 Area of the Karasuk culture.[1] | |
| Geographical range | South Central Siberia |
|---|---|
| Period | Bronze Age |
| Dates | ca. 1500–800 BC |
| Preceded by | Andronovo culture,Seima-Turbino phenomenon,Afanasievo culture,Okunev culture,Karakol culture |
| Followed by | Arzhan culture,Pazyryk culture,Tagar culture,Irmen culture |
TheKarasuk culture (Russian:Карасукская культура,romanized: Karasukskaya kul'tura) describes a group of lateBronze Age societies who ranged from theAral Sea to the upperYenisei in the east and south to theAltai Mountains and theTian Shan in ca. 1500–800 BC.[2]
The distribution of the Karasuk culture covers the eastern parts of theAndronovo culture, which it appears to replace.[2][3] It is considered that the Karasuk culture primarily formed out of the Andronovo culture with influences from theOkunevo culture.[4]
The remains of settlements are minimal, and entirely of the mortuary variety.[2] At least 2000 burials are known.[2] The Karasuk period persisted down to c. 700 BC. From c. 700 to c. 200 BC, culture developed along similar lines. Vital trade contact is traced from northernChina and theBaikal region to theBlack Sea and theUrals, influencing the uniformity of the culture.[5] The Karasuk was succeeded by theTagar culture.[3][6]
Theeconomy was mixedagriculture andstockbreeding.[2] Its culture appears to have been more mobile than the Andronovo.[2] The Karasuk were farmers who practiced metallurgy on a large scale.[3] Arsenical bronze artefacts are present.[2] Their settlements were ofpit houses and they buried their dead in stonecists covered bykurgans and surrounded by square stone enclosures.[2] Industrially, they were skilled metalworkers, the diagnosticartifacts of theculture being a bronze knife with curving profiles and a decorated handle and horse bridles.[2] The pottery has been compared to that discovered in Inner Mongolia and the interior of China, with burials bronze knives similar to those from northeastern China.[8] Their realistic animal art probably contributed to the development of theScytho-Siberian animal art style (Scythian art).[9]
The origins of the Karasuk culture are complex, but it is generally accepted that its origins lie both with the Andronovo culture and local cultures of the Yenisei.[2] Theethnic identity of the Karasuk is problematic, as the Andronovo culture has been associated with theIndo-Iranians while the local cultures have been considered as unconnected to the steppe.[2] Nevertheless, a specificallyProto-Iranian identity has been proposed for the Karasuk culture.[2] The Karasuk tribes have been described by archaeologists as exhibiting pronouncedCaucasoid/Europoid features.[3]George van Driem has suggested a connection with theYeniseian andBurushaski people, proposing aKarasuk languages group.[10]
The contemporaryDeer stones culture to the southeast may have been built in part by nomads from the Karasuk culture.[11]
.png)
The Karasuk culture had horse-drawnspoke-wheeledchariots, a technology first attested in theSintashta culture (c. 2000 BC) which spread eastwards with the Andronovo culture.[13] Although no Karasuk chariots have been found, their existence is indicated bypetroglyph drawings, chariot equipment,horse bridles and 'charioteer burials'.[14][15][16] These have close similarities to chariots and equipment from theShang dynasty inChina (c. 1200 BC), such as the use of wheels with numerous spokes and bow-shapedrein holders.[14] Both Karasuk and Shang chariots also have close similarities to chariots fromLchashen inArmenia, dating from c. 1500 BC.[17][18][19] According to Wu (2013) Shang chariots and their associated equipment originated from the Karasuk culture and can be understood as "a local version of the Karasuk set."[20][21]
The metallurgy of the Karasuk culture may have derived from the earlierSeima-Turbino tradition. It expanded on this tradition, and became the core of a regional hub in metallurgy, sometimes called the "East Asian Metallurgical Province".[b]
Seima-Turbino had a westward expansion, encountering theAbashevo andSintashta cultures during the 2200-1700 BCE period.[25] On the contrary, the expansion of the Karasuk metallurgical culture was eastward.[26] Karasuk styles were copied throughout Central and Eastern Asia, reachingChina where numerous bronze objects on the Karasuk model have been excavated.[27] In particular the royal complex of theAnyang Cemetery from the 13-11th centuries BCE during theShang dynasty period is known for numerous such imitations.[26]
It is thought that these metallurgical innovations from the Karasuk culture were transmitted by steppe nomads, within a context of rather conflictual relations between China and its northern neighbours. The Shang mainly imitated the curved one-edged knives with animal handles, and placed them in their tombs among other bronze paraphernalia.[28] Altogether, these influences travelled over a distance of more than 3,500 kilometers, from the Sayan-Altai region to the heart of ancient China beyond theYellow River.[29]
Weapons of the contemporaryDeer stones culture, as seen in their petroglyphs, are generally derived from those of the Karasuk culture, and belong to the Karasuk typology.[30][31]
![Karasuk culture. Animal-headed knife with curved blade.[32]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aKarasuk_culture._Animal-headed_knife_with_curved_blade.png)
![Karasuk culture. Horse-headed knife.[12]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aKarasuk_culture._Horse-headed_knife.png)
