The earliest known reference to the Sarmatians occurs in theAvesta, where they appear asSairima-, which in later Iranian sources becomes*Sarm andSalm.[3] Originating in the central parts of theEurasian Steppe, the Sarmatians formed part of the widerScythian cultures.[4] They started migrating westward around the fourth and third centuries BC, coming to dominate the closely relatedScythians by 200 BC. At their greatest reported extent, around 100 BC, these tribes ranged from theVistula River to the mouth of theDanube and eastward to theVolga, bordering the shores of theBlack andCaspian seas and theCaucasus to the south.
In the first century AD, the Sarmatians began encroaching upon theRoman Empire in alliance withGermanic tribes. In the third century AD, the GermanicGoths broke the Sarmatian dominance of thePontic Steppe. With theHunnic invasions of the fourth century, many Sarmatians joined the Goths and other Germanic tribes (Vandals) in settling in theWestern Roman Empire. Since large parts of today's Russia, specifically the land between theUral Mountains and theDon River, were controlled in the fifth century BC by the Sarmatians,[5] the Lower Volga–Don steppes are sometimes called the "Sarmatian Motherland".[6]
Map of the Roman empire underHadrian (ruled 117–138 AD), showing the location of the Sarmatae in the Ponticsteppe region
The Greek nameSarmatai (Σαρμάται) is derived from theOld Iranic Sarmatian endonym*Sarmata or*Sarumata, of which another variant,*Saᵘrumata, gave rise to the ancient Greek nameSauromatai (Σαυρομάται).[14] The form*Sarmata or*Sarumata was the main form of the name, and initially coexisted with the form*Saᵘrumata until the late 4th to early 3rd centuries BC, when*Sarmata/*Sarumata became the only variant of the name in use.[15]
This name meant "armed with throwing darts and arrows" and is cognate with theIndicSanskrit termśárumant,[16] which makes it semantically similar to the endonym of the Scythians,*Skuδa, meaning "archers."[16]
The later,Middle Iranic, form of*Saᵘrumata was*Sōrmata or*Sōrumata, of which the later form,*Sūrmata or*Sūrumata, was recorded in ancient Greek asSyrmatai (Συρμάται;Latin:Syrmatae).[17]
Evolution of sword types of the South Urals, from Sauromatian (5th-4th centuries BC) to Early Sarmatian (3rd-1st centuries BC).[18]Reconstruction of early Sarmatian chieftain.Araltobe kurgan,Kazakhstan, III-II c. BC. Excavation of Z. Samashev.[19][20]
The ethnogenesis of the Sarmatians occurred during the 6th to 4th centuries BC, when nomads fromCentral Asia migrated into the territory of theSauromatians in the southernUral Mountains.[21][22][23] These nomads conquered the Sauromatians, resulting in an increased incidence of eastern Asiatic features in the Early Sarmatians, similar to those of theSakas.[24]
The name "Sarmatians" eventually came to be applied to the whole of the new people formed out of these migrations, whose constituent tribes were theAorsi,Roxolani,Alans, and theIazyges. Despite the similarity between the names Sarmatian and Sauromatian, modern authors distinguish between the two, since Sarmatian culture did not directly develop from the Sauromatian culture and the core of the Sarmatian culture was composed of these newly arrived migrants.[25][26] A typical transitional site between these two periods is found in theFilippovka kurgans, which are LateSauromatian-Early Sarmatian, and dated to the 5th-4th century BC.[27]
During the 4th and 3rd centuries BC, the centre of Sarmatian power remained north of the Caucasus and in the 3rd century BC the most important centres were around the lower Don,Kalmykia, theKuban area, and the Central Caucasus.[26][25]
During the end of the 4th century BC, theScythians, the then dominant power in the Black Sea Steppe, were militarily defeated by theMacedonian kingsPhilip II of Macedon andLysimachus in 339 and 313 BC respectively. They experienced another military setback after participating in theBosporan Civil War in 309 BC and came under pressure from theThracianGetae and theCelticBastarnae. At the same time, in Central Asia, following the Macedonianconquest of theAchaemenid Empire, the newSeleucid Empire started attacking theSakā andDahā nomads who lived to the north of its borders, who in turn put westward pressure on the Sarmatians. Pressured by the Sakā and Dahā in the east and taking advantage of the decline of Scythian power, the Sarmatians began crossing the Don river and invadedScythia and also migrated south into theNorth Caucasus.[26][25]
The first wave of westward Sarmatian migration happened during the 2nd century BC, and involved the Royal Sarmatians, or Saioi (from Scytho-Sarmatian*xšaya, meaning "kings"), who moved into the Pontic Steppe, and theIazyges, also called the Iaxamatai or Iazamatai, who initially settled between the Don and Dnieper rivers. TheRoxolani, who might have been a mixed Scytho-Sarmatian tribe, followed the Iazyges and occupied the Black Sea steppes up to theDnipro and raided theCrimean region during that century, at the end of which they were involved in a conflict with the generals of thePontic kingMithridates VI Eupator in theBosporan Chersonesus, while the Iazyges became his allies.[26][25][30]
