Filippovka kurgans

The style of the artifacts from the Filippovka kurgans is considered as Scythian Animal Style. The style of many artifacts looks quite archaic, prompting some historians to date them to the 6th century BCE and to the Sauromatian (pre-Sarmatian) period (ca. 600-400 BCE), but detailed analysis confirms dates of c.450-300 BCE for all the Filippovka kurgan, representing a transitory phase between the Sauromatians and the Earliest Sarmatians. File:Золото сарматских вождей. Gold of the Sarmatian - Silver ewer.jpg|Silver ewer, Filippovka kurgan 1, 4th century BCE. File:Золото сарматских вождей. Gold of the Sarmatian - Gold pendants.jpg|Earrings, Filippovka kurgan 1, 4th century BCE. Weapons Numerous weapons, armour, helmets were found in the excavations of Filippovka kurgan 1: File:Filippovka 1 Iron armour from burial 2 mound 4.jpg|Filippovka 1 Iron armour from burial 2 mound 4 File:Filippovka 1, Horn armour from mound 29.jpg|Filippovka 1, Horn armour from mound 29 File:Filippovka 1, bronze arrowheads from burial 2, mound 4.jpg|Filippovka 1, bronze arrowheads from burial 2, mound 4 File:Filippovka 1, iron helmets from mound 11.jpg|Filippovka 1, iron helmets from mound 11 File:Filippovka 1, iron sowrds and daggers.jpg|Filippovka 1, iron swords and daggers ==Anthropology==

The people buried in Filippovka combined Western (Timber Grave and Andronovo) and Eastern characteristics. Compared with classical Sauromatians, Early Sarmatians, such as those of Filippovka, generally display an increased incidence of eastern Asiatic features. Ethnic context period (Prokhorovka period in Southern Ural) sees a marked influx of Central Asian nomads (Altaian-like ancestry), which continues into the Late Sarmatian period. The region between the Caspian Sea and of the Southern Urals originally had populations of Srubnaya (1900 BC–1200 BCE) and Andronovo (c. 2000–1150 BCE) ancestry, but, starting with the Iron Age (c.1000 BCE) became a region of intense ethnic and cultural interaction between European and Asian components. From the 7th century BCE, Early Saka nomads started to settle in the Southern Urals, coming from Central Asia, the Altai-Sayan region, and Central and Northern Kazakhstan. The Itkul culture (7th-5th century BCE) is one of these Early Saka cultures, based in the eastern foothills of the Urals, which was assimilited into the Early Sarmatian culture. Circa 600 BCE, groups from the Saka Tasmola culture settled in the southern Urals. Circa 500 BCE, other groups from the area of Ancient Khorezm settled in the western part of the southern Urals, who also assimilated into the Early Sarmatians. As a result, a large-scale integrated union of nomads from Central Asia formed in the area in the 5th–4th century BCE, with fairly uniformized cultural practices. This cultural complex, with notable ‘‘foreign elements’’, corresponds to the ‘‘royal’’ burials of Filippovka, and define the "Prokhorovka period" of the Early Sarmatians. ==See also==