![Karasuk culture. Knife with ring.[33]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aKarasuk_culture._Knife_with_ring.png)
![Karasuk culture. Animal-headed knife.[12]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aKarasuk_culture._Animal-headed_knife.png)
![Karasuk culture. Dagger with animal top.[12]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aKarasuk_culture._Dagger_with_animal_top.png)
![Karasuk bronze axes.[12]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aKarasuk_bronze_axes.jpg)
Many bronze blades of theShang dynasty (13th-11th centuries BCE) andZhou dynasty were derived from Karasuk designs.[35][12]
![Karasuk vs Shang horned animal blades 13th-11th century BCE.[35][12]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aKarasuk_vs_Shang_horned_animal_blades_13th-11th_century_BCE.jpg)
![Karasuk blades vs Shang dynasty Yinxu blades.[35][12]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aKarasuk_knives_vs_Shang_Yinxu_knives.jpg)
![Karasuk culture blades vs Shang-Zhou blades.[35][12]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aKarasuk_culture_blades_vs_Shang-Zhou_blades.png)
Keyser et al. (2009) published a genetic study of ancientSiberian cultures, theAndronovo culture, the Karasuk culture, theTagar culture and theTashtyk culture.[3] They surveyed four individuals of the Karasuk culture of four different sites from 1400 BC to 800 BC.Two of these possessed theWestern EurasianmtDNAU5a1 andU4 lineages. Two other ones exhibited the Y-chromosome haplogroupR1a1, which is thought to mark the eastward migration of the earlyIndo-Europeans.[3] The individuals surveyed were all determined to beEuropoid andlight-eyed.[3] In a study by Allentoft et al. (2015) three of four male Karasuk samples were found to have the Y-chromosome haplogroup R1a1 whilst one had Q1a2a.[36][37]
Sites are not numerous, and are mainly found southwest of theMinusinsk basin. They consist in semi-subterranean houses and larger winter houses about 100-200 m2 in area, with domed or pitched roofs covered with earth to protect against the cold.[1]
.png)
.png)
It is commonly accepted that Karasuk culture represents the continuation and transformation of the Okunevo and Andronovo cultures, along with invasion of new migrants.
The Karasuk culture is a Late Bronze Age culture that succeeded the Andronovo culture in southern Siberia (late second millenium BC.). Karasuk people were farmers who practiced metallurgy on a large scale. They produced a realistic animal art, which probably contributed to the development of the later Scytho-Siberian animal art style. The Karasuk culture was replaced by the early Iron AgeTagar culture (1st millenium BC.) which flourished inKhakassia (southern part of the Krasnoyarsk Krai) producing an art of animal motifs related to that of the Scythians of southern European Russia. On the Yenisey River, the Tagar culture was replaced by theTashtyk culture, dating from the first to fourth century AD
An important feature characterising Karasuk culture, is the widespread occurrence of chariots. In Mongolia an enormous number of rock depictions with representations of chariots has been found; the representations of Karasuk-type weapons link them reliably with that culture. [...] The broad use of chariots by Karasuk tribes is indicated also by so-called 'models of a yoke' found in graves, which most scholars interpret as hooks for fixing reins.[permanent dead link]
It is generally understood that the chariots found at the Sintashta site in the Urals and at the Lchashen site in the Caucasus are the ancestors of the Chinese chariot, as examples from these sites are extremely similar to those of the Shang state. [...] As Stuart Piggott has pointed out, the similarities of the complex structure of the chariot box and wheels between the Shang and Lchashen chariots are particularly significant. Both of them had a straight railed, small box which could carry two to three people. Their complex spoked wheels were composed of around 20 spokes, a central nave, and bent felloes. All of these indicate that they were made by similar technologies following similar models. As we do not have any earlier evidence on the presence of horses and spoked wheels in the Yellow River basin, the sudden emergence of this kind of complex structure must almost certainly have been introduced from the steppe areas.
The Chinese words used to describe the chariot, parts of the wheel, and the axle were borrowed from Indo-European sources. Even the word for "horse", a cognate in Mongolic, Korean, Japanese, and Chinese, suggests a single origin, possibly during one wave of contact across the steppes. Archaeologically, the evidence for Western sources is overwhelming, for it is now possible to compare dated chariots from China with those excavated in Western sites. Foremost among the latter is the site of Lchashen in Armenia, between the Caspian and Black Seas. Dated to about 1500 BCE, a burial at Lchashen hold the remains of two chariots. Their distinctive design features include wooden wheels one metre across, lined with two bent wooden felloes. Each wheel had 28 wooden spokes and turned on a fixed axle that supported the chariot box in the center.[…] Numerous rock engravings of chariots found across central Asia depict a similar vehicle; while not precisely dated, they nevertheless illustrate the widespread presence of horse-drawn chariots. The similarity between the Chinese chariot and those seen in Armenia is so precise as to rule out any likelihood of an independent invention. […] Both the linguistic and the archaeological evidence concur that the chariot was of Western origin.