That the tribes formerly referred to byHerodotus as Scythians were now called Sarmatians by Hellenistic and Roman authors implies that the Sarmatian conquest did not involve a displacement of the Scythians from the Pontic Steppe, but rather that the Scythian tribes were absorbed by the Sarmatians.[30] After their conquest of Scythia, the Sarmatians became the dominant political power in the northern Pontic Steppe, where Sarmatian graves first started appearing in the 2nd century BC. Meanwhile, the populations which still identified as Scythians proper became reduced to Crimea and theDobruja region, and at one point the Crimean Scythians were the vassals of the Sarmatian queenAmage. Sarmatian power in the Pontic Steppes was also directed against theGreek cities on its shores, with the city ofPontic Olbia being forced to pay repeated tribute to the Royal Sarmatians and their kingSaitapharnes, who is mentioned in theProtogenes inscription along with the tribes of theThisamatae, Scythians, andSaudaratae. Another Sarmatian king, Gatalos, was named in a peace treaty concluded by the kingPharnaces I of Pontus with his enemies.[26][25][30]
Two other Sarmatian tribes, theSiraces, who had previously originated in the Transcaspian Plains immediately to the northeast ofHyrcania before migrating to the west, and the Aorsi, moved to the west across the Volga and into the Caucasus mountains' foothills between the 2nd to 1st centuries BC. From there, the pressure from their growing power forcing the more western Sarmatian tribes to migrate further west, and the Aorsi and Siraces destroyed the power of the Royal Sarmatians and the Iazyges, with the Aorsi being able to extend their rule over a large region stretching from the Caucasus across theTerek–Kuma Lowland andKalmykia in the west up to the Aral Sea region in the east. Yet another new Sarmatian group, theAlans, originated in Central Asia out of the merger of some old tribal groups with theMassagetae. Related to theAsii who invadedBactria in the 2nd century BC, the Alans were pushed west by theKangju people (known to Graeco-Roman authors as theΙαξαρταιIaxartai in Greek, and theIaxartae in Latin) who were living in theSyr Darya basin, from where they expanded their rule from Fergana to the Aral Sea region.[26][25]
Sarmatian bottle and lid (1st century AD, reproduction)
The hegemony of the Sarmatians in the Pontic Steppe continued during the 1st century BC, when they were allied with the Scythians againstDiophantus, a general of Mithradates VI Eupator, before allying with Mithradates against theRomans and fighting for him in both Europe and Asia, demonstrating the Sarmatians' complete involvement in the affairs of the Pontic and Danubian regions. During the early part of the century, the Alans had migrated to the area to the northeast of theLake Maeotis. Meanwhile, the Iazyges moved westwards until they reached theDanube, and the Roxolani moved into the area between the Dnipro and the Danube and from there further west. These two peoples attacked the regions aroundTomis andMoesia, respectively. During this period, the Iazyges and Roxolani also attacked the Roman province ofThracia, whose governorTiberius Plautius Silvanus Aelianus had to defend the Roman border of the Danube. During the 1st century BC, various Sarmatians reached thePannonian Basin, with the Iazyges passing through the territories corresponding to modern-dayMoldavia andWallachia before settling in theTisza valley, by the middle of the century.[26][25][30]
Although the Sarmatian were defeated and their movements stopped temporarily during the 1st century BC due to the rise of theDacian kingdom ofBurebista, they resumed after the collapse of his kingdom following his assassination and in 16 BC.Lucius Tarius Rufus had to repel a Sarmatian attack on Thracia andMacedonia, while further attacks around 10 BC and 2 BC were defeated byGnaeus Cornelius Lentulus.[30]
Sarmatian cup with animal handle (1st century AD, reproduction)
Meanwhile, other Sarmatian tribes, possibly the Aorsi, sent ambassadors to the Roman emperorAugustus, who tried to establish a diplomatic accommodation with them. During the 1st century AD, the Siraces and Aorsi, who were mutually hostile, participated in theRoman–Bosporan War on opposite sides: the Siraces and their kingZorsines allied withMithridates III against his half-brotherCotys I, who was allied with Rome and the Aorsi. With the defeat of Mithridates, the Siraces were also routed and lost rulership over most of their lands. Between 50 and 60 AD, the Alans had appeared in the foothills of the Caucasus, from where they attacked the Caucasus and Transcaucasus areas and theParthian Empire. During the 1st century AD, the Alans expanded across the Volga to the west, absorbing part of the Aorsi and displacing the rest, and pressure from the Alans forced the Iazyges and Roxolani to continue attacking the Roman Empire from across the Danube. During the 1st century AD, two Sarmatian rulers from the steppe named Pharzoios and Inismeōs were minting coins in Pontic Olbia.[25][26][30]
