[30] Their rise also corresponds with the appearance of domesticated sheep, goats, and cattle, which marks the earliest spread of Near Eastern domesticated animals and pastoralism to Inner Asia.[31]
They also introduced the initial practice of copper and bronze metallurgy.[30] Afanasievo burials include metal artifacts in copper, bronze (awls, knives), gold and silver, as well the remains of disassembled carts.[32][33][34] The Afanasievos may have used cattle-drawn wagons, as did Yamnaya communities.[35][36]
.jpg)
.jpg)
![Bronze knife from the Afanasievo burial of Khuurai Gobi,[37][38] Bayan-Ölgii Province, 3000 BCE. National Museum of Mongolia.[39]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aAfanasievo_bronze_knife%2c_circa_3000_BCE._Khuurai_Gobi_1_(Kurgak_Gobi_1)%2c_Western_Mongolia.png)
Petroglyphs of animals are associated to the area and period of the Afanasievo culture and share similarities with petroglyphs found in western and central Asia.[40][41]
.jpg)
The analysis of the full genome of Afanasievo individuals has shown that they were genetically very close to theYamnaya population of thePontic–Caspian steppe.[8][46][47] The Afanasievo and Yamnaya populations were much more similar to each other than to groups geographically located between the two (which unlike Afanasievo samples carried a large amount of ancestry from eastern Siberian hunter-gatherers). This indicates that the Afanasievo culture was brought to the Altai region via migration from the western Eurasian steppe, which occurred with little admixture from local populations.[47][48]
From the Altai mountains, steppe-derived Afanasievo ancestry spread to the east into Mongolia and to the south intoXinjiang. The Yamnaya-related lineages and ancestry in Afanasievo disappeared in the course of the Bronze Age in the Altai region and Mongolia, being replaced by the migrating populations from theSintashta culture arriving from the west. InDzungaria, Afanasievo-related ancestry persisted at least into the late first millennium BCE.[49][50]
The Afanasievo people, accompanied by their pastoralist technologies, are one of the major foreign contributors to the genetic profile of the modern northwestern Chinese.[citation needed]
The genetic closeness of the Yamnaya and Afanasievo populations is also mirrored in theuniparentalhaplogroups, especially in the predominance of theY-chromosome haplogroupR1b.[47][note 1]
A 2018 study analyzed the maternal haplogroups of 7 Afanasievo specimens. 71% belonged to West Eurasian maternal haplogroupsU,H andR, while 29% belonged to the East Eurasian maternal haplogroupC.[51]
Afanasievo burials are recorded as far as central Mongolia, at the sites of Altan Sandal and Shatar Chuluu.[5][6] To their east, in the modern area of eastern Mongolia and beyond, resided Neolithic cultures ofPrehistoric Mongolia, probably derived from theAncient Northeast Asians, who were the predecessors of theSlab Grave culture of eastern Mongolia.[52][53]
At Afanasevo Gora, two strains ofYersinia pestis have been extracted from human teeth. One is dated 2909–2679 BCE; the other, 2887–2677 BCE. Both are from the same (mass) grave of seven people, and are presumed near-contemporary.[29] This strain's genes expressflagellin, which triggers the human immune response; so it was not a bubonic plague.[54]
Because of its numerous traits attributed to the early Indo-Europeans, like metal-use, horses and wheeled vehicles, and cultural relations withKurgan steppe cultures, the Afanasevans are believed to have been Indo-European-speaking.[14] They were genetically similar to theYamnaya populations ofWestern Steppe Herders.[56] Genetic studies have demonstrated a discontinuity between Afanasievo and the succeeding Siberian-originatingOkunevo culture, as well as genetic differences between Afanasievo and theTarim mummies.[57] A genomic study published in 2021 found that the population of earliest Tarim Basin cultures (theTarim mummies, dated toc. 2000 BCE) had high levels ofAncient North Eurasian ancestry and no connection with Afanasievo populations.[58] Recent genetic studies have shown that individuals from the early Bronze Age ofDzungaria are largely descended from Afanasievo herders, with additional ancestry fromAfontova Gora,Tarim_EMBA andBaikal_EBA. TheChemurchek pastoral culture of the early Bronze Age, which succeeded the Afanasievo in both theDzungar Basin and theAltai Mountains, derived about two-thirds of its ancestry from the aforementioned Bronze Age individuals of Dzungaria, while the rest came from sources related to Tarim_EMBA andBMAC.[13]
Numerous scholars have suggested that the Afanasievo culture may be responsible for the introduction ofmetallurgy toChina.[59][60][61] In particular, contacts between the Afanasievo culture and theMajiayao culture and theQijia culture are considered for the transmission of bronze technology.[62][63]
The Afanasievo culture may also display cultural borrowings from the earlierBanpo culture (c. 4000 BCE), particularly in the area of painted pottery, suggesting influence from the Far East, specifically from Neolithic China, on the Afanasievo culture and other cultural complexes in the Middle Yenisei region.[64][65]
In theAltai Mountains and to the southeast, Afanasievans seem to have coexisted with the early period of theChemurchek culture for some time, as some of their burials are contemporary and some of the artifacts of the burials coincide.[66]
To the north, the Afanasievo culture was succeeded by theOkunev culture, which is considered to be an extension of thePaleosiberian local non-Indo-European forest culture into the region.[14] The Okunev culture nevertheless displays influences from the earlier Afanasievo culture.[8] The region was subsequently occupied by theAndronovo,Karasuk,Tagar andTashtyk cultures, respectively.[67][68]
Allentoft et al. (2015) confirmed that the Afanasevo culture was replaced by the second wave ofIndo-European migrations from theAndronovo culture during late Bronze Age and early Iron Age.[8][note 2] The Andronovo population was found to be genetically related, but clearly distinct from the Afanasievo population.[8]
Several scholars propose the Afanasievo culture as the ancestors of theTocharians, who lived on the northern edge of theTarim Basin (in present-dayXinjiang, China) in the first millennium AD.[8] TheTocharian languages are believed to have become extinct during the 9th century AD. The Indo-European speaking Tocharian peoples of the Tarim city-states then intermixed with theUyghurs, whose Old Uyghur language spread through the region.