Stuart Piggott was the first to draw attention to the similarity of the Shang chariots to the chariot from Lchashen in Armenia, and now this idea has been developed in works by Chinese authors. The main difference in these chariots is the large number of spokes. It is significant that, at the same time, chariots with a large number of spokes appeared in the Karasuk Culture of southern Siberia. On the Karasuk petroglyphs, they have 7, 14 and 17 spokes. In the same period, on the northern periphery of the Shang civilization, the so-called Northern Complex formed, which reflects the Shang interactions with the Karasuk Culture. The similarity of the Shang chariots with the chariot from Lchashen in Armenia may be explained by the fact that the Karasuk Culture was formed as a result of the influence of alien tribes on the local Andronovo substrate. There are many inclusions in the culture with parallels in the Transcaucasia and Iran.
whether we base our arguments on artistic style, typology, or chronology, we can suggest that the Shang chariot weapon/tool set originated from the Karasuk culture. And, their close association with chariots in the Shang context suggests that, in the Karasuk culture, there possibly was a new advance, mainly represented by the emergence of bow-shaped objects, developed on the earlier chariot "driving and fighting skill set" seen in the Sintashta and the Andronovo cultures. This new development of the "driving and fighting skill set" and the Karasuk innovations of bowshaped objects, knives and sharpening stones, probably also including bows, as a set of items accompanied male, were transmitted to Anyang as aspects of chariots. [...] The Shang chariot weapon/tool set with Shang patterns is probably most satisfactorily understood as a local version of the Karasuk set.
The precursors to the Chinese chariot can be seen in a handful of burials associated with the Sintashta culture of the southern Urals (circa 2000–1750 bce) and there is circumstantial evidence of their continuity into the later Karasuk culture of southern Siberia (circa 1400–1000 bce), though no chariots have been found as of yet. It is argued the Karasuk could have been the most likely source of influence upon the Shang of China as the introduction of chariots were, perhaps, the result of political and economic interactions between these two neighbouring regions. [...] The Shang embraced a Eurasian prototype that required carpentry and engineering skills which were hitherto unknown to them. It was taken on as a 'flat pack' of military technology without making any innovations to it; however, the Shang did embellish their chariots with ornaments created from their renowned bronze casting expertise. Additionally, during the final phase of the Shang period (late twelfth to eleventh century bce) there was less weaponry found in chariot burials indicating the chariot had become a significant indicator of social status among the high-ranking elite as they ritually accompanied them into the afterlife.
In subsequent centuries such knives were more popular with peoples of the northern zone than with the Shang and Zhou inhabitants of Shaanxi and Henan. It is, therefore, possible that even in the Erlitou period such knives illustrate contact with northern peoples. Alternatively, the spread of Erligang culture may have taken such knives from central Henan to the periphery.
Enough northern bronze knives, tools, and fittings have been recovered from royal burials at the Shang capital of Anyang to suggest that people of northern heritage mingled with the Chinese in their capital city. These artifacts must have entered Shang domain through trade, war, intermarriage, or other circumstances.
Weapons depicted on the Deer stones commonly found from the Mongolia and neighboring regions such as Southern Siberian Karasuk culture (13-8th centuries BCE) as well as Northern Chinese and Early Scythian graves (7th century BCE). (...) Based on relative chronology, MT type Deer stones belongs to the Karasuk period (13-8th centuries BCE) or according to new Siberian archaeology terminology (Polyakov 2019): to the Late Bronze Age period. A well-known example is that some emblematic objects of the Late Karasuk period were depicted on Deer stones. Moreover, the absolute dating of Deer stones and the Khirgisuur, the chronologically identical and directly related funeral-ritual structure to the former, were dated to the 13-8th centuries BCE as well.
Although the weapons represented on the Mongolian stones are Karasuk in typology...
| Bronze Age |
|---|
| ↑Chalcolithic |
East Asia(c. 3100–300 BC) |
Eurasia and Siberia(c. 2700–700 BC) |
Europe(c. 3200–900 BC) Aegean (Cycladic,Minoan,Mycenaean),Caucasus,Catacomb culture,Srubnaya culture,Bell Beaker culture,Apennine culture,Terramare culture,Únětice culture,Tumulus culture,Urnfield culture,Proto-Villanovan culture,Hallstatt culture,Canegrate culture,Golasecca culture,Argaric culture,Atlantic Bronze Age,Bronze Age Britain,Nordic Bronze Age |
| ↓Iron Age |
Authority control databases: Artists |
|---|
.png)