The Roxolani continued their westward migration following the conflict on the Bosporan Chersonesus, and by 69 AD they were close enough to the lower Danube that they were able to attack across the river when it was frozen in winter, and soon later they and the Alans were living on the coast of the Black Sea, and they later moved further west and were living in the areas corresponding to modern-dayMoldavia and westernUkraine.[30]
The Sarmatian tribe of the Arraei, who had had close contacts with the Romans, eventually settled to the south of the Danube river, in Thrace, and another Sarmatian tribe, the Koralloi, were also living in the same area alongside a section of the ScythianSindi.[30]
During the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, the Iazyges often bothered the Roman authorities inPannonia; they participated in the destruction of theQuadian kingdom ofVannius, and often migrated to the east across theTransylvanian Plateau and theCarpathian Mountains during seasonal movements or for trade.[30]
By the 2nd century AD, the Alans had conquered the steppes of the north Caucasus and of the north Black Sea area and created a powerful confederation of tribes under their rule. Under the hegemony of the Alans a trade route connected the Pontic Steppe, the southern Urals, and the region presently known asWestern Turkestan. One group of the Alans, theAntae, migrated north into the territory of what is presentlyPoland.[26][25]
The hegemony of the Sarmatians in the steppes began to decline over the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, when theHuns conquered Sarmatian territory in the Caspian Steppe and the Ural region. The supremacy of the Sarmatians was finally destroyed when theGermanicGoths migrating from theBaltic Sea region conquered the Pontic Steppe around 200. In 375, the Huns conquered most of the Alans living to the east of the Don river, massacred a significant number of them, and absorbed them into their tribal polity, while the Alans to the west of the Don remained free from Hunnish domination. As part of the Hunnic state, the Alans participated in the Huns' defeat and conquest of the kingdom of the Ostrogoths on the Pontic Steppe. Some free Alans fled into the mountains of the Caucasus, where they participated in the ethnogenesis of populations including theOssetians and theKabardians, and other Alan groupings survived in Crimea. Others migrated into Central and then Western Europe, from where some of them went toBritannia andHispania, and some joined the GermanicVandals into crossing theStrait of Gibraltar and creating theVandal Kingdom in North Africa.[25][26]
The Sarmatians in theBosporan Kingdom assimilated into the Greek civilization.[32] Others assimilated with the proto-Circassian Meot people, and may have influenced theCircassian language.[33] Some Sarmatians were absorbed by theAlans andGoths.[34] During the Early Middle Ages, theProto-Slavic population ofEastern Europe assimilated and absorbed Sarmatians during the political upheavals of that era.[35][36] However, a people related to the Sarmatians, known as theAlans, survived in theNorth Caucasus into the EarlyMiddle Ages, ultimately giving rise to the modernOssetic ethnic group.[37]
Lower-Volga Sarmatian burials, 2nd-1st centuries BC. The burials have two types of swords: swords with traditional Sarmatian crescent-shaped pommels and swords with Asian ring pommels, indicative of the influx of new populations from Central Asia.[38]A Sarmatian-Parthian gold necklace and amulet, second century AD - Tamoikin Art Fund.
In 1947, Soviet archaeologistBoris Grakov[39] defined a culture flourishing from the 6th century BC to the 4th century CE, apparent in latekurgan graves (buried within earthwork mounds), sometimes reusing part of much older kurgans.[40] It was anomadic steppe culture ranging from theBlack Sea eastward to beyond theVolga that is especially evident at two of the major sites at Kardaielova andChernaya in the trans-Uralic steppe. The four phases – distinguished by grave construction,burial customs,grave goods, and geographical spread – are:[41][42][43]
Sauromatian, 6th–5th centuries BC, also called the "Blumenfeld culture"
Early Sarmatian, 4th–2nd centuries BC, also called the "Prokhorovka culture"
Middle Sarmatian, late 2nd century BC to late 2nd century AD, also called the "Suslov culture"
Late Sarmatian, late 2nd century AD to 4th century AD, also called the "Shipov culture"
While "Sarmatian" and "Sauromatian" are synonymous as ethnonyms, by convention they are given different meanings as archaeological technical terms. The term "Prokhorovka culture" derives from a complex of mounds in theProkhorovski District,Orenburg region, excavated byS. I. Rudenko in 1916.[44]
Reportedly, during 2001 and 2006 a great Late Sarmatian pottery centre was unearthed nearBudapest,Hungary in theÜllő5 archaeological site. Typical grey, granular Üllő5 ceramics form a distinct group of Sarmatian pottery is found ubiquitously in the north-central part of theGreat Hungarian Plain region, indicating a lively trading activity.
