Editing Sarmatians

{{Short description|Large Iranian confederation that existed in classical antiquity}}
{{Other uses|Sarmatia (disambiguation)}}
{{distinguish|Samaritans}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox archaeological culture
| name        = Sarmatians
| altnames    =
| horizon     =
| region      = Southern Ural, Northern Caucasus, Black Sea
| period      = [[Iron Age]]
| dates       = 5th century BCE – 4th century CE
| typesite    =
| majorsites  =
| extra       =
| precededby  = [[Sauromatians]]
| followedby  = [[Hunnic Empire]]
| definedby   =
| antiquatedby=
| module      =
}}
[[File:Sarmatian cataphract in Trajan's colmun, 2nd century CE.jpg|thumb|300px|Sarmatian [[cataphract]]s depicted on [[Trajan's column]], 2nd century CE.<ref>{{cite book |last1 =Bennett |first1 =Matthew |last2 =Dawson |first2 =Doyne |last3 =Field |first3 =Ron |last4 =Hawthornwaite |first4 =Philip |last5 =Loades |first5 =Mike |title =The History of Warfare: The Ultimate Visual Guide to the History of Warfare from the Ancient World to the American Civil War |date=15 September 2016 |publisher=Book Sales |isbn=978-0-7858-3461-8 |page=31 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=27KTDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA31 |language=en}}</ref>]]

The '''Sarmatians''' ({{IPAc-en|s|ɑr|ˈ|m|eɪ|ʃ|i|ə|n|z}}; {{langx|grc|Σαρμάται|Sarmatai}}; [[Latin]]: {{lang|la|Sarmatae}} {{IPA|la|ˈsarmatae̯|}}) were a large [[confederation]] of [[Ancient Iranian peoples|ancient Iranian]] [[Eurasian nomads|equestrian nomadic]] peoples who dominated the [[Pontic–Caspian steppe|Pontic steppe]] from about the 5th century BCE to the 4th century CE.<ref>Radley, Dario, (14 February 2025). [https://archaeologymag.com/2025/02/ancient-sarmatian-artifacts-kazakhstan/ "Ancient Sarmatian jewelry and artifacts unearthed in Kazakhstan"], in: ''Archaeology News'', "The Sarmatians, an ancient Iranian equestrian nomadic group that dominated the Eurasian steppes from the 5th century BCE to the 4th century CE, were known for their warrior culture and elaborate metalwork."</ref>

The earliest known reference to the Sarmatians occurs in the [[Avesta]], where they appear as ''Sairima-'', which in later Iranian sources becomes ''*Sarm'' and [[Salm (Shahnameh)|''Salm'']].<ref>{{Citation | last1 =Abaev | first1 =V. I. | title =ALANS | date =26 August 2020 | url =https://referenceworks.brillonline.com/entries/encyclopaedia-iranica-online/alans-COM_5117 |encyclopedia =Encyclopaedia Iranica Online | access-date =16 November 2023 | publisher =Brill | language =en | last2 =Bailey | first2 =H. W.}}</ref> Originating in the central parts of the [[Eurasian Steppe]], the Sarmatians formed part of the wider [[Scythian cultures]].<ref>{{harvnb|Unterländer et al.|2017|p=2}}. "During the first millennium BC, nomadic people spread over the Eurasian Steppe from the [[Altai Mountains]] over the northern Black Sea area as far as the Carpathian Basin... Greek and Persian historians of the 1st millennium BC chronicle the existence of the Massagetae and Sauromatians, and later, the Sarmatians and Sacae: cultures possessing artefacts similar to those found in classical Scythian monuments, such as weapons, horse harnesses and a distinctive 'Animal Style' artistic tradition. Accordingly, these groups are often assigned to the Scythian culture...</ref> They started migrating westward around the fourth and third centuries BCE, coming to dominate the closely related [[Scythians]] by 200 BCE. At their greatest reported extent, around 100 BCE, these tribes ranged from the [[Vistula River]] to the mouth of the [[Danube]] and eastward to the [[Volga]], bordering the shores of the [[Black Sea|Black]] and [[Caspian Sea|Caspian]] seas and the [[Caucasus]] to the south.