Genetic studies on Iron Age individuals of theShirenzigou site dated to circa 200 BCE have shown a fairly balanced admixture between the West Eurasian and East Eurasian genetic pools.[18] The West Eurasian component wasYamnaya-related, while the East Eurasian component was Northeast Asian-related. The Yamnaya component suggest a strong probability that the Shirenzigou populations were derived from the Afanasievo culture to the north, and spoke anIndo-European language.[18] This reinforces an Afanasievo hypothesis for theTocharians, often called the "Steppe hypotheses", rather than a hypotheses favouringBMAC andAndronovo Culture origins, the "Bactrian Oasis hypotheses".[18]
| Part ofa series on |
| Indo-European topics |
|---|
 |
Extant Extinct Reconstructed Hypothetical
Grammar Other |
Archaeology Chalcolithic (Copper Age) Pontic Steppe Caucasus East Asia Eastern Europe Northern Europe Bronze Age Northern/Eastern Steppe Europe
South Asia Iron Age Europe Caucasus Central Asia India |
Peoples and societies Bronze Age Iron AgeIndo-Aryans Iranians Nuristanis East Asia Europe Middle Ages Europe Indo-Aryan Iranian |
Religion and mythology |
 Category |
%2c_view_1.jpg)
.jpg)
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)Afanasievo cemeteries have been found in the Dzungarian Basin, and Zhang and co-workers found that individuals from some Dzungarian cemeteries share a close genetic relationship to west Eurasian (Afanasievo) populations.
Although the majority of Afanasievo burials reported to date are located in the Altai mountains and Upper Yenisei regions, the Early Bronze Age (EBA) site of Shatar Chuluu in the southern Khangai Mountains of central Mongolia has yielded Afanasievo-style graves with proteomic evidence of ruminant milk consumption (Wilkin et al., 2020a) and a western Eurasian mitochondrial haplogroup (Rogers et al., 2020). Analyzing two of these individuals (Afanasievo_Mongolia, 3112–2917 cal. BCE), we find that their genetic profiles are indistinguishable from that of published Afanasievo individuals from the Yenisei region (Allentoft et al., 2015; Narasimhan et al., 2019) (Figure 2; Figure S5C; Table S5B), and thus these two Afanasievo individuals confirm that the EBA expansion of Western Steppe herders (WSH) extended a further 1,500 km eastward beyond the Altai into the heart of central Mongolia
Our results suggest that the Yamnaya and/or Afanasievo-related ancestry expanded further south through the Dzungarian Basin into the northern slope of the Tianshan Mountains in Xinjiang since at least the second millennium BCE and thus support the "Steppe hypothesis" for the early peopling of Xinjiang.
Afanasievo (3150-2750 BCE). (...) The burial mounds at Khuurai Gobi 1 and Ulaankhus (Bayan-Ulgii province, western Mongolia; not sampled in this study) exhibit typical Afanasievo architectural features.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link){{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)The Afanasievo world reportedly overlaps the borders of five nations including two countries of East Asia: Mongolia and China. Across these several regions, the first appearance of domestic herd animals (sheep, goat, cattle) and the initial practice of copper and bronze metallurgy are associated with Afanasievo communities. Since mobile pastoralism has long been a significant part of the Mongolian cultural tradition the question of when, where, and how Afanasievo groups entered Mongolia is of extreme interest to archaeologists.(...) We argue that the impact of Afanasievo entry into East Asia was a transformative process but must be understood in the context of significant innovations made by East Asian indigenous communities, eventually leading to a unique form of eastern steppe pastoralism in Mongolia.
