Editing Saka (section)

=== Origins ===
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| header            = [[Arzhan kurgan]]s (9–7th century BC)
| image1            = Аржаан - 2.JPG
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| image2            = Arzhan deer.jpg
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| image3            = 6. Pectorale burial mound Arzhan (VIII. - VII. B. C.) Tuva.JPG
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| image4            = 8. Akinak (dagger) bural mound Arzhan (VIII.-VII. B.C.) Tuva.JPG
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| footer            = [[Arzhan culture|Arzhan]] kurgan and early Saka artifacts, dated to 8–7th century BC
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The Scythian/Saka cultures emerged on the [[Eurasian Steppe]] at the dawn of the [[Iron Age]] in the early 1st&nbsp;millennium&nbsp;BC. Their origins has long been a source of debate among archaeologists.{{sfn|Järve|2019}} The [[Pontic–Caspian steppe]] was initially thought to have been their place of origin, until the [[Soviet]] archaeologist [[:ru:Тереножкин, Алексей Иванович|Aleksey Terenozhkin]] suggested a [[Central Asia]]n origin.{{sfn|Unterländer|Palstra|Lazaridis|Pilipenko|2017}}<ref name="Krzewińska 2018">{{harvnb|Krzewińska|2018}}</ref>

Archaeological evidence now tends to suggest that the origins of [[Scythian culture]], characterized by its [[kurgans]] (a type of burial mound) and its ''[[Animal style]]'' of the 1st millennium BC, are to be found among Eastern Scythians rather than their Western counterparts: eastern [[kurgans]] are older than western ones (such as the Altai kurgan [[Arzhan culture|Arzhan 1]] in [[Tuva]]), and elements of the ''[[Animal style]]'' are first attested in areas of the [[Yenisei river]] and modern-day China in the 10th century BC.<ref name="ADD2">{{harvnb |Unterländer |Palstra |Lazaridis |Pilipenko |2017}} "The origin of the widespread Scythian culture has long been debated in Eurasian archaeology. The northern Black Sea steppe was originally considered the homeland and centre of the Scythians until Terenozhkin formulated the hypothesis of a Central Asian origin. On the other hand, evidence supporting an east Eurasian origin includes the kurgan Arzhan 1 in Tuva, which is considered the earliest Scythian kurgan. Dating of additional burial sites situated in east and west Eurasia confirmed eastern kurgans as older than their western counterparts. Additionally, elements of the characteristic 'Animal Style' dated to the tenth century BCE were found in the region of the Yenisei river and modern-day China, supporting the early presence of Scythian culture in the East."</ref> Genetic evidence corroborates archaeological findings, suggesting an initial eastwards expansion of [[Western Steppe Herders]] towards the Altai region and Western Mongolia, spreading [[Iranian languages]], and subsequent contact episodes with local Siberian and Eastern Asian populations, giving rise to the initial (Eastern) Scythian material cultures (Saka). It was however also found that the various later Scythian sub-groups of the Eurasian Steppe had local origins; different Scythian groups arose locally through cultural adaption, rather than via migration patterns from East-to-West or West-to-East.<ref>{{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 |date=22 July 2019 |title=Shifts in the Genetic Landscape of the Western Eurasian Steppe Associated with the Beginning and End of the Scythian Dominance |journal=Current Biology |language=en |volume=29 |issue=14 |pages=2430–2441.e10 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2019.06.019 |pmid=31303491 |s2cid=195887262 |issn=0960-9822 |quote=Recently, studies of ancient Scythian genomes have affirmed the confederate nature of the Scythian tribes, showing them to be genetically distinct from one another but finding little or no support for large-scale east-to-west movements, instead generally suggesting separate local origins of various Scythian groups [1, 2, 3].|doi-access=free |bibcode=2019CBio...29E2430J }}</ref><ref name="Järve">{{harvnb|Järve|2019}}. "The Early Iron Age nomadic Scythians have been described as a confederation of tribes of different origins, based on ancient DNA evidence [1, 2, 3]. All samples of this study also possessed at least one additional eastern component, one of which was nearly at 100% in modern Nganasans (orange) and the other in modern Han Chinese (yellow; Figure S2). The eastern components were present in variable proportions in the samples of this study."</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Savelyev |first1=Alexander |last2=Jeong |first2=Choongwon |date=7 May 2020 |title=Early nomads of the Eastern Steppe and their tentative connections in the West |journal=Evolutionary Human Sciences |volume=2 |pages=e20 |doi=10.1017/ehs.2020.18 |issn=2513-843X |pmc=7612788 |pmid=35663512 |quote=It is still likely that the Xiongnu included an Eastern Iranian (Saka) component or were at least strongly influenced by the Iranians. It is also arguable that the Xiongnu learned the steppe nomadic model of economy from their Eastern Iranian neighbours (Beckwith, 2009: 72–73, 404).}}</ref><ref name=":0" />