In the first century CE, the Sarmatians began encroaching upon the [[Roman Empire]] in alliance with [[Germanic peoples|Germanic tribes]]. In the third century CE, the Germanic [[Goths]] broke the Sarmatian dominance of the [[Pontic Steppe]]. With the [[Huns|Hunnic]] invasions of the fourth century, many Sarmatians joined the Goths and other Germanic tribes ([[Vandals]]) in settling in the [[Western Roman Empire]]. Since large parts of today's Russia, specifically the land between the [[Ural Mountains]] and the [[Don River (Russia)|Don River]], were controlled in the fifth century BCE by the Sarmatians,<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |url =https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sarmatian |encyclopedia =Encyclopedia Britannica | title = Sarmatian |quote=By the 5th century BC the Sarmatians held control of the land between the Urals and the Don River. |date =13 February 2025 }}</ref> the Lower Volga–Don steppes are sometimes called the "Sarmatian Motherland".{{sfn|Mordvintseva|2017|loc=pp. 239-240: "Most scholars consider the steppes of the Lower Volga region the 'motherland' of the Sarmatians, while the archaeological material recovered there is being used as a standard against which the finds from other regions are compared"}}

The Sarmatians in the [[Bosporan Kingdom]] assimilated into Greek civilization,<ref>{{cite book | quote = (...) "the Iranic Sarmatians, whose ability to assimilate into preceding Greek civilization created a brilliant new synthesis" | last1 =Davies | first1 =Norman | title =Europe: A History | date =1996 | publisher =Oxford University Press | isbn =978-0-19-820171-7 | page =105 | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=jrVW9W9eiYMC&pg=PA105 | language =en}}</ref> while others were absorbed by the proto-[[Circassians|Circassian]] [[Maeotians|Maeotian]] people,<ref>{{cite book | last1 =Richmond | first1 =Walter | title =The Northwest Caucasus: Past, Present, Future | date =11 June 2008 | publisher =Routledge | isbn =978-1-134-00249-8 | page =12 | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=E6Z5AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA12 | language =en}} "While the Sarmatians dominated the Meot lands, they were themselves assimilated and the language of the Meots, the predecessor of the modern Circassian dialects, survived."</ref> by the [[Alans]], and by the [[Goths]].<ref>{{cite book | quote = "On the shores of the Black Sea the Alans absorbed two Sarmatian peoples, the Siraci and Aorsi (...) Also, the Goths undoubtedly absorbed both Sarmatian and Slavic groups during their two centuries of rule over the steppe land" |last1 =Eterovich |first1 =Francis H. | last2 =Spalatin | first2 =Christopher | title =Croatia: Land, People, Culture Volume I | date =15 December 1964 | publisher =University of Toronto Press | isbn =978-1-4875-9676-7 | page =112 | url =https://books.google.com/books?id=XO8_DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT112 |language =en}}</ref> Other Sarmatians were assimilated and absorbed by the [[Early Slavs]].<ref>{{cite book |quote = "But the Slavic tribes survived the collapse of these empires, and gradually the remnants of the Avars, Sarmatians, and others were absorbed into the Slavic culture." | last1 =Chodorow | first1 =Stanley | title=The Mainstream of Civilization |date =1989 |publisher =Harcourt Brace Jovanovich |isbn =978-0-15-551579-6 |page =368 |url =https://books.google.com/books?id=NP64BLqDQNIC |language =en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |quote =(..) For example, the ancient Scythians, Sarmatians (amongst others), and many other attested but now extinct peoples were assimilated in the course of history by Proto-Slavs. |title= Slovene Studies | publisher = Society for Slovene Studies | volume = 9-11 | date = 1987 | page= 36 }}</ref> The Alans survived in the [[North Caucasus]] into the Early [[Middle Ages]], ultimately giving rise to the modern [[Ossetians|Ossetic]] ethnic group.<ref>{{cite book |last1 =Minahan |first1 =James |chapter =Ossetians |title =One Europe, Many Nations: A Historical Dictionary of European National Groups |url =https://books.google.com/books?id=NwvoM-ZFoAgC |series =Praeger security international |location =Westport, Connecticut |publisher =Greenwood Publishing Group |date =2000 |page =518 |isbn =9780313309847 |access-date =27 March 2020 |quote =The Ossetians, calling themselves Iristi and their homeland Iryston, are the most northerly of the Iranian peoples.&nbsp;[...] They are descended from a division of Sarmatians, the Alans, who were pushed out of the Terek River lowlands and into the Caucasus foothills by invading Huns in the fourth century A.D.
}}
</ref>

The early-modern Polish nobility ({{langx | pl | szlachta}}) claimed to stem from the Sarmatians.