A 1998 paper on the study of glass beads found in Sarmatian graves suggests wide cultural and trade links.[45]
A 2023 paper on a grave discovered inCambridgeshire, England found viaarchaeogenetics that the person had Sarmatian-related ancestry, and was not related to the local population. Stableisotope analysis of his teeth determined that he had probably migrated long distances twice in his life. One tooth wasradiocarbon dated to cal 126-228 AD.[46][47]
Archaeological evidence suggests that Scythian-Sarmatian cultures may have given rise to the Greek legends ofAmazons. Graves of armed women have been found in southern Ukraine and Russia. David Anthony noted that approximately 20% of Scythian-Sarmatian "warrior graves" on the lowerDon andlower Volga contained women dressed for battle as warriors and he asserts that encountering that cultural phenomenon "probably inspired the Greek tales about the Amazons."[48]
The Sarmatians were part of the Iranian steppe peoples, among whom were alsoScythians andSaka.[50] These also are grouped together as "East Iranians."[51] Archaeology has established the connection 'between the Iranian-speaking Scythians, Sarmatians, and Saka and the earlier Timber-grave andAndronovo cultures'.[52] Based on building construction, these three peoples were the likely descendants of those earlier archaeological cultures.[53] The Sarmatians and Saka used the same stone construction methods as the earlier Andronovo culture.[54] TheTimber grave (Srubnaya culture) andAndronovo house building traditions were further developed by these three peoples.[55] Andronovo pottery was continued by the Saka and Sarmatians.[56] Archaeologists describe the Andronovo culture people as exhibiting pronouncedCaucasoid features.[57]
The first Sarmatians are mostly identified with the Prokhorovka culture, which moved from thesouthern Urals to theLower Volga and then to the northernPontic steppe, in the fourth–third centuries BC. During the migration, the Sarmatian population seems to have grown and they divided themselves into several groups, such as theAlans,Aorsi,Roxolani, andIazyges. By 200 BC, the Sarmatians replaced the Scythians as the dominant people of the steppes.[58] The Sarmatians and Scythians had fought on thePontic steppe to the north ofthe Black Sea.[59] The Sarmatians, described as a large confederation,[41] were to dominate these territories over the next five centuries.[60] According to Brzezinski and Mielczarek, the Sarmatians wereformed between theDon River and theUral Mountains.[60]Pliny the Elder wrote that they ranged from theVistula River (in present-dayPoland) to theDanube.
Iranic peoples of Central Asia during the Iron Age, including SarmatiansSarmatians warriors (reconstruction)
The Sarmatians spoke anIranian language that was derived from 'Old Iranian' and was heterogenous. By the first century AD, the Iranian tribes in what is today South Russia spoke different languages or dialects, clearly distinguishable.[61] According to a group of Iranologists writing in 1968, the numerous Iranian personal names in Greek inscriptions from theBlack Sea coast indicate that the Sarmatians spoke aNorth-Eastern Iranian dialect ancestral to Alanian-Ossetian.[62] However, Harmatta (1970) argued that "the language of the Sarmatians or that of the Alans as a whole cannot be simply regarded as being Old Ossetian."[61]
The Roxolani, who were one of the earlier Sarmatian tribes to have migrated into Europe and therefore were among the more geographically western Sarmatians, used helmets and corselets made of raw ox hide, and wicker shields, as well as spears, bows, and swords. The Roxolani adopted these forms of armour and weaponry from theGermanicBastarnae near whom they lived.[30] The more eastern Sarmatian tribes used scale armour and used a long lance called thecontus and bows in battle.[30]
The artworks of the Sarmatians, which reflect Chinese and Persian influence, survive mainly in the form of metalwork.[63]It can be difficult to distinguish Sarmatian archaeological finds from those of theHuns, as both peoples lived in close proximity and seem to have had very similar material cultures.[64]Their steppe-art styles influenced subsequent artistic developments in medieval Europe.[65]
The early Sarmatians already possessed the technique of decorating with gold inclusions, observed in Achaemenid metalwork. It was spread by nomads in the Eurasian steppes during the 7th-5th centuries BC, from the Altai Mountains (Arzhan-2 kurgan) westward to central Kazakhstan and the southern Urals.[66] TsarPeter the Great particularly cherished his Demidov Gift, a Sarmatian gold collection,[67] now exhibited in the Gold Chamber at theHermitage Museum inSaint Petersburg. The Novocherkassk Treasure with the famous Sarmatian Diadem[68] adorned with aTree of Life can also be seen in the Hermitage Gold Room.[69] It is a Sarmatian hoard of gold, silver and bronze articles and jewellery discovered in the Khokhlach barrow inNovocherkassk in 1864. Chronologically it belongs to the first and second centuries CE.[70]
Numerous weapons, armour, helmets had already been found in the excavations of the Early SarmatianFilippovka kurgan (dated toc. 450-300 BC):[71]
Many Chinese mirrors occur in graves of the Middle-Sarmatian to Late-Sarmatian periods.[72]
Filippovka 1 Iron armour from burial 2 mound 4
Filippovka 1, Horn armour from mound 29
Filippovka 1, bronze arrowheads from burial 2, mound 4
A genetic study published inCurrent Biology in 2022 regarding the genetic origin of Huns, Avars, and conquering Hungarians. 265 ancient genomes were analyzed, it revealed that theHungarian conquerors admixed with Sarmatians andHuns. Sarmatian ancestry was also detected among several Hun samples which implies a significant Sarmatian influence on EuropeanHuns.[76]
