Saka culture of Alai (south-western Kyrgyzstan)

Abstract

The article is devoted to the problem of identifying a special archaeological culture of the Saka of Alai region in the Early Iron Age. This culture had a special place among the nomadic and pastoral cultures of this period in Central Asia. It was generally occupied mountainous regions of Alai, as well as the border areas of Xinjiang and Karategin. Besides, some monuments of the western part of the Fergana valley had a significant cultural proximity. The Saka culture of Alai is represented mainly by burial sites, the main part of which belongs to the VI-III centuries BC. The process of formation of this archaeological culture was complex. The general role in this was played by a big migration wave, which came from Eastern Kazakhstan to the west direction through the territories of Tien Shan and Fergana at the turn of the VIII and VII centuries BC. The local population associated with the Chust culture of the Late Bronze Age played a lesser role in this process of its formation. Finally, the Saka culture of Alai was formed not earlier than the beginning of the VI century BC. Its population had close cultural and ethnogenetic interactions with the neighboring population of the Eilatan-Aktam culture of Fergana, the Saka tribes of the Pamirs and the ancient nomads of Xinjiang.