[[Genomic]] studies suggest that the Sarmatians may have been genetically similar to the eastern [[Yamnaya culture|Yamnaya]] Bronze Age group.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Large variation génétique sur la steppe pontique-caspienne |url =http://fr.scienceaq.com/Autres/1001104705.html |access-date =1 September 2023 |website=fr.scienceaq.com}}
</ref>

==Etymology==
[[Image:Roman Empire 125.png|thumb|right|upright=1.5|Map of the Roman empire under [[Hadrian]] (ruled 117–138 CE), showing the location of the Sarmatae in the Pontic [[steppe]] region]]
The Greek name {{Transliteration|grc|Sarmatai}} ({{lang|grc|Σαρμαται}}) is derived from the [[Iranian languages#Old Iranian|Old Iranic]] Sarmatian endonym {{Transliteration|xsc|*Sarmata}} or {{Transliteration|xsc|*Sarumata}}, of which another variant, {{Transliteration|xsc|*Saᵘrumata}}, gave rise to the ancient Greek name {{Transliteration|grc|Sauromatai}} ({{lang|grc|Σαυρομαται}}).{{sfn|Tokhtasyev|2005|p=299}} The form {{Transliteration|xsc|*Sarmata}} or {{Transliteration|xsc|*Sarumata}} was the main form of the name, and initially coexisted with the form {{Transliteration|xsc|*Saᵘrumata}} until the late 4th to early 3rd centuries BCE, when {{Transliteration|xsc|*Sarmata}}/{{Transliteration|xsc|*Sarumata}} became the only variant of the name in use.{{sfn|Tokhtasyev|2005|p=300}}

This name meant "armed with throwing darts and arrows" and is cognate with the [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indic]] [[Sanskrit]] term {{Transliteration|sa|śárumant}} ({{lang|sa|शरुमन्त्}}),{{sfn|Tokhtasyev|2005|p=296}} which makes it semantically similar to the endonym of the Scythians, {{Transliteration|xsc|*Skuẟatā}}, meaning "archers."{{sfn|Tokhtasyev|2005|p=296}}

The later, [[Iranian languages#Middle Iranian|Middle Iranic]], form of {{Transliteration|xsc|*Saᵘrumata}} was {{Transliteration|xsc|*Sōrmata}} or {{Transliteration|xsc|*Sōrumata}}, of which the later form, {{Transliteration|xsc|*Sūrmata}} or {{Transliteration|xsc|*Sūrumata}}, was recorded in ancient Greek as {{Transliteration|grc|Syrmatai}} ({{lang|grc|Συρμαται}}; {{langx|la|Syrmatae}}).{{sfn|Tokhtasyev|2005|p=298-299}}

== Location ==
The territory inhabited by the Sarmatians, which was known as {{anchor|Sarmatia}}'''Sarmatia''' ({{IPAc-en|s|ɑr|ˈ|m|eɪ|ʃ|i|ə}}) to Greco-Roman ethnographers, covered the western part of greater [[Scythia]], and corresponded to today's [[Central Ukraine]], South-Eastern Ukraine, [[Southern Federal District|Southern Russia]], Russian [[Volga]], and [[Ural (region)|South-Ural regions]], and to a smaller extent the northeastern [[Balkans]] and around [[Moldova]].

== History ==
===Origin===
{{main|Sauromatians}}
[[File:Sword types of the South Urals, Sauromatian to Early Sarmatian 5th-1st centuries BCE.png|thumb|upright=1.75|Evolution of sword types of the South Urals, from Sauromatian (5th-4th centuries BCE) to Early Sarmatian (3rd-1st centuries BCE).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Сергеевич |first1=Савельев Никита |title=Находки мечей и кинжалов скифо-сарматского времени из юго-западных предгорий Южного Урала (к вопросу об освоении территории и особенностях расселения кочевников) |journal=Oriental Studies |date=2018 |volume=4 |pages=24–31 |doi=10.22162/2619-0990-2018-37-3-24-31 |doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 }}</ref>]]
[[File:Reconstruction of Sarmatian chieftain. Araltobe mount, Kazakhstan, III-II cc. BC. Excavation of Z. Samashev. Heritage of the Great Steppe exhibition, Gdańsk Main Town Hall.jpg|thumb|Reconstruction of early Sarmatian chieftain. [[Araltobe kurgan]], [[Kazakhstan]], III-II c. BCE. Excavation of Z. Samashev.<ref name="astanatimes.com">{{cite journal |last1=Ualikhanova |first1=Aruzhan |title=Archeologists Discover Golden Artifacts in Abai Region's Bozai Burial Ground |journal=The Astana Times |date=22 April 2023 |url=https://astanatimes.com/2023/04/archeologists-discover-golden-artifacts-in-abