The Andronovo culture is a cover term for a group of Bronze Age cultures of southern Siberia and Central Asia, ca. 2300–1000 BCE. It is probably better termed an archaeological complex or archaeological horizon. The name derives from the village of Andronovo (55°53′N 55°42′E), where in 1914, several graves were discovered, with skeletons in crouched positions, buried with richly decorated pottery. At least four sub-cultures have been since distinguished, during which the culture expands towards the south and the east:Including:

Andronovo culture - Successors Andronovo culture - External link

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Andronovo culture, Andronovo culture - Successors, Andronovo culture - External link

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The inhabitants of the BMAC were sedentary people who practised irrigation farming of wheat and barley. There seems to have been interaction with the nomadic people of the contemporary Andronovo culture of the steppe to the north. With their impressive material culture including monumental architecture, bronze tools, ceramics, and jewellery of semiprecious stones, the complex exhibits many of the hallmarks of civilization. The discovery of a tiny stone seal with geometric markings from a BMAC site in Turkmenistan in 2001 led some to c ...

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Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex, Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex - Overview, Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex - A previously unknown civilization?, Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex - The Indo-Iranian hypothesis, Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex - Notes:

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The Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex (or BMAC, also known as the Oxus civilization) the modern archaeological designation for a Bronze Age culture of Central Asia, dated to ca. 2200–1700 BC, located in present day Turkmenistan, northern Afghanistan, southern Uzbekistan and western Tajikistan, centered on the upper Amu Darya (Oxus). Its sites were discovered and named by Victor Sarianidi (1976). Bactria was the Greek name for the area of Bactra (modern Balkh), in what is now northern Afghanistan, an ...

Including:

Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex - Overview Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex - A previously unknown civilization? Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex - The Indo-Iranian hypothesis Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex - Notes:

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Sarianidi's excavations from the late 1970s onward revealed numerous monumental structures in many different sites, including Delbarjin, the Dashly Oasis, Toholok 21, Gonur, Kelleli, Sapelli, and Djarkutan. The sites were fortified by impressive walls and gates. Reports on the BMAC were mostly confined to Soviet journals until the last years of the Soviet Union, so the findings were largely unknown to the West until Sarianidi's work began to be translated in the 1990s. Radiocarbon dating suggests dating the complex to the last century o ...

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Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex, Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex - Overview, Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex - A previously unknown civilization?, Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex - The Indo-Iranian hypothesis, Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex - Notes:

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The Bactria-Margiana complex has also attracted attention as a candidate for those looking for the material counterparts to the Indo-Iranians, a major branch that split off from the Proto-Indo-Europeans. Sarianidi himself advocates identifying the complex as Indo-Iranian, going as far as to identify evidence of proto-Zoroastrian objects and rituals. James P. Mallory argues The geographic location of the BMAC ... conforms, it is argued, with the historical situation of the Da(h)a and Parnoi mentioned in Greek and Latin sources ...

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Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex, Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex - Overview, Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex - A previously unknown civilization?, Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex - The Indo-Iranian hypothesis, Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex - Notes:

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Chariot burials are tombs in which the deceased was buried together with his chariot, usually including his horses and other possessions. The earliest chariots known are from chariot burials of the Andronovo (Timber-Grave) sites of the Sintashta-Petrovka culture in modern Russia, clustering along the upper Tobol river, southeast of Magnitogorsk, from around 2000 BC, containing spoke-wheeled chariots drawn by teams of two horses. This culture is at least partially derived from the earlier Yamna culture, and is generally accepted ...

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Indo-Aryan migration refers to the migration and expansion of the Indo-Aryans during the 2nd millennium BC or earlier. Archaeological and philological data indicates that there was a shift of settlements from the northwestern part of South Asia to the Gangetic valley and to the south during the second millennium BCE, but does not clearly support a migration of Indo-Aryan people into South Asia. Based on linguistic data, many scholars have argued that Indo-Aryan speakers invaded in South Asia in the second millennium BCE. This correspo ...