A genetic study published inCell Press in December 2023 examined the remains obtained from Roman sites close to thelimes (such asViminacium) dated to the 3rd century or later. They were shown to carry admixture from Central/North European and Sarmatian-Scythian ancestries in addition to 42%–55% local Balkan Iron Age-related ancestry. 7 out of 9 males among these samples belonged to lineages not found in the Balkans earlier: haplogroupsI1 andR1b-U106, with strong Northern European distribution, and haplogroupR-Z93, common in the Steppe during the Iron Age and early 1st millennium CE. Many of these samples suggest that admixture between Central/North European and Sarmatian-Scythian ancestries likely occurred beyond the frontier prior to the movement into the Roman Empire.[77][78]
There is also evidence for a later eastwards expansion of Sarmatian-like ancestry, evident in a Saka-associated sample from southeasternKazakhstan (Konyr Tobe 300CE), displaying around 85% Sarmatian and 15% additional BMAC-like ancestry. Sarmatian-like contributions have also been detected among someXiongnu remains.[79]
Afanasiev et al. (2014) analyzed ten Alanic burials on the Don River. Four of them carried Y-DNA Haplogroup G2 and six of them possessed mtDNA haplogroup I.[80]
In 2015, again Afanasiev et al. analyzed skeletons of various Sarmato-Alan and Saltovo-Mayaki culture Kurgan burials. The two Alan samples from the fourth to sixth century AD belonged to Y-DNA haplogroups G2a-P15 and R1a-Z94, while two of the three Sarmatian samples from the second to third century AD found to belong to Y-DNA haplogroup J1-M267, and one belonged to R1a. Three Saltovo-Mayaki samples from the eighth to ninth century AD turned out to have Y-DNA corresponding to haplogroups G, J2a-M410 and R1a-z94.[81]
A genetic study published inNature Communications in March 2017 examined several Sarmatian individuals buried in Pokrovka, Russia (southwest of theUral Mountains) between the fifth century BC and the second century BC. The sample ofY-DNA extracted belonged to haplogroup R1b1a2a2. This was the dominant lineage among males of the earlierYamnaya culture.[82] The eleven samples ofmtDNA extracted belonged to the haplogroupsU3,M,U1a'c,T,F1b,N1a1a1a1a,T2,U2e2,H2a1f,T1a, andU5a1d2b.[83] The Sarmatians examined were found to be closely related to peoples of the earlier Yamnaya culture and to thePoltavka culture.[84]
A genetic study published inNature in May 2018 examined the remains of twelve Sarmatians buried between 400 BC and 400 CE.[85] The five samples of Y-DNA extracted belonged tohaplogroup R1a1,I2b,R (two samples), andR1.[86] The eleven samples of mtDNA extracted belonged toC4a1a,U4a2 (two samples),C4b1,I1,A,U2e1h (two samples),U4b1a4,H28, andU5a1.[87]
A genetic study published inScience Advances in October 2018 examined the remains of five Sarmatians buried between 55 AD and 320 AD. The three samples of Y-DNA extracted belonged tohaplogroup R1a1a andR1b1a1a2 (two samples), while the five samples of mtDNA extracted belonged to haplogroupH2a,T1a1,U5b2b (two samples), andD4q.[88]
Forensic reconstruction based on the skull of a mature male (40–50 years old) from theElton cemetery, kurgan 10, burial 9, Early Sarmatian time, 4th century BC.[91]
Early Sarmatian woman, 3rd-2nd century BC, Old Knishkin burial,Bashkortostan.[93]
The Early Sarmatians from theFilippovka kurgans (4th century BC) combined Western (Timber Grave andAndronovo) and Eastern characteristics. Compared with classicalSauromatians, Early Sarmatians, such as those of Filippovka, generally display an increased incidence of eastern Asiatic features.[94] They most closely resembled theSaka populations ofCentral Asia, particularly from theAltai region (Pazyryk), and were very different from the westernScythians, or the Sarmatians of theVolga River area.[94]
The Roman authorOvid recorded that one of the Sarmatian tribes, the Coralli, had blond hair, which is a characteristic thatAmmianus Marcellinus also ascribed to the Alans. He wrote that nearly all of the Alani were "of great stature and beauty, their hair is somewhat yellow, their eyes are frighteningly fierce."
Modern historians have offered conflicting opinions about the description of the Alans as being tall and having blond hair. For instance,Roger Batty has posited that "presumably, only some of the Alans would have been blond".[95]Bernard Bachrach has likewise suggested that because the Alans assimilated so many foreigners, the majority of them are unlikely to have been blond-haired, and that there was no distinguishing physical characteristic of the Alans.[96] However, John Day has argued that Bachrach's analysis is flawed, because he mistranslated the original passage from Ammianus Marcellinus, and that the majority of the Alans were in fact blond.[97]Iver Neumann has suggested that the description of Alans as blond may mean that theirIndo-Iranian ancestry was greater than it was in the Huns.[98]Charles Previté-Orton wrote that the Alans were only partly of Iranian heritage, and that the other part of their ancestry came from captive women and slaves.[99]
Sarmatism (orSarmatianism) is an ethno-culturalconcept of the origin ofPoland from Sarmatians within thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.[100] It was the dominantBaroqueculture andideology of the nobility (szlachta) that existed in times of theRenaissance to the eighteenth centuries.[100] Together with another concept of "Golden Liberty," it formed a central aspect of the Commonwealth's culture and society. At its core was the unifying belief that the elite of the Polish Commonwealth descended from the ancientIranic Sarmatians, the legendary invaders of Slavic lands in antiquity.[101][102]
Ukrainians may detect the Sarmatians' influence (transmitted throughKievan Rus') inUkraine, where Sarmatian culture, folkways and aesthetics have left an imprint on this part of their former homeland.[103][better source needed]In the 17th century theCossack HetmanBohdan Khmelnytsky, building on Polish Sarmatianism, claimed the title of "Prince of the Sarmatians".[104]
^Radley, Dario, (14 February 2025)."Ancient Sarmatian jewelry and artifacts unearthed in Kazakhstan", in:Archaeology News, "The Sarmatians, an ancient Iranian equestrian nomadic group that dominated the Eurasian steppes from the 5th century BCE to the 4th century CE, were known for their warrior culture and elaborate metalwork."