The Sakas spoke a language belonging to the [[Iranian languages|Iranian branch]] of the [[Indo-European languages]]. The [[Pazyryk burials]] of the [[Pazyryk culture]] in the [[Ukok Plateau]] in the 4th and 3rd centuries BC are thought to be of Saka chieftains.<ref name="LH_443">{{harvnb|de Laet|Herrmann|1996|p=443}} "The rich kurgan burials in Pazyryk, Siberia probably were those of Saka chieftains"</ref><ref name="K_94">{{harvnb|Kuzmina|2008|p=94}} "Analysis of the clothing, which has analogies in the complex of Saka clothes, particularly in Pazyryk, led Wang Binghua (1987, 42) to the conclusion that they are related to the Saka Culture."</ref><ref name="K_103">{{harvnb|Kuzmina|2007|p=103}} "The dress of Iranian-speaking Saka and Scythians is easily reconstructed on the basis of... numerous archaeological discoveries from the Ukraine to the Altai, particularly at Issyk in Kazakhstan... at Pazyryk... and Ak-Alakha"</ref> These burials show striking similarities with the earlier [[Tarim mummies]] at [[Lop Nur#Qäwrighul|Gumugou]].<ref name="K_94" /> The [[Issyk kurgan]] of south-eastern [[Kazakhstan]],<ref name="K_103" /> and the [[Ordos culture]] of the [[Ordos Plateau]] has also been connected with the Saka.{{sfn|Lebedynsky|2007|p=125}} It has been suggested that the ruling elite of the [[Xiongnu]] was of Saka origin, or at least significantly influenced by their Eastern Iranian neighbours.<ref>{{harvnb|Harmatta|1996|p=488}}: "Their royal tribes and kings (shan-yii) bore Iranian names and all the Hsiung-nu words noted by the Chinese can be explained from an Iranian language of Saka type. It is therefore clear that the majority of Hsiung-nu tribes spoke an Eastern Iranian language."</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Savelyev |first1=Alexander |last2=Jeong |first2=Choongwon |date=7 May 2020|title=Early nomads of the Eastern Steppe and their tentative connections in the West |journal=Evolutionary Human Sciences |language=en |volume=2 |pages=e20 |doi=10.1017/ehs.2020.18 |issn=2513-843X |pmc=7612788 |pmid=35663512 |quote=It is still likely that the Xiongnu included an Eastern Iranian (Saka) component or were at least strongly influenced by the Iranians. It is also arguable that the Xiongnu learned the steppe nomadic model of economy from their Eastern Iranian neighbours (Beckwith, 2009: 72–73, 404).}}</ref> Some scholars contend that in the 8th century BC, a Saka raid from the [[Altai Mountains|Altai]] may be "connected" with a raid on [[Zhou China]].<ref name="EBThe_Steppe">{{cite encyclopedia|first=William H.|last=McNeill|title=The Steppe – Scythian successes |url=http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/565551/the-Steppe/10302/Scythian-successes |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica Online]]|access-date=31 December 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130715064441/http://global.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/565551/the-Steppe/10302/Scythian-successes|archive-date=15 July 2013}}<br />{{cite encyclopedia|title=The Steppe – Military and political developments among the steppe peoples to 100 bc|encyclopedia=[[Encyclopædia Britannica Online]]|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/the-Steppe/Military-and-political-developments-among-the-steppe-peoples-to-100-bc#ref10302|access-date=23 September 2019}}</ref>