Editing Altai Mountains (section)

==History==
[[File:Afanasievo - Yamnaya culture illustration.png|thumb|Illustration of the [[Afanasievo culture]] in the Altai Mountains]]
The Altai mountains have retained a remarkably stable climate, changing little since the last ice age.<ref name=barras>{{cite web |url=https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22129533.800-iceage-animals-live-on-in-eurasian-mountain-range.html |title=Ice-age animals live on in Eurasian mountain range |work=[[New Scientist]] |author=Colin Barras |date=January 23, 2014 |access-date=March 4, 2014}}</ref> In addition the mix of mammals has remained largely the same, with a few exceptions such as extinct mammoths, making it one of the few places on earth to retain an ice age fauna.<ref name=barras/>

The Altai mountains were home to the [[Denisova hominin|Denisovan]] branch of [[hominid]]s who were contemporaries of [[Neanderthals]] and of ''[[Homo sapiens]]'' (modern humans), descended from Hominids who reached Asia earlier than modern humans.<ref name=barras/> The [[Denisova hominin]], dated to 40,000 years ago, was discovered in the [[Denisova Cave]] of the Altai mountains in southern Siberia in 2008. Knowledge of the Denisovan humans derives primarily from DNA evidence and artifacts, as no complete skeletons have yet been recovered. DNA evidence has been unusually well preserved because of the low average temperature in the Denisova caves. Neanderthal bones and tools made by ''Homo sapiens'' have also been found in the Denisova Cave, making it the only place in the world where all three hominids are known to have lived.<ref name=barras/>

A dog-like [[canidae|canid]] from 33,000 years ago was found in the [[Razboinichya Cave]].<ref name=bbc110803/><ref name=plos110728/> DNA analysis published in 2013 affirmed that it was more closely related to modern dogs than to wolves.<ref name=plosone130306/>
[[File:Reconstruction of a Scythian, found in the kurgan Olon-Kurin-Gol 10, Altai Mountains, Mongolia (reconstruction by Dimitri Pozdniakov).jpg|thumb|Reconstruction of a [[Saka|Saka]] [[Scytho-Siberian world|Scythian]], found in the kurgan Olon-Kurin-Gol 10 in [[Pazyryk culture|Pazyryk]], Altai Mountains, Mongolia]]
The [[Afanasievo culture|Afanasievans]] are considered as the earliest [[herder]]s of East Asia, who were instrumental in the establishment of the long tradition of pastoralism in Mongolia.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Honeychurch |first1=William |last2=Rogers |first2=Leland |last3=Amartuvshin |first3=Chunag |last4=Diimaajav |first4=Erdenebaatar |last5=Erdene-Ochir |first5=Nasan-Ochir |last6=Hall |first6=Mark E. |last7=Hrivnyak |first7=Michelle |title=The earliest herders of East Asia: Examining Afanasievo entry to Central Mongolia |journal=Archaeological Research in Asia |date=June 1, 2021 |volume=26 |pages=100264 |doi=10.1016/j.ara.2021.100264 }}</ref> The Afanasevan population was descended from people who migrated c.&nbsp;3700–3300 BCE across the [[Eurasian Steppe]] from the pre-[[Yamnaya culture|Yamnaya]] [[Repin culture]] of the [[Don River (Russia)|Don]]-[[Volga]] region.<ref name="Anthony2010, p=305-310">{{cite book |last=Anthony |first=David W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0FDqf415wqgC |title=The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World |date=July 26, 2010 |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |isbn=978-1400831104 |pages=305–310 |author-link=David W. Anthony |access-date=January 18, 2015}}</ref> In the Altai Mountains and to the southeast, Afanasievans seem to have coexisted with the early period of the [[Chemurchek culture]] for some time.<ref>Kovalev, A. A., and Erdenebaatar, D. (2009). [https://dokumen.tips/documents/discovery-of-new-cultures-of-the-bronze-age-in-mongolia.html?page=1 Discovery of new cultures of the Bronze Age in Mongolia according to the data obtained by the international Central Asian archaeological expedition]. In Bemmann, J., Parzinger, H., Pohl, E., and Tseveendorzh, D. (eds.), Current Archaeological Research in Mongolia, Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität, Bonn, p.158</ref> The Afanasevo culture was replaced by the second wave of [[Indo-European migrations]] from the [[Andronovo culture]] during late Bronze Age and early Iron Age.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Allentoft |first1=ME |date=June 11, 2015 |title=Population genomics of Bronze Age Eurasia |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |publisher=[[Nature Research]] |volume=522 |issue=7555 |pages=167–172 |bibcode= 2015Natur.522..167A|doi=10.1038/nature14507 |pmid=26062507 |s2cid=4399103 |url= https://depot.ceon.pl/bitstream/123456789/13155/2/nature14507.pdf}}</ref> Numerous [[Scytho-Siberian world|Eastern Scythian]] remains have been found in an excellent state of preservation in the Altai mountains, with soft tissues such as skin and hair preserved.<ref>{{cite thesis |last=Argent |first=Gala |date=2011 |title=At Home, with the Good Horses: Relationality, Roles, Identity and Ideology in Iron Age Inner Asia |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/8928670 |type=PhD |chapter=2 |publisher=University of Leicester |docket= |oclc= |access-date=January 1, 2023}}</ref>

