Andronovo culture Iranian peoples

map of approximate maximal extent of andronovo culture. formative sintashta-petrovka culture shown in darker red. location of earliest spoke-wheeled chariot finds indicated in purple. adjacent , overlapping cultures (afanasevo culture, srubna culture, bmac) shown in green.

the andronovo culture collection of similar local bronze age indo-iranian cultures flourished c. 1800–900 bce in western siberia , west asiatic steppe. better termed archaeological complex or archaeological horizon. name derives village of andronovo (55°53′n 55°42′e / 55.883°n 55.700°e / 55.883; 55.700), in 1914, several graves discovered, skeletons in crouched positions, buried richly decorated pottery. older sintashta culture (2100–1800), formerly included within andronovo culture, considered separately, regarded predecessor, , accepted part of wider andronovo horizon. @ least 4 sub-cultures of andronovo horizon have been distinguished, during culture expands towards south , east:

sintashta-petrovka-arkaim (southern urals, northern kazakhstan, 2200–1600 bce)

the sintashta fortification of ca. 1800 bce in chelyabinsk oblast
the petrovka settlement fortified settlement in kazakhstan
the nearby arkaim settlement dated 17th century


alakul (2100–1400 bce) between oxus , jaxartes, kyzylkum desert

alekseyevka (1300–1100 bce final bronze ) in eastern kazakhstan, contacts namazga vi in turkmenia
ingala valley in south of tyumen oblast


fedorovo (1500–1300 bce) in southern siberia (earliest evidence of cremation , fire cult)

beshkent-vakhsh (1000–800 bce)

the geographical extent of culture vast , difficult delineate exactly. on western fringes, overlaps approximately contemporaneous, distinct, srubna culture in volga-ural interfluvial. east, reaches minusinsk depression, sites far west southern ural mountains, overlapping area of earlier afanasevo culture. additional sites scattered far south koppet dag (turkmenistan), pamir (tajikistan) , tian shan (kyrgyzstan). northern boundary vaguely corresponds beginning of taiga. in volga basin, interaction srubna culture intense , prolonged, , federovo style pottery found far west volgograd.

most researchers associate andronovo horizon indo-iranian languages, though may have overlapped uralic-speaking area @ northern fringe.