^Abaev, V. I.; Bailey, H. W. (26 August 2020),"ALANS",Encyclopaedia Iranica Online, Brill, retrieved16 November 2023
^Unterländer et al. 2017, p. 2. "During the first millennium BC, nomadic people spread over the Eurasian Steppe from theAltai Mountains over the northern Black Sea area as far as the Carpathian Basin... Greek and Persian historians of the 1st millennium BC chronicle the existence of the Massagetae and Sauromatians, and later, the Sarmatians and Sacae: cultures possessing artefacts similar to those found in classical Scythian monuments, such as weapons, horse harnesses and a distinctive 'Animal Style' artistic tradition. Accordingly, these groups are often assigned to the Scythian culture...
^"Sarmatian".Encyclopedia Britannica. 13 February 2025.By the 5th century BC the Sarmatians held control of the land between the Urals and the Don River.
^Mordvintseva 2017, pp. 239-240: "Most scholars consider the steppes of the Lower Volga region the 'motherland' of the Sarmatians, while the archaeological material recovered there is being used as a standard against which the finds from other regions are compared".
^Davies, Norman (1996).Europe: A History. Oxford University Press. p. 105.ISBN978-0-19-820171-7.(...) "the Iranic Sarmatians, whose ability to assimilate into preceding Greek civilization created a brilliant new synthesis"
^Richmond, Walter (11 June 2008).The Northwest Caucasus: Past, Present, Future. Routledge. p. 12.ISBN978-1-134-00249-8. "While the Sarmatians dominated the Meot lands, they were themselves assimilated and the language of the Meots, the predecessor of the modern Circassian dialects, survived."
^Eterovich, Francis H.; Spalatin, Christopher (15 December 1964).Croatia: Land, People, Culture Volume I. University of Toronto Press. p. 112.ISBN978-1-4875-9676-7.On the shores of the Black Sea the Alans absorbed two Sarmatian peoples, the Siraci and Aorsi (...) Also, the Goths undoubtedly absorbed both Sarmatian and Slavic groups during their two centuries of rule over the steppe land{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
^Chodorow, Stanley (1989).The Mainstream of Civilization. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. p. 368.ISBN978-0-15-551579-6.But the Slavic tribes survived the collapse of these empires, and gradually the remnants of the Avars, Sarmatians, and others were absorbed into the Slavic culture.
^Slovene Studies. Vol. 9–11. Society for Slovene Studies. 1987. p. 36.(..) For example, the ancient Scythians, Sarmatians (amongst others), and many other attested but now extinct peoples were assimilated in the course of history by Proto-Slavs.
^Minahan, James (2000). "Ossetians".One Europe, Many Nations: A Historical Dictionary of European National Groups. Praeger security international. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 518.ISBN978-0-313-30984-7. Retrieved27 March 2020.The Ossetians, calling themselves Iristi and their homeland Iryston, are the most northerly of the Iranian peoples. [...] They are descended from a division of Sarmatians, the Alans, who were pushed out of the Terek River lowlands and into the Caucasus foothills by invading Huns in the fourth century A.D.
^Сергеевич, Савельев Никита (2018). "Находки мечей и кинжалов скифо-сарматского времени из юго-западных предгорий Южного Урала (к вопросу об освоении территории и особенностях расселения кочевников)".Oriental Studies.4:24–31.doi:10.22162/2619-0990-2018-37-3-24-31 (inactive 12 July 2025).{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of July 2025 (link)
^"Sarmatian".Encyclopedia Britannica. 13 February 2025.Sarmatian, member of a people originally of Iranian stock who migrated from Central Asia to the Ural Mountains between the 6th and 4th century BC and eventually settled in most of southern European Russia and the eastern Balkans.
^Yablonsky, Leonid Teodorovich (2010). "New Excavations of the Early Nomadic Burial Ground at Filippovka (Southern Ural Region, Russia)".American Journal of Archaeology.114 (1): 141.doi:10.3764/aja.114.1.129.ISSN0002-9114.JSTOR20627646.S2CID191399666.with artifacts found in other barrows, afford us the opportunity to refine the chronology of each object and of the site as a whole and to date it to the second half of the fifth through the fourth centuries B.C.E. (...) Filippovka cemetery is a transition site between the Sauromation and the Sarmatian epochs.
^Yatsenko, Sergey A. (2022). "Sarmatian Goddess with Two Horses".RSUH/RGGU Bulletin. "Literary Theory. Linguistics. Cultural Studies" Series (7):211–224.doi:10.28995/2686-7249-2022-7-211-224 (inactive 12 July 2025).S2CID256651585.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of July 2025 (link)
^Davies, Norman (1996).Europe: A History. Oxford University Press. p. 105.ISBN978-0-19-820171-7.(...) "the Iranic Sarmatians, whose ability to assimilate into preceding Greek civilization created a brilliant new synthesis"
^Richmond, Walter (11 June 2008).The Northwest Caucasus: Past, Present, Future. Routledge. p. 12.ISBN978-1-134-00249-8. ""While the Sarmatians dominated the Meot lands, they were themselves assimilated and the language of the Meots, the predecessor of the modern Circassian dialects, survived."