The Altai Mountains have been identified as being the point of origin of a cultural enigma termed the [[Seima-Turbino Phenomenon]]<ref name=bbc0901/> which arose during the [[Bronze Age]] around the start of the [[2nd millennium BC]] and led to a rapid and massive migration of peoples from the region into distant parts of Europe and Asia.

The area was part of the [[Xiongnu]] Empire, the [[First Turkic Khaganate]], the [[Uyghur Empire]], and the [[Yenisei Kyrgyz|Yeniseian Kyrgyzs]]. It was during this time that the local population became fully [[Turkic peoples|Turkicized]] culturally and linguistically.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Encyclopedia of the World's Minorities |publisher=Routledge |year=2005 |isbn=1-57958-468-3 |editor-last=Skutsch |editor-first=Carl |volume=1 |location=New York |page=82 }}</ref> There is increasing evidence for a partial continuity from the eastern Scythians to the [[Turkic languages|Turkic]]-speakers of the Altai region.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Tikhonov |first1=Dmitrii |last2=Gurkan |first2=Cemal |last3=Peler |first3=Gökçe |last4=Dyakonov |first4=Viktor |title=On The Genetic Continuity of the Iron Age Pazyryk Culture: Geographic Distributions of the Paternal and Maternal Lineages from the Ak-Alakha-1 Burial |journal=International Journal of Human Genetics |date=2019 |volume=19 |issue=1 |doi=10.31901/24566330.2019/19.01.709 |s2cid=202015095 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331179436|doi-access=free }}</ref>

Some historians believe that the Altai mountain region may have been the location where [[skiing]] was born, however this remains disputed. Evidence to support the claims includes several cave [[Petroglyph|petroglyphs]] within the Altai Mountains in modern China that depict human figures on skis that are chasing after an [[ibex]]. According to a study published by the Australian Rock Art Research Association (AURA) in 2016, this rock art was estimated to be from between 4,000 and 5,250 years ago, which consequently meant it may be just as old or possibly older than ancient skiing rock art and artefacts located in Scandinavia. However, dating petroglyphs accurately with current technology is very difficult. The oldest known text that describes skiing is from a Chinese text that dates to the [[Western Han dynasty|Western Han Dynasty]] (206 BC to 24 AD) and refers to skiers in the Altai Mountains.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Exploring the origins of skiing in China's Altai Mountains |url=https://canadiangeographic.ca/articles/exploring-the-origins-of-skiing-in-chinas-altai-mountains/ |access-date=February 19, 2023 |website=canadiangeographic.ca |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=December 1, 2013 |title=On the Trail with the First Skiers |url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/article/first-skiers |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220209011037/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/article/first-skiers |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 9, 2022 |access-date=February 19, 2023 |website=Magazine |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Origin Story: Where did skiing begin? {{!}} International Skiing History Association |url=https://www.skiinghistory.org/news/origin-story-where-did-skiing-begin |access-date=February 19, 2023 |website=www.skiinghistory.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Chinese or Norwegian: the History of Skiing |url=http://ultimatehistoryproject.com/history-of-skiing.html |access-date=February 19, 2023 |website=The Ultimate History Project |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Diamond |first=Chaz |date=March 18, 2014 |title=The First Skiers: Deep in Time, Deep in the Altai |url=https://snowbrains.com/first-skiers-deep-time-deep-altai/ |access-date=February 19, 2023 |website=SnowBrains |language=en-US}}</ref>