| Geographical range | South Siberia |
|---|---|
| Dates | 6th to 3rd centuries BC |
| Preceded by | Arzhan culture,Karakol culture |
| Followed by | Xiongnu,Tashtyk culture,Bulan-Koba culture |
ThePazyryk culture (Russian:Пазырыкская культураPazyrykskaya kul'tura) is aSaka (Central AsianScythian)[1] nomadicIron Agearchaeological culture (6th to 3rd centuries BC) identified by excavated artifacts and mummified humans found in theSiberianpermafrost, in theAltay Mountains,Kazakhstan andMongolia. The mummies are buried inlong barrows (orkurgans) similar to the tomb mounds of Scythian culture inUkraine. The type site are thePazyryk burials of theUkok Plateau.[2]Many artifacts and human remains have been found at this location, including theSiberian Ice Princess, indicating a flourishing culture at this location that benefited from the many trade routes and caravans of merchants passing through the area.[3] The Pazyryk are considered to have had a war-like life.[4] The Pazyryk culture was preceded by the "Arzhan culture" (Initial Scythian period, 8th - 7th century BC).[5]
Other kurgan cemeteries associated with the culture include those of Bashadar, Tuekta, Ulandryk, Polosmak, orBerel. There are so far no known sites of settlements associated with the burials, suggesting a purely nomadic lifestyle.
Because of a freak climatic freeze, some of theAltai burials, notably those of the 5th century BC at Pazyryk and neighbouring sites, such as Katanda, Shibe, and Tuekta, were isolated from external climatic variations by a protective layer of ice that conserved the organic substances buried in them. At Pazyryk these included the bodies of horses and an embalmed man whose body was covered with tattoos of animal motifs. The remarkable textiles recovered from the Pazyryk burials include the oldest woollenknotted-pile carpet known, the oldest embroideredChinese silk, and two pieces of wovenPersian fabric (State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg). Red and ochre predominate in the carpet, the main design of which is of riders, stags, and griffins. Many of the Pazyryk felt hangings, saddlecloths, and cushions were covered with elaborate designs executed in appliqué feltwork, dyed furs, and embroidery. Of exceptional interest are those with animal and human figural compositions, the most notable of which are the repeat design of an investiture scene on a felt hanging and that of a semihuman, semibird creature on another (both in theState Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg). Clothing, whether of felt, leather, or fur, was also lavishly ornamented.
Horse reins either had animal designs cut out on them or were studded with wooden ones covered in gold foil. Their tail sheaths were ornamented, as were their headpieces and breastpieces. Some horses were provided with leather or felt masks made to resemble animals, with stag antlers or rams' horns often incorporated in them. Many of the trappings took the form of iron, bronze, and gilt wood animal motifs either applied or suspended from them; and bits had animal-shaped terminal ornaments. Altai-Sayan animals frequently display muscles delineated with dot and comma markings, a formal convention that may have derived from appliqué needlework. Such markings are sometimes included inAssyrian,Achaemenian, and evenUrartian animal representations of theancient Middle East. Roundels containing a dot serve the same purpose on the stag and other animal renderings executed by contemporaryŚaka metalworkers. Animal processions of the Assyro-Achaemenian type also appealed to manyCentral Asian tribesmen and are featured in their arts.
