Sintashta culture
| Period | Late Middle Bronze Age |
|---|---|
| Dates | 2200–1900 BCE |
| Type site | Sintashta |
| Major sites | Sintashta Arkaim Petrovka |
| Characteristics | Extensive copper and bronze metallurgy Fortified settlements Elaborate weapon burials Earliest known chariots |
| Preceded by | Corded Ware culture Poltavka culture Abashevo culture Fatyanovo–Balanovo culture |
| Followed by | Andronovo culture, Srubnaya culture |
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The Sintashta culture is a Middle Bronze Age archaeological culture of the Southern Urals, dated to the period c. 2200–1900 BCE. It is the first phase of the Sintashta–Petrovka complex, c. 2200–1750 BCE. The culture is named after the Sintashta archaeological site, in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, and spreads through Orenburg Oblast, Bashkortostan, and Northern Kazakhstan. Widely regarded as the origin of the Indo-Iranian languages, whose speakers originally referred to themselves as the Aryans, the Sintashta culture is thought to represent an eastward migration of peoples from the Corded Ware culture.
The earliest known chariots have been found in Sintashta burials, and the culture is considered a strong candidate for the origin of the technology, which spread throughout the Old World and played an important role in ancient warfare. Sintashta settlements are also remarkable for the intensity of copper mining and bronze metallurgy carried out there, which is unusual for a steppe culture. Among the main features of the Sintashta culture are high levels of militarism and extensive fortified settlements, of which 23 are known.