^Eterovich, Francis H.; Spalatin, Christopher (15 December 1964).Croatia: Land, People, Culture Volume I. University of Toronto Press. p. 112.ISBN978-1-4875-9676-7.On the shores of the Black Sea the Alans absorbed two Sarmatian peoples, the Siraci and Aorsi ... Also, the Goths undoubtedly absorbed both Sarmatian and Slavic groups during their two centuries of rule over the steppe land{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
^Chodorow, Stanley (1989).The Mainstream of Civilization. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. p. 368.ISBN978-0-15-551579-6.But the Slavic tribes survived the collapse of these empires, and gradually the remnants of the Avars, Sarmatians, and others were absorbed into the Slavic culture.
^Slovene Studies. Vol. 9–11. Society for Slovene Studies. 1987. p. 36.(..) For example, the ancient Scythians, Sarmatians (amongst others), and many other attested but now extinct peoples were assimilated in the course of history by Proto-Slavs.
^Minahan, James (2000). "Ossetians".One Europe, Many Nations: A Historical Dictionary of European National Groups. Praeger security international. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 518.ISBN978-0-313-30984-7. Retrieved27 March 2020.The Ossetians, calling themselves Iristi and their homeland Iryston, are the most northerly of the Iranian peoples. [...] They are descended from a division of Sarmatians, the Alans, who were pushed out of the Terek River lowlands and into the Caucasus foothills by invading Huns in the fourth century A.D.
^Skripkin, A. S.; Klepikov, V. M. (17 May 2020)."ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES OF THE LOWER VOLGA REGION OF THE 2nd—1st CENTURIES BC AND SOME ETHNIC ISSUES OF THE SARMATIANS".Archaeology and Early History of Ukraine.36 (3):214–222.doi:10.37445/adiu.2020.03.11.The paper concerns with chronological analysis of Early Sarmatian military burials with two swords in the Lower Volga region dated to the last centuries BC. There are two combinations of the different bladed weapons in the burials: swords with a ring pommel and daggers with a crescent-shaped pommel; swords without metal pommel with the rhomboid cross-bar and daggers with a crescent-shaped pommel. Swords and daggers with a crescent-shaped pommel are absent in the burials after the turn of AD. Swords and daggers with ring pommel or rhomboid-shaped cross-bar have appeared during the new migration wave in the Lower Volga region not earlier than in the 2nd century BC. This determines the chronological framework of the assemblages. Daggers and swords with a crescent-shaped pommel are the local product, they were used much earlier than the swords of migratory origin. The authors suggest that the emergence of innovations is associated with the migration of the 2nd—1st centuries BC from Central Asia, because in addition to swords with ring pommel and bronze cross-bar without metal pommel, there were found bronze openwork and lattice buckles, jet buckles and cubic incense burners, well known in the East.
^Gursoy, M. (28 February 2023)."Жазба Және Археологиялық Деректер Негізінде Савромат-Сармат Тайпаларының Шығу Тегі".BULLETIN Series Historical and Socio-political Sciences.1 (72): 158.doi:10.51889/2022-1.1728-5461.16.In particular, B. N. Grakov proposed a general four-stage chronology of the Savromat-Sarmatian tribes, based on the specifics of their burial structures, burial traditions and material world: 1.The Savromat period or Blumenfeld -VI-IV centuries BC. 2.Savromat-Sarmatian or Prokhorov period-IV-II Centuries BC. 3.The middle Sarmatian period or Suslov -II BC -II Centuries AD. 4.The late Sarmatian period or Shipov –II –IV centuries AD. Since this proposal is generally supported by the majority, this chronology is taken as a basis in the research papers.
^Keyser, Christine; Bouakaze, Caroline; Crubézy, Eric; Nikolaev, Valery G.; Montagnon, Daniel; Reis, Tatiana; Ludes, Bertrand (16 May 2009). "Ancient DNA provides new insights into the history of south Siberian Kurgan people".Human Genetics.126 (3):395–410.doi:10.1007/s00439-009-0683-0.PMID19449030.S2CID21347353.
^Handbuch der Orientalistik, Iranistik. By I. Gershevitch, O. Hansen, B. Spuler, M.J. Dresden, Prof M Boyce, M. Boyce Summary. E.J. Brill. 1968.
^Honour, Hugh;Fleming, John (2005) [1984]. "The Greeks and Their Neighbours".A World History of Art (7 ed.). London: Laurence King Publishing. p. 121.ISBN978-1-85669-451-3. Retrieved17 June 2025.Sarmatian art reveals contacts with both China and Persia and is notable mainly for metalwork, especially gold and the early development ofcloisonné enamelling [...].
^Kim, Hyun Jin (2015).The Huns. Abingdon: Routledge. p. https://books.google.com/books?id=mcf4CgAAQBAJ&pg=PT176.ISBN978-1-138-84175-8.Influence across the steppes was often mutual and as a result by the fourth or fifth centuries AD it is nearly impossible to distinguish what is Hunnic from what is Sarmatian in the archaelogical record, especially in the west, because the two peoples had by then become so similar in terms of material culture via a long extended period of intense acculturation. The fusion of elements of Sarmatian and Hunnic cultures can already be noted in the later centuries of the first millennium BC in the Altai region [...]. The culture and art of the Huns therefore was already hybrid and had a strong Iranian (Sarmatian-Alan) flavour and vice versa.
