Afanasievo culture
The Afanasievo culture, or Afanasevo culture (Afanasevan culture) (Russian: Афанасьевская культура Afanas'yevskaya kul'tura), is an early archaeological culture of south Siberia, occupying the Minusinsk Basin and the Altai Mountains during the eneolithic era, c. 3300 to 2500 BCE. It is named after a nearby mountain, Gora Afanasieva (Russian: Гора Афанасьева, lit. 'Afanasiev's mountain') in what is now Bogradsky District, Khakassia, Russia, first excavated by archaeologist Sergei Teploukhov in 1920-1929. Afanasievo burials have been found as far as Shatar Chuluu in central Mongolia, confirming a further expansion about 1,500 km beyond the Altai mountains. The Afanasievo culture is now considered as an integral part of the Prehistory of Western and Central Mongolia.
-3000 Shatar Chuluu Altan Sandal Afanasieva Gora Ukok Plateau Ürümqi SUMER Proto- Elamite Yamnaya Culture Sarazm culture Long- shan Liang- zhu Majia- yao Qujia- ling ◁ ▷ Afanasievo culture and contemporary polities c. 3000 BCE. : Original site of Gora Afanasieva, Minusinsk Basin. : Ukok Plateau Afanasievo burials. : Ürümqi (Tuqiu) Afanasievo burials. The area of Dzungaria also had Afanasievo burials and close genetic connection. : Afanasievo burials at Altan Sandal and Shatar Chuluu in central Mongolia. See Afanasievo sites in Mongolia | |
| Alternative names | Afanasevo culture; Afanasevans |
|---|---|
| Geographical range | South Siberia |
| Period | Bronze Age |
| Dates | 3300 BCE — 2500 BCE |
| Type site | Gora Afanasieva (Minusinsk Basin) |
| Followed by | Chemurchek culture, Okunev culture, Karakol culture, Andronovo culture, Deer stones culture |
According to David W. Anthony the Afanasevan population was descended from people who migrated c. 3700–3300 BCE across the Eurasian Steppe from the pre-Yamnaya Repin culture of the Don-Volga region. It is considered as "intrusive from the west", in respect to previous local Siberian cultures. According to Anthony, "The Afanasievo culture migration to the Altai was carried out by people with a Repin-type material culture, probably from the middle Volga-Ural region."
A 2021 study by F. Zhang and others found that early Tarim mummies from the late 3rd and early 2nd millennia BCE were unrelated to the Afanasevians, and came from a genetically isolated population derived from Ancient North Eurasians, that had borrowed agricultural and pastoral practices from neighboring peoples.
Because of its geographical location and dating, Anthony and earlier scholars such as Leo Klejn, J. P. Mallory and Victor H. Mair have linked the Afanasevans to the Proto-Tocharian language. Afanasievan ancestry persisted in Dzungaria at least until the second half of the 1st millennium BCE. The Shirenzigou culture (410–190 BC), just northeast of the Tarim Basin, also appears to have been derived from the Afanasievans, which, in addition to linguistics, further reinforces an Afanasievo hypothesis for the Tocharians.