The chariot warriors of the Sintashta culture changed the world in some significant ways. So today, I want to talk about one of the most underrated cultures I have ever encountered. But who were they? What were the main aspects of their culture? And what did they do that was so crucial to world history?
Origin of The Sintashta Culture
The Sintashta people were Indo-European people whose culture dates from 2200 BC to 1900 BC. They dwelt in the Southern Urals, which is modern Russia and Kazakhstan. The Sintahsta people replaced the earlier Botai culture. They are among the first people to speak the Indo-Iraninan languages.
The Indo-Iranian languages are a branch of the Indo-Euorpean language tree.
Genetic Studies
A study by Narasimhan et al. 2019 titled The Formation of Human Populations in South and Central Asia analysed fifty samples from the Sintastha settlement of Kamennyi Ambar, showing that they are related to the corded ware culture from North Western Europe.
These people, as well as several other central Asian cultures in the Bronze Age, are, in turn, closely related to modern Northern and Slavic Europeans.
“We replicate previous findings that this group included people of the Corded Ware, Srubnaya, Petrovka, and Sintashta archaeological complexes spreading over a vast region from the border of eastern Europe to northwestern Kazakhstan.”
Another paper, Genome-wide patterns of selection in 230 ancient Eurasians, analyses Sintashta and other Bronze Age Central Asian cultures.
The grey dots between the ancient samples labelled Anatolian Neolithic, Middle Neolithic and Early Neolithic and the cluster labelled Bronze Age (Steppe) are modern Europeans. Modern Europeans cluster between the Anatolian Neolithic and Bronze Age (Steppe) because modern Europeans are a mixture of those two populations to various degrees—the sample under the label Sintashta/Andronovo clusters with modern Slavic and some Central European groups.
“Anatolian Neolithic samples do not resemble any present-day Near Eastern populations but are shifted towards Europe.”
The ancient Indo-European Corded Ware culture likely migrated from Western Europe to Central Asia, forming the Sintashta culture we are now disguising.
Most Indo-European cultures were nomadic and did not tend to settle and build towns and cities.
Metallurgy in The Sintashta Culture
Metallurgy would play a significant role in Sintashta society. As the name would suggest, bronze was the lifeblood of the Bronze Age. Bronze was an alloy of primarily copper and about 12% tin.
Luckily, the Urals, where the Sintashta people lived, were rich in copper and tin. The Ural Mountains contain so many metal ores that they were and still are a significant part of the Russian economy.
This allowed the Sintahsta people to produce copper and bronze for trade. But also to create the tools and weapons necessary for their needs.
The Uluburun shipwreck is a late Bronze Age shipwreck off the east shore of Turkey from 1327 BC. They found many raw materials, but interestingly enough, about one-third of the tin ingots came from the Mušiston mine in Uzbekistan, where Sintashta culture thrived.
This suggests that the Sintashta culture was not isolationist, but rather, their influence and importance extended to the more well-known Bronze Age urban cultures in the Mediterranean. This metal may have made its way into the Mediterranean via the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC), a culture in Central Asia, but had very close ties to the urban areas of the Near East in modern Iran and Iraq where the Elamites, Babylonians and Akkadians dwelt.
The production of metal goods was so high it is often described as being produced on an industrial scale. But aside from selling metal, the Sintashta people also would use metal for warfare.
Horses of The Sinthasta Culture
Probably the most impressive part of the Sintashta culture is horse domestication. A study titled The Origins and Spread of Domestic Horses From the Western Eurasian Steppes found and dated to the Sinthast culture was bred much tougher than any other type of horse.
“Combined, early selection at GSDMC and ZFPM1 suggests shifting use toward horses that were more docile, more resilient to stress and involved in new locomotor exercise, including endurance running, weight-bearing and/or warfare.“
This would make these horses stronger, faster, and easier to tame than any other type alive.
Soon after, these new horses would be a base for all modern domesticated horse breeds worldwide, thus profoundly impacting world history and changing how people travelled for centuries.
Like the wolf is a base for all dogs, and the aurochs are the base for all Cows, the Sintashta horse would be the base for all horses.
Interestingly, the coat colour of the horses was overwhelmingly beige before the domestication by the Sintashta people. This would be because of the natural camouflage that beige offers. The domestication of these horses affected not only their strength and docility but also the appearance of their coat colour. Soon, White, black, and brown horse coat colours appear. This selection was probably due to personal preference, and also, maybe a religious element played a part.