Including:

Indo-Aryan migration - Overview Indo-Aryan migration - History Indo-Aryan migration - Linguistics Indo-Aryan migration - Philology
Indo-Aryan migration - Rig Veda Indo-Aryan migration - Vedic and Puranic King lists Indo-Aryan migration - Puranas Indo-Aryan migration - Avesta and Airyanem Vaejah
Indo-Aryan migration - Archaeology
Indo-Aryan migration - Indus Valley Civilization Indo-Aryan migration - Vasishta head Indo-Aryan migration - Pottery Indo-Aryan migration - West Asia
Indo-Aryan migration - Astronomical data Indo-Aryan migration - Physical Anthropology Indo-Aryan migration - Genetics and Archaeogenetics

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The earliest chariots known are from the chariot burials of the Andronovo (Timber-Grave) sites of the Sintashta-Petrovka culture in modern Russia and Kazakhstan from around 2000 BC. This culture is at least partially derived from the earlier Yamna culture. It built heavily fortified settlements, engaged in bronze metallurgy on a scale hitherto unprecedented and practiced complex burial rituals reminiscent of Aryan rituals known from the Rigveda. The Sintashta-Petrovka chariot burials yield spoke-wheeled chariots. The Andronovo culture over t ...

See also:

Chariot, Chariot - Early forms, Chariot - Indo-Iranians, Chariot - China, Chariot - Ancient Near East, Chariot - Egyptian, Chariot - Hittite, Chariot - Mycenaean, Chariot - Chariots in the Bible, Chariot - Iron Age Mesopotamia, Chariot - Northern Europe, Chariot - Central and Western Europe, Chariot - Classical Antiquity, Chariot - Greece, Chariot - Roman Empire, Chariot - Russian Tachanka, Chariot - Additional Bibliography

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Main article: Indo-Iranians. The most probable date for Proto-Indo-Iranian unity is roughly around 2500 BC. In this sense of the word Aryan, the Aryans were an ancient culture preceding both the Vedic and Iranian cultures. Candidates for an archaeological identification of this culture are the Andronovo and/or Srubnaya Archaeological Complexes. Aryan - Indo-Aryan. See also Arya, Indo-Aryans, Indo-Aryan ...

See also:

Aryan, Aryan - Etymology and History of the Term, Aryan - Proto-Indo-European, Aryan - Indo-Iranian, Aryan - Indo-Aryan, Aryan - Iranian, Aryan - Racist connotations

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The Indo-Aryans were nomadic or at least peripatetic, following their herds of cows around from pasture to pasture. Consequently they had no permanent settlements; the RgVeda only mentions temporary huts. These leave no archaeological record. So it is only to be expected that the migrations left no archaeological traces. The Huns are a comparable instance. No one doubts that the Huns actually invaded parts of western Europe on more than one occasion. Yet -- because the Huns were nomads -- they left no archaeological ...

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Indo-Aryan migration, Indo-Aryan migration - Overview, Indo-Aryan migration - History, Indo-Aryan migration - Linguistics, Indo-Aryan migration - Philology, Indo-Aryan migration - Rig Veda, Indo-Aryan migration - Vedic and Puranic King lists, Indo-Aryan migration - Puranas, Indo-Aryan migration - Avesta and Airyanem Vaejah, Indo-Aryan migration - Archaeology, Indo-Aryan migration - Indus Valley Civilization, Indo-Aryan migration - Vasishta head, Indo-Aryan migration - Pottery, Indo-Aryan migration - West Asia, Indo-Aryan migration - Astronomical data, Indo-Aryan migration - Physical Anthropology, Indo-Aryan migration - Genetics and Archaeogenetics

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The linguistic facts of the situation are little disputed. However, linguistic data alone cannot determine whether this migration was peaceful or invasive. Different linguists have argued for either, or for a combination of both, on extra-linguistic grounds. Most of the languages of northern South Asia belong to a single language family, the Indo-Aryan subgroup of the Indo-European family of languages. The languages of South India belong to a different language family, the Dravidian languages, which has not been proven to be linked wi ...

See also:

Indo-Aryan migration, Indo-Aryan migration - Overview, Indo-Aryan migration - History, Indo-Aryan migration - Linguistics, Indo-Aryan migration - Philology, Indo-Aryan migration - Rig Veda, Indo-Aryan migration - Vedic and Puranic King lists, Indo-Aryan migration - Puranas, Indo-Aryan migration - Avesta and Airyanem Vaejah, Indo-Aryan migration - Archaeology, Indo-Aryan migration - Indus Valley Civilization, Indo-Aryan migration - Vasishta head, Indo-Aryan migration - Pottery, Indo-Aryan migration - West Asia, Indo-Aryan migration - Astronomical data, Indo-Aryan migration - Physical Anthropology, Indo-Aryan migration - Genetics and Archaeogenetics

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Indo-Aryan migration - Rig Veda. The Rigveda is by far the most archaic testimony of Vedic Sanskrit. It describes a pastoral or nomadic, mobile culture, still centered on the Indo-Iranian Soma cult and fire worship. The purely nomadic and/or pastoral character of the Rig Vedic people is however disputed. The mobile nature of the Vedic religion is illustrated by the laying out of the ritual precinct as part of the ritual, rather than the existence of fixed temples. This holds for the invitation of Indra to the Som ...