Certain geometric designs andsun symbols, such as the circle androsette, recur at Pazyryk but are completely outnumbered by animal motifs. The stag and its relatives figure as prominently as in Altai-Sayan. Combat scenes betweencarnivores andherbivores are exceedingly numerous in Pazyryk work; the Pazyryk beasts are locked in such bitter fights that the victim's hindquarters become inverted.[7]
![Pazyryk carpet, manufactured in Central Asia or the Near-East.[8]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aPazyryk_carpet.jpg)
![Tattoos of the warrior excavated at Pazyryk, with zoomorphic symbols, 5th-4th century BCE.[9]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aPazyryk_tatoo_design_with_zoomorphic_symbols%2c_4th_century_BCE.jpg)
![Pazyryk cart, 3rd century BCE.[10]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aPazyryk3.png)
_buriel_mound_Tuekta_(V._B.C.)_Altay.JPG)
![Catlike predator with protomas of two elk, burial mound Berel (IV.-III. BCE) Kazakhstan, Pazyryk culture.[11]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3a31._Catlike_predator_with_protomas_of_two_elk_burial_mound_Berel_(IV.-III._B.C.)_Kazakhstan.JPG)
![Scene of torment, burial mound Berel (V. - III. BCE) Kazakhstan, Pazyryk culture.[11]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3a25._Scene_of_torment_burial_mound_Berel_(V._-_III._B._C.)_Kazakhstan.JPG)
![Frontal decoration (harness), burial mound Berel (IV.-III. B.C.) Kazakhstan, Pazyryk culture.[11]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3a34._Frontal_decoration_(harness)_burial_mound_Berel_(IV.-III._B.C.)_Kazakhstan.JPG)
The Pazyryk population is associated with theEastern Scythian horizon, which emerged out ofWestern Steppe Herders (WSH or Steppe_MLBA) and local groups of Southern Siberia. Genetic data revealed that theIron Age Pazyryk people were not identical with the WSH but substantially shifted towardsEast Eurasians. The eastern Eurasian geneflow can largely be explained throughKhövsgöl LBA groups, themselves a combination of primarilyAncient Northeast Asians and components associated withAncient North Eurasians and theSintashta culture. Some outlier samples need additional geneflow from an Ancient Northeast Asian source, best represented by Neolithic groups from the Devil's Gate Cave site in the Russian Far East.[12] The Pazyryk people display genetic affinites to modernUralic andPaleosiberian peoples, such as theYukaghirs,Nganasans,Khanty, andMansi people. The Pazyryk people were later replaced by expandingXiongnu.[13] Overall, the Pazyryk population could be modeled to derive between c. 50% from the Khövsgöl LBA source, c. 36% from WSH (Steppe_MLBA), and c. 14% from aBMAC-like source. One outlier specimen (Pazyryk_Berel_50BCE) could be modeled as c. 18% Pazyryk_IA and c. 82% additional Northeast Asian admixture, suggesting that this individual represents a migrant who arrived from further East. The same additional Eastern ancestry is found among the later groups ofHuns (Hun Berel 300CE, Hun elite 350CE), and the Karakaba remains (830CE).[12][14]
A 2010 study analyzed Pazyryk burials from the Altai mountains. Three samples ofmtDNA extracted belonged to haplogroupsU5a1 andHV2 (two samples).[15] In another 2015 study, two individuals were found to belong to the East Eurasianmaternal haplogroup C4.[16] Juras, et al. (2017) analyzed thematernal haplogroups of Siberian Scythian remains from Pazyryk, from Altai and Inner Mongolia: 46.7% of the remains carried an East Eurasian haplogroup, while 53.3% carried a West Eurasian haplogroup.[17]
Two closely related males from the Pazyryk culture were found to belong to the East Eurasianpaternalhaplogroup N.[18][19]
Another Pazyryk specimen was found to belong to the West Eurasianpaternal haplogroupR1a-Z93.[20]
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![Pazyryk man (reconstruction from burials, Anokhin Museum).[21]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aPazyryk_man_(reconstruction%2c_Anokhin_Museum).jpg)
![Siberian Ice Maiden inside her wooden sarcophagus (reconstruction from burial, Anokhin Museum).[21]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aSiberian_Ice_Maiden_in_her_wooden_sarcophagus.jpg)
![Embalmed head of a clan chieftain. Burial mound 2, Pazyryk. Circa 300 BCE. State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg, 1684/29.[22]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aAncient_Siberian_head%2c_Hermitage_Museum%2c_St._Petersburg.jpg)
![Tattoos of the Pazyryk-2 chief.[23]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aPazyryk-2_tattoos.png)
In response to aggressive Xiongnu expansion into the Altai region around the 2nd century BCE, some members of the Pazyryk culture may have started moving up North, and eventually reached the Vilyuy River at the beginning of 1st century CE. Notably, there is clear population continuity between the Uralic people such as Khants, Mansis and Nganasans, Paleo-Siberian people such as Yukaghirs and Chuvantsi, and the Pazyryk people even when considering just the two mtDNA and Y-STR haplotypes from the Ak-Alakha-1 mound 1 kurgan (Tables 1a, b, Table 2, Fig. 1).
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