Barry Cunlife - The Scythians

landscapes with people
ing chariots, like those first developed at Sintashta about 2100 bc, which could be
used in complex warfare, and the consequent creation of bands of horsemen working
in concert with devastating effects. These nomad hordes were soon to dominate
life on the steppe and threaten the sedentary communities of Europe.
The Late Bronze Age Continuum: 1800–1200 bc
The first two centuries of the second millennium saw regional differences gradually
become less distinct across the steppe as increased connectivity led to the development
of a continuum of broadly similar cultures. There were multiple causes for this but the
development of horse riding and the growing importance of copper metallurgy were
among the more important. The horse provided an impetus for greater mobility, stimulating
interaction between widely dispersed communities, while a greatly increased
demand for bronze tools and weapons led both to the extensive copper-mining operations
at Kargaly in the south Urals near Orenburg and at Karaganda near Uspenskyi in
central Kazakhstan and to the mining of tin in the Zeravshan in Uzbekistan. Since the
two metals occurred only in restricted locations networks of exchange developed to
facilitate distribution. Another factor added to the developing connectivity: the growing
demand for raw materials and horses by the consuming states in Mesopotamia
and Iran. For them the steppe zone had become a significant supplier.
In the period 1800–1200 bc two broad cultural zones can be distinguished: the
Pontic–Caspian steppe from the Ural Mountains westwards to the Dnieper, was occupied
by the Srubnaya (Timber-Grave) culture, while the Urals eastward to the Altai
and Tien Shan Mountains, extending as far south as the Amu Darya river, were occupied
by broadly similar cultural groupings known as the Andronovo continuum. In
both regions a more settled way of life emerged. What led to this widespread shift in
subsistence strategy is a matter of debate, but the change to a cooler and more arid
climate between 2500 and 2000 bc may have been a deciding factor, driving communities
to establish ownership of the tracts of marshland flanking rivers so necessary
for the winter fodder that resulted in the setting up of permanent settlements nearby.
In the Pontic–Caspian steppe many hundreds of small Srubnaya settlements are
known, extending across the steppe and forest steppe. A detailed study of a discrete
landscape in the Samara valley, a tributary of the Volga, showed that the permanent
settlement of Barinovka on the Samara was associated with a number of herding
camps along a nearby tributary extending up to 12 km upstream but no further. This
gives some idea of the size of the territory worked by this particular community.
It was for some time believed that the shift to permanent settlements was the
result of the development of cereal growing as an adjunct to the herding economy.
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