| Revision as of 08:51, 25 November 2011 editCommonsDelinker (talk | contribs)Bots, Template editors1,013,064 editsm Removing "Karasuk_culture.jpg", it has been deleted from Commons by Blacklake because: Copyright violation: work by modern artists.← Previous edit | Revision as of 18:59, 17 December 2011 edit undoTirgil34 (talk | contribs)271 editsNo edit summaryNext edit → | ||
| Line 12: | Line 12: | ||
| Industrially, they were skilled metalworkers, the diagnostic ]s of the ] being a bronze knife with curving profiles and a decorated handle and horse bridles. The pottery has been compared to that discovered in Inner Mongolia and the interior of China, with bronze knives similar to those from northeastern China.<ref name="home.earthlink.net"/> | Industrially, they were skilled metalworkers, the diagnostic ]s of the ] being a bronze knife with curving profiles and a decorated handle and horse bridles. The pottery has been compared to that discovered in Inner Mongolia and the interior of China, with bronze knives similar to those from northeastern China.<ref name="home.earthlink.net"/> | ||
| The Karasuk Culture was and very closely related to the northern Chinese Culture.<ref>Gernot Wilhelm, Akten des IV. Internationalen Kongresses für Hethitologie, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, 2001, p.246</ref> But skeletal remains indicate a relation with Central Asian ], making an ] (] family) a strong possibility (especially considering the cultural link to the west that implies the ] funerary practice). Some scholars believe that the culture has its origin in ], ] and ].<ref>http://www.drummingnet.com/alekseev/Lecture13.doc </ref> Other scholars{{Who|date=October 2011}} have suggested a connection with the ] and ] people, even suggesting a ] group. | |||
| The Karasuk culture is preceded by the ] and succeeded by the ], whose people use the same burial places, indicating a continuity in settlements. | The Karasuk culture is preceded by the ] and succeeded by the ], whose people use the same burial places, indicating a continuity in settlements. | ||
Revision as of 18:59, 17 December 2011
The Karasuk culture describes a group of Bronze Age societies who ranged from the Aral Sea or the Volga River to the upper Yenisei catchment, ca. 1500–800 BC, preceded by the Afanasevo culture. The remains are minimal and entirely of the mortuary variety. At least 2000 burials are known. The Karasuk period persisted down to c. 700 BC. From c. 700 to c. 200 BC, culture developed along similar lines. Vital trade contact is traced from northern China and the Baikal region to the Black Sea and the Urals, influencing the uniformity of the culture.
The economy was mixed agriculture and stockbreeding. Arsenical bronze artefacts are present.
Their settlements were of pit houses and they buried their dead in stone cists covered by kurgans and surrounded by square stone enclosures.
Industrially, they were skilled metalworkers, the diagnostic artifacts of the culture being a bronze knife with curving profiles and a decorated handle and horse bridles. The pottery has been compared to that discovered in Inner Mongolia and the interior of China, with bronze knives similar to those from northeastern China.
The Karasuk Culture was Altaic and very closely related to the northern Chinese Culture. But skeletal remains indicate a relation with Central Asian Europids, making an Indo-Iranian language (Indo-European family) a strong possibility (especially considering the cultural link to the west that implies the Kurgan funerary practice). Some scholars believe that the culture has its origin in Mongolia, Northern China and Korea. Other scholars have suggested a connection with the Yeniseian and Burushaski people, even suggesting a Karasuk languages group.
The Karasuk culture is preceded by the Afanasevo culture and succeeded by the Tagar culture, whose people use the same burial places, indicating a continuity in settlements.
Genetics
Ancient DNA extracted from the remains of two males who dated back to the Karasuk culture were determined to be of Y-chromosome haplogroup R1a. Extracted mtDNA from two female remains from this cultural horizon revealed they possessed the U5a1 and U4 lineages. The study determined that the individuals had light hair and blue or green eyes.
Notes and references
- ^ home.earthlink.net/~waluk/Alekseev/Lecture13.doc
- Encyclopædia Britannica
- Gernot Wilhelm, Akten des IV. Internationalen Kongresses für Hethitologie, Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, 2001, p.246
- http://www.drummingnet.com/alekseev/Lecture13.doc
- C. Keyser et al. 2009. Ancient DNA provides new insights into the history of south Siberian Kurgan people. Human Genetics.
- JP Mallory, "Karasuk Culture", Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, Fitzroy Dearborn, 1997.