Unlike their Indo-European brothers further west, the Sintashta culture did not just raid one another but engaged in larger warfare.
Chariot Warriors And Warfare in The Sintashta Culture
Many Sintahsta graves contain various weapons remains, such as trilobed or leaf-shaped arrowheads made with bone and stone. Still, interestingly, there are not many metal arrowheads, which is strange considering how much metal they had available to them. But also axes maces have been found.
The Higher-statue graves also have remnants of chariots. The chariot warriors of the Sintashta culture would form their upper class. The Sintashta were possibly the first to invent chariots, and their descendants, known as the Andronovo culture, would spread this invention. The chariot would eventually spread throughout the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia, and China.
Interestingly, another Indo-European culture we have covered, the Mycenaeans in Greece, also practised a warrior chariot class. This system of a warrior class probably emerged in a much older Indo-Euorpean culture than either the Mycenaean or Sintashta cultures.
Many Indo-European cultures and people would adopt a warrior class system throughout the Bronze and Iron Age. Many Indo-Europeans likely had similar chariot warriors that formed a class, like Sintashta culture.
This makes a lot of sense, considering how flat and open the central Asian Steppes are. Considering that horse warfare was quite old in Indo-European cultures, this meant that warfare on the Steppe was very fast-paced. It would only be a matter of time before a culture that uses fast-paced warfare would invent something like a chariot.
The invention of the chariot was only possible because of another invention that the Sintashta culture may have invented, the Spoke wheel, in 2000 BC. This allowed for the construction of faster and lighter vehicles.
The harsh environment meant a lot of competition for resources and land to graze their cattle and, very importantly, their horses. This is one reason for the possible invention of the chariot.
Sintashta Settlements
They began to develop settlements to counter this constant raiding cattle rustling and the colder climate. The settlements were often set up near marshlands, probably because it was the best spot for grazing cattle.
One aspect distinguishing the Sintashta culture from most other Indo-European cultures is their massive fortified settlements.
Some had irregular shapes and built their settlements by using the surrounding environments. But some, like Arkaim, built around 2150 BC-1650 BC, were circular, and all the Sintashta settlements were fortified using timber-enforced earthen walls.
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Wells are also present in the Sintashta cities, giving the inhabitants and their cattle water throughout the year.
The Sintashta culture did not practice agriculture, making these places a vital hub to survive the harsh winters on the Eurasian Steppe and protect from other tribes trying to steal their goods.
Interestingly, some scholars believe that the shape of Arkaim represents “the model of the universe” as described in ancient Indo-Aryan/Iranian books, the Vedas and the Avesta. So, there is possibly a spiritual aspect to this settlement.
The other significant site is called Sintashta. Like Arkaim, Sintashta had similar fortified defences. There is evidence of copper and bronze metallurgy at Sintahsta. But what makes it unique is that there is evidence of metallurgy in every house in Sintashta. This level of metalworking is unprecedented on the Steppe.
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Other Indo-European cultures had settlements. However, the Indo-Europeans did not build anything on this scale before. Also, unlike Indo-Europeans, these Sintashta settlements were permanent and fortified, not just temporary fortifications.
Fall of The Sintashta Culture
The lack of writing and the fact this culture was differentiated from the related Andronovo culture in the 1990s is that we do not exactly know what caused this culture to disappear.
It was likely absorbed into the Andronovo Culture located further east, leading to the transformation or disappearance of their cultural identity.
The changing climate would have led to a scarcity of vital resources. As such, it would have led to the Sintashta abandoning their cities and moving further east. This theory would explain why they soon became absorbed into the Andronov culture. Constant warfare may also lead to the abandonment of their cities.
Whatever the case, by about 1900 BC, their unique identity would soon disappear and would blend in with the Andronovo Culture.
The Andoronovo culture would soon south into Iran and India in 1600 BC- 1800 BC. Even to this day, modern Iranian and Indian peoples have some European DNA. Iranian and many languages in India, like Sanskrit, are related to the Indo-European languages. No doubt these Indo-European Sintashta people contributed to the culture of the later Indian and Iranian cultures. However, this topic is incredibly controversial and needs a post to cover it.
I do want to cover the Aryans. But it would be too big for one point, and I will cover it in another post.
Comment and recommend what topic you would like us to cover. And what do you think of the chariot warriors of the Sintashta culture?