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Indo-Aryan migration, Indo-Aryan migration - Overview, Indo-Aryan migration - History, Indo-Aryan migration - Linguistics, Indo-Aryan migration - Philology, Indo-Aryan migration - Rig Veda, Indo-Aryan migration - Vedic and Puranic King lists, Indo-Aryan migration - Puranas, Indo-Aryan migration - Avesta and Airyanem Vaejah, Indo-Aryan migration - Archaeology, Indo-Aryan migration - Indus Valley Civilization, Indo-Aryan migration - Vasishta head, Indo-Aryan migration - Pottery, Indo-Aryan migration - West Asia, Indo-Aryan migration - Astronomical data, Indo-Aryan migration - Physical Anthropology, Indo-Aryan migration - Genetics and Archaeogenetics

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Brian E. Hemphill and Alexander F. Christensen's study (1994) of the migration of genetic traits does not support a movement of Aryan speakers into the Indus Valley around 1500 BC. According to Hemphill's study, "Gene flow from Bactria occurs much later, and does not impact Indus Valley gene pools until the dawn of the Christian era." Kenneth Kennedy (1984), who examined 300 skeletons from the Indus Valley civilization, concludes that the ancient Harappans “are not markedly different in their skeletal biology from the present ...

See also:

Indo-Aryan migration, Indo-Aryan migration - Overview, Indo-Aryan migration - History, Indo-Aryan migration - Linguistics, Indo-Aryan migration - Philology, Indo-Aryan migration - Rig Veda, Indo-Aryan migration - Vedic and Puranic King lists, Indo-Aryan migration - Puranas, Indo-Aryan migration - Avesta and Airyanem Vaejah, Indo-Aryan migration - Archaeology, Indo-Aryan migration - Indus Valley Civilization, Indo-Aryan migration - Vasishta head, Indo-Aryan migration - Pottery, Indo-Aryan migration - West Asia, Indo-Aryan migration - Astronomical data, Indo-Aryan migration - Physical Anthropology, Indo-Aryan migration - Genetics and Archaeogenetics

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The separation of Indo-Aryans proper from Proto-Indo-Iranians has been dated to roughly 2000 BC–1800 BC. The Nuristani languages probably split in such early times, and are either classified as remote Indo-Aryan dialects, or as an independent branch of Indo-Iranian. It is believed Indo-Aryans reached Assyria in the west and the Punjab in the east before 1500 BC: the Indo-Aryan Mitanni rulers appear from 1500, and the Gandhara grave culture emerges from 1600. This suggests that Indo-Aryan tribes would have had to be present in the area of t ...

See also:

Indo-Aryan migration, Indo-Aryan migration - Overview, Indo-Aryan migration - History, Indo-Aryan migration - Linguistics, Indo-Aryan migration - Philology, Indo-Aryan migration - Rig Veda, Indo-Aryan migration - Vedic and Puranic King lists, Indo-Aryan migration - Puranas, Indo-Aryan migration - Avesta and Airyanem Vaejah, Indo-Aryan migration - Archaeology, Indo-Aryan migration - Indus Valley Civilization, Indo-Aryan migration - Vasishta head, Indo-Aryan migration - Pottery, Indo-Aryan migration - West Asia, Indo-Aryan migration - Astronomical data, Indo-Aryan migration - Physical Anthropology, Indo-Aryan migration - Genetics and Archaeogenetics

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When British and European language students first encountered Sanskrit in the late 18th century, they naturally assumed Sanskrit was the oldest of the Indo-European languages & the fount of all the others. As the study of language progressed, it became clear -- for very technical reasons -- that this could not be the case: there had existed a still older language (Proto-Indo-European) from which all the Indo-European languages descended. This reconstructed language had clearly come from a temperate climate, north of the Himalayas. Hence the Indo-Aryan language ...

