Editing Saka (section)

===East-West migrations and cultural transmission===
Genetic data across Eurasia suggest that the Scythian cultural phenomenon was accompanied by some degree of migration from east to west, starting in the area of the [[Altai Mountains|Altai region]].<ref name="MJ"/> In particular, the Classical Scythians of the western Eurasian steppe were not direct descendants of the local Bronze Age populations, but partly resulted from this east–west spread.<ref name="MJ"/> This also suggests that Scythoïd cultural characteristics were not simply the result of the transfer of material culture, but were also accompanied by human migrations of Saka populations from the east.<ref name="MJ">{{cite journal |last1=Järve |first1=Mari |last2=Saag |first2=Lehti |last3=Scheib |first3=Christiana Lyn |last4=Pathak |first4=Ajai K. |last5=Montinaro |first5=Francesco |last6=Pagani |first6=Luca |last7=Flores |first7=Rodrigo |last8=Guellil |first8=Meriam |last9=Saag |first9=Lauri |last10=Tambets |first10=Kristiina |last11=Kushniarevich |first11=Alena |last12=Solnik |first12=Anu |last13=Varul |first13=Liivi |last14=Zadnikov |first14=Stanislav |last15=Petrauskas |first15=Oleg |last16=Avramenko |first16=Maryana |last17=Magomedov |first17=Boris |last18=Didenko |first18=Serghii |last19=Toshev |first19=Gennadi |last20=Bruyako |first20=Igor |last21=Grechko |first21=Denys |last22=Okatenko |first22=Vitalii |last23=Gorbenko |first23=Kyrylo |last24=Smyrnov |first24=Oleksandr |last25=Heiko |first25=Anatolii |last26=Reida |first26=Roman |last27=Sapiehin |first27=Serheii |last28=Sirotin |first28=Sergey |last29=Tairov |first29=Aleksandr |last30=Beisenov |first30=Arman |last31=Starodubtsev |first31=Maksim |last32=Vasilev |first32=Vitali |last33=Nechvaloda |first33=Alexei |last34=Atabiev |first34=Biyaslan |last35=Litvinov |first35=Sergey |last36=Ekomasova |first36=Natalia |last37=Dzhaubermezov |first37=Murat |last38=Voroniatov |first38=Sergey |last39=Utevska |first39=Olga |last40=Shramko |first40=Irina |last41=Khusnutdinova |first41=Elza |last42=Metspalu |first42=Mait |last43=Savelev |first43=Nikita |last44=Kriiska |first44=Aivar |last45=Kivisild |first45=Toomas |last46=Villems |first46=Richard |title=Shifts in the Genetic Landscape of the Western Eurasian Steppe Associated with the Beginning and End of the Scythian Dominance |journal=Current Biology |date=July 2019 |volume=29 |issue=14 |pages=2430–2441.e10 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2019.06.019 |pmid=31303491 |issn=0960-9822 |quote=This is compatible with a moderate westward increase of the Altaian genetic component in the Steppe during the Scythian period, implying the involvement of at least some degree of migration (east to west; the more complicated scenarios that have been proposed [11] are not supported by our results) in the spread of the Scythian culture. This fits the previous observation that the Iron Age nomads of the western Eurasian Steppe were not direct descendants of the Bronze Age population [2] and suggests that the ‘‘Scythian world’’ cannot be described solely in terms of material culture.|doi-access=free |bibcode=2019CBio...29E2430J }}</ref>