^Haskins, John F. (1959). "Sarmatian Gold Collected by Peter the Great: - VII; The Demidov Gift and Conclusions".Artibus Asiae.22 (1/2):64–78.doi:10.2307/3249145.ISSN0004-3648.JSTOR3249145.
^Afanasiev, Gennady E.; Dobrovolskaya, M. V.; Korobov, D. S.; Reshetova, Irina K. (2014). "О культурной, антропологической и генетической специфике донских алан [On the cultural, anthropological and genetic specifics of the Don Alans ]". In Korobov, D. S. (ed.).Е.И. Крупнов и развитие археологии Северного Кавказа [E.I. Krupnov and the development of the archeology of the North Caucasus]. XXVIII Krupnov's readings : Proceedings of the International Scientific Conference, Moscow, 21–25 April 2014. Moscow: Institute of Archaeology, Russian Academy of Sciences. pp. 312–315.ISBN978-5-94375-162-2 – via www.academia.edu.
^Afanasiev, Gennady E.; et al. (2015). "Хазарские конфедераты в бассейне Дона [Khazar confederates in the Don basin]". In Dobrovolskaya, M. V.; Chernykh, E. N. (eds.).Естественнонаучные методы исследования и парадигма современной археологии [Natural scientific methods of research and the paradigm of modern archaeology]. Proceedings of the All-Russian Scientific Conference, Moscow, Institute of Archeology RAS, 8–11 December 2015. Moscow: Языки славянской культуры [Languages of Slavic Culture] for Institute of Archaeology, Russian Academy of Sciences. pp. 146–153.ISBN978-5-94457-2431 – via www.academia.edu.
^Unterländer et al. 2017, Supplementary Information, pp. 55, 72. "Individual I0575 (Sarmatian) belonged to haplogroup R1b1a2a2, and was thus related to the dominant Ychromosome lineage of the Yamnaya (Pit Grave) males from Samara..."
^Unterländer et al. 2017, pp. 3–4. "The two Early Sarmatian samples from the West... fall close to an Iron Age sample from the Samara district... and are generally close to the Early Bronze Age Yamnaya samples from Samara... and Kalmykia... and the Middle Bronze Age Poltavka samples from Samara..."
^Day, John V. (2001).Indo-European origins: the anthropological evidence. Institute for the Study of Man. p. 57.ISBN0-941694-75-5.Mistranslating their hair colour as ' generally blond ', Bachrach doubts that Alans really were so fair, considering that, as Ammianus Marcellinus says, they had assimilated so many other ethnic groups (1973:19).
^Tadeusz Sulimirski,The Sarmatians (New York: Praeger Publishers 1970) at 167.
^P. M. Barford,The Early Slavs (Ithaca: Cornell University 2001) at 28.
^Ukraine History: A Comprehensive Look at Ukraine's Rich & Complex History of Empires, Nationalism, War & Political Strife. Thomas William. p. https://books.google.com/books?id=OtLUEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT21. Retrieved28 July 2025.The legacy of Scythian and Sarmatian cultures can still be seen in modern-day Ukraine, where many of the art and architectural traditions of these ancient tribes continue to influence contemporary design and aesthetics. In addition, the nomadic lifestyle and cultural practices of the Scythians and Sarmatians have also had an impact on Ukrainian society and culture, particularly in rural areas where traditional practices are still observed. [...] they played a significant role in the development of the Eurasian steppes and their interactions with neighboring civilizations.
^Kubicek, Paul (30 September 2008). "Kievan Rus: The Foundation of Ukrainian Culture".The History of Ukraine. The Greenwood Histories of the Modern Nations. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood. p. 19.ISBN978-0-313-34921-8. Retrieved28 July 2025.[...] some Ukrainians (and Poles as well) sought to claim Sarmatian lineage, with Bohdan Khmelnytsky, the seventeenth-century Cossack leader, declaring himself 'prince of the Sarmatians.'
Mordvintseva, Valentina I. (2015)."Сарматы, Сарматия и Северное Причерноморье" [Sarmatia, the Sarmatians and the North Pontic Area](PDF).Вестник древней истории [Journal of Ancient History].1 (292):109–135. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 16 December 2021.
Mordvintseva, Valentina I. (2013). "The Sarmatians: The Creation of Archaeological Evidence".Oxford Journal of Archaeology.32 (2):203–219.doi:10.1111/ojoa.12010.
Moshkova, M. G. (1995). "A brief review of the history of the Sauromatian and Sarmatian tribes".Nomads of the Eurasian Steppes in the Early Iron Age:85–89.
Perevalov, S. M. (2002). "The Sarmatian Lance and the Sarmatian Horse-Riding Posture".Anthropology & Archeology of Eurasia.40 (4):7–21.doi:10.2753/aae1061-195940047.S2CID161826066.
Nomadic Art of the Eastern Eurasian Steppes, an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Sarmatians
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