See also:

Indo-Aryan migration, Indo-Aryan migration - Overview, Indo-Aryan migration - History, Indo-Aryan migration - Linguistics, Indo-Aryan migration - Philology, Indo-Aryan migration - Rig Veda, Indo-Aryan migration - Vedic and Puranic King lists, Indo-Aryan migration - Puranas, Indo-Aryan migration - Avesta and Airyanem Vaejah, Indo-Aryan migration - Archaeology, Indo-Aryan migration - Indus Valley Civilization, Indo-Aryan migration - Vasishta head, Indo-Aryan migration - Pottery, Indo-Aryan migration - West Asia, Indo-Aryan migration - Astronomical data, Indo-Aryan migration - Physical Anthropology, Indo-Aryan migration - Genetics and Archaeogenetics

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The near-universally cited candidate for the homeland of the Proto-Indian-Iranian culture is the Andronovo Archaeological Complex. A commonly given date for the last period of Proto-Indo-Iranian linguistic unity is approximately 2000 BCE, perhaps a little later, preceding both the Vedic and Iranian cultures. The earliest recorded forms of these languages, Vedic Sanskrit and Gathic Avestan, are remarkably similar. The origin and earliest relationship between the Nuristani languages and that of the Iranian an ...

See also:

Indo-Iranians, Indo-Iranians - Origin, Indo-Iranians - Expansion, Indo-Iranians - First wave, Indo-Iranians - Second wave, Indo-Iranians - Associated archaeological cultures, Indo-Iranians - Sources

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Humans have inhabited present-day Kazakhstan since the earliest Stone Age, generally pursuing the nomadic pastoralism for which the region's climate and terrain are best suited. Prehistoric Bronze Age cultures that extended onto Kazakh territory include the Srubna culture, the Afanasevo culture and the Andronovo culture. The earliest well-documented state in the region was the Turkic Kaganate, or Gokturk, Köktürk state, established by the Ashina clan, which came into existence in the 6th century AD. The Qarluqs, a confederation of T ...

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History of Kazakhstan, History of Kazakhstan - Background, History of Kazakhstan - Historical Setting, History of Kazakhstan - Early Tribal Movements, History of Kazakhstan - Forming the Modern Nation, History of Kazakhstan - Russian Control, History of Kazakhstan - In the Soviet Union, History of Kazakhstan - Reform and Nationalist Conflict, History of Kazakhstan - The Rise of Nazarbayev, History of Kazakhstan - Sovereignty and Independence, History of Kazakhstan - Moving forward

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Chariot was the name of a WW2 naval weapon, the British manned torpedo. A chariot is a two-wheeled, horse-drawn vehicle. In Latin biga is a two-horse chariot, and quadriga is a four-horse chariot. It was used for battle during the Bronze and Iron Ages, and continued to be used for travel, processions and in games after it had been superseded militarily. Early forms may also have had four wheels, although these are not usually referred to as chariots. The critical invention that allowed the constructi ...

Including:

Chariot - Early forms Chariot - Indo-Iranians Chariot - China Chariot - Ancient Near East
Chariot - Hittite Chariot - Mycenaean Chariot - Chariots in the Bible Chariot - Iron Age Mesopotamia
Chariot - Northern Europe Chariot - Central and Western Europe Chariot - Classical Antiquity
Chariot - Greece Chariot - Roman Empire
Chariot - Russian Tachanka Chariot - Additional Bibliography

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(3rd millennium BC – 2nd millennium BC – 1st millennium BC – other millennia) 2nd millennium BC - Events. To grasp the spirit of the 2nd millennium BC, we must divide it in two parts, for there is a period of change around its middle so important that it creates two separate "sub-millennia". The first part of the millennium is a time a bit less colorful than others, a lull in the history of Ancient Near East, still living in the shadow of greater past times, and spending all energies in ...

Including:

2nd millennium BC - Events
2nd millennium BC - The break in the middle c. 1600-1500 BC 2nd millennium BC - Second half 1500-1000 BC 2nd millennium BC - Specific events
2nd millennium BC - Inventions, discoveries, introductions 2nd millennium BC - Cultures 2nd millennium BC - Significant people 2nd millennium BC - Cultural landmarks 2nd millennium BC - Centuries and Decades

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