Sauromatian culture

The Sauromatian culture (Savromatskaya kulʹtura) was an Iron Age culture of horse nomads in the area of the lower Volga River in southern Russia, dated to the 6th to 4th centuries BCE. The name of this culture originates from the Sauromatians (Sauromatai; Latin: Sauromatae sau̯ˈrɔmat̪ae̯), an ancient Scythian people mentioned by Graeco-Roman authors, and with whom it is identified. The Sauromatian culture emerged during the 7th century BCE out of elements of the Bronze Age Srubnaya culture who cooperated closely with the neighbouring Andronovo culture. The Sauromatian culture developed under the influence of the western Ciscaucasian group of the Scythian culture, due to which it exhibited many resemblances to this latter group of the Scythian culture. From the east, the Sauromatian culture was affected by the culture of the Persian Achaemenid Empire, whose influence reached them through Central Asia. This Achaemenid influence was most prominent in the north-eastern part of Sauromatian territory during the 6th century BCE. The Sauromatian culture covered an area ranging from the eastern foothills of the lower Don river in the west to the lower Volga river in the east, and from the southern Ural Mountains in the north to the eastern foothills of the Caucasus in the south. The Sauromatian culture was divided into two main local groups: a Lower Volga group located between the Volga River, the Don River, and the Transvolga; and a Samara-Ural group. As can be inferred from their closeness, close kin connections existed between the Lower Volga and the Samara-Ural groups. The section of the Lower Volga group of the Sauromatian culture located between the Don and Volga rivers corresponds to the Sauromatians, an ancient Iranic equestrian nomadic people mentioned by Graeco-Roman authors. The Sauromatians may have been the () people mentioned in the s as one of the five peoples following the Zoroastrian religion, along with the (), (), (), and (), although this identification is still uncertain.