The emergence of the Afanasievo culture in the Altai Mountains appears to have coincided with the arrival of domesticated sheep, goats, and cattle. (...) This research provides an important chronological point of reference for the earliest spread of Near Eastern domesticated animals to Inner Asia.
In addition to domestic animal remains, Afanasievo burial mounds contain egg-shaped pottery vessels, and sometimes include metal artifacts (from copper, gold, and silver) and apparent deconstructed cart objects (Kovalev and Erdenebaatar, 2009).
The earliest circumstantial evidence for herding lifeways in Mongolia can be traced to ca. 3000 BCE, when burials attributed to the Afanasievo cultural horizon can be found in some areas of western and central Mongolia. These tombs contain the remains of disassembled carts as well as sheep and cattle bones, findings that has been drawn upon to infer that western animal domesticates were likely introduced to the Eastern Steppes of Mongolia at this time, although some scholars suggest that domestic sheep may have already been present in some areas of northern China as early as ca. 3700 BCE. Petroglyphs depicting tethered cattle, cattle carts, and horses have been found depicted on stones used to construct ritual and funerary sites from the Middle Bronze Age Chemurchek culture in western Mongolia and at least one of these features, dated to the early second millennium BCE, contains equine skeletal remains.
Yamnaya herding communities and their cattle-drawn wagons (c.3300-2600 BC) are associated with Afanasievo groups based on clear similarities...
Migrating Yamnaya/Afanasievo steppe herders, equipped with carts and domestic livestock (Kovalev and Erdenebaatar, 2009), appear to have first...
Afanasievo (3150-2750 BCE). (...) The burial mounds at Khuurai Gobi 1 and Ulaankhus (Bayan-Ulgii province, western Mongolia; not sampled in this study) exhibit typical Afanasievo architectural features.
Yet another analogy comes from the more distant region—Ukok Plateau in the Altai Mountains—the stylistic similarity is obvious and in the context of the nomadic societies that cover long distances, it is not incomprehensible. Here, depicted goats and ibexes, similar to those in the piedmonts of the Kugitang, have been dated to the south Siberian Late Bronze Age, represented in the area by the Afanasievo culture.
The development of several key technologies in China —bronze and iron metallurgy and horse-drawn chariots— arose out of the relations of central China, of the Erlitou period (c. 1700–1500 BC), the Shang (c.1500–1046 BC) and the Zhou (1046–771 BC) dynasties, with their neighbours in the steppe. Intermediaries in these exchanges were disparate groups in a broad border area of relatively high land around the heart of China, the Central Plains. The societies of central China were already so advanced that, when these foreign innovations were adopted, they were transformed within highly organised social and cultural systems.
the argument for possible Afanasievo-Xinjiang contact based on the finds at the Gumugou cemetery in the north-eastern rim of the Tarim basin would seem reasonable and needs to be kept open for the future archaeological finds. In other words, the possibility for the dispersal of early copperbased metallurgy from the Eurasian steppe into Xinjiang and further east to Gansu cannot be excluded at present and will have to be considered when further archaeological evidence becomes available.
The metal-using Afanasievo culture is probably the origin of bronze metallurgy in Northwest China." (...) "Therefore it is conspicuous that one of the earliest bronze cultures in China, theQijia culture, might well have borrowed its bronze metallurgy from the Steppe, via Siba,Tianshanbeilu, and cultures in the Altai region.
During the excavations of the world-famous Yanshao [Yangshao] culture site near the village of Banpo near Xi'an, among numerous painted vessels, two large open bowls with paintings were found, especially important for comparison with images of masks from the Minusinsk-Khakass basin. Inside these bowls are painted masks that are strikingly similar to Minusinsk ones. They are distinguished by a horizontal division of the face into three zones, the presence of horns and a triangular figure above the head, as well as triangles on the chin (Fig. 2 ). Such coincidences can hardly be explained by mere chance. Even a few years before the discoveries in Ban-po, I had to pay attention to a number of features that bring the Eneolithic Afanasiev culture of the middle Yenisei closer to the culture of painted ceramics of Northern China. Apparently, the finds in Ban-po once again confirm these observations. At the same time, the noted finds and comparisons show that the appearance of images, so characteristic of the ancient stone sculptures of the middle Yenisei, not only goes back to the deep antiquity of the pre-Afanasiev time, but is apparently associated with the complex world of symbolic images of the Far East, now known from monuments of the Neolithic of Ancient China.
The early cultural exchanges between the East and the West are mainly reflected in several aspects: first, in the late Neolithic period of painted pottery culture, the Yangshao culture (5000-3000 BC) from the Central Plains spreadwestward, which had a great impact on Majiayao culture (3000-2000 BC), and then continued to spread to Xinjiang and Central Asia through the transition of Hexi corridor
%2c_Hamadan_mint.jpg)
.jpg){kind=link}