Ancient site · Settlement
Sintashta
A fortified settlement in the steppe east of the southern Urals, in Russia, and the type site of the Sintashta culture. Ditches and walls ringed some fifty or sixty houses, of which thirty-one survive the river's erosion, and so much copper-working was found that it is called a fortified metallurgical centre.
Its graves hold some of the earliest known chariots, with spoked wheels, buried with horses and weapons. Many scholars link Sintashta to early speakers of Indo-Iranian languages.
- Dates
- c. 2100–1800 BCE
- Still standing
- No, or only traces
- Location
- 52.49° N, 60.19° E
How we know
No writing existed; dated by radiocarbon from excavations since 1968.
Nearby sites
- Arkaim c. 2150–1650 BCE (published ranges vary)
- Sarazm c. 3500–2000 BCE (radiocarbon range 3900–2100 BCE)
- Gonur Depe c. 2400–1600 BCE
- Jeitun c. 6000 BCE, for a few centuries
- Merv city c. 550 BCE–18th century CE
- Maykop kurgan built within c. 3700–3100 BCE
Related
- Sintashta culture archaeological culture
- The world in 3000 BCE: The First Kings chapter