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 ancestry, but, starting with the [[Iron Age]] (c.1000 BCE) became a region of intense ethnic and cultural interaction between European and Asian components.<ref name="MJE4">{{cite journal |last1=Järve |first1=Mari |last2=Saag |first2=Lehti |last3=Scheib |first3=Christiana Lyn |last4=Pathak |first4=Ajai K. |last5=Montinaro |first5=Francesco |last6=Pagani |first6=Luca |last7=Flores |first7=Rodrigo |last8=Guellil |first8=Meriam |last9=Saag |first9=Lauri |last10=Tambets |first10=Kristiina |last11=Kushniarevich |first11=Alena |last12=Solnik |first12=Anu |last13=Varul |first13=Liivi |last14=Zadnikov |first14=Stanislav |last15=Petrauskas |first15=Oleg |last16=Avramenko |first16=Maryana |last17=Magomedov |first17=Boris |last18=Didenko |first18=Serghii |last19=Toshev |first19=Gennadi |last20=Bruyako |first20=Igor |last21=Grechko |first21=Denys |last22=Okatenko |first22=Vitalii |last23=Gorbenko |first23=Kyrylo |last24=Smyrnov |first24=Oleksandr |last25=Heiko |first25=Anatolii |last26=Reida |first26=Roman |last27=Sapiehin |first27=Serheii |last28=Sirotin |first28=Sergey |last29=Tairov |first29=Aleksandr |last30=Beisenov |first30=Arman |last31=Starodubtsev |first31=Maksim |last32=Vasilev |first32=Vitali |last33=Nechvaloda |first33=Alexei |last34=Atabiev |first34=Biyaslan |last35=Litvinov |first35=Sergey |last36=Ekomasova |first36=Natalia |last37=Dzhaubermezov |first37=Murat |last38=Voroniatov |first38=Sergey |last39=Utevska |first39=Olga |last40=Shramko |first40=Irina |last41=Khusnutdinova |first41=Elza |last42=Metspalu |first42=Mait |last43=Savelev |first43=Nikita |last44=Kriiska |first44=Aivar |last45=Kivisild |first45=Toomas |last46=Villems |first46=Richard |title=Shifts in the Genetic Landscape of the Western Eurasian Steppe Associated with the Beginning and End of the Scythian Dominance |journal=Current Biology |date=22 July 2019 |volume=29 |issue=14 |pages=e4–e5 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2019.06.019 |issn=0960-9822|doi-access=free |pmid=31303491 |bibcode=2019CBio...29E2430J }}</ref> 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]].<ref name="MJE4"/> The [[Itkul culture]] (7th-5th century BCE) is one of these Early Saka cultures, based in the eastern foothills of the Urals, which was assimilated into the [[Sauromatian]] and Early [[Sarmatian]] cultures.<ref name="MJE4"/> Circa 600 BCE, groups from the Saka [[Tasmola culture]] settled in the southern Urals.<ref name="MJE4"/> 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.<ref name="MJE4"/> 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.<ref name="MJE4"/> This cultural complex, with notable ‘‘foreign elements’’, corresponds to the ‘‘royal’’ burials of [[Filippovka kurgan]], and define the "Prokhorovka period" of the Early Sarmatians.<ref name="MJE4"/>

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File:Filippovka, individuals on a dagger blade, Kurgan 4, Burial 2.jpg|Warriors with daggers and bows. Dagger blade decoration from Kurgan 4, Burial 2, [[Filippovka kurgans]], Late [[Sauromatian]]-Early [[Sarmatian]], 5th-4th century BCE.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Yablonsky |first1=Leonid Teodorovich |title=New Excavations of the Early Nomadic Burial Ground at Filippovka (Southern Ural Region, Russia) |journal=American Journal of Archaeology |date=2010 |volume=114 |issue=1 |page=137, Fig.13 |doi=10.3764/aja.114.1.129 |jstor=20627646 |s2cid=191399666 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20627646 |issn=0002-9114}}</ref>
File:Taksai-1_Barrow_6_lady_(reconstruction,_detail).jpg|"Golden Lady " from the [[Taksai kurgans]], c. 500 BCE.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lukpanova |first1=Ya.A. |title=Reconstruction of Female Costume From the Elite Burial Ground Taksay-I: a View of the Archaeology. |journal=Povolzhskaya Arkheologiya (The Volga River Region Arcaheology) |date=2017 |volume=1 |issue=19 |url=https://www.academia.edu/32899848}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Golden Man from Shilikty and Golden Woman from Taksai |url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/9228922@N03/36214368340/in/album-72157684182450632/ |publisher=Nur-sultan - National Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan |date=23 July 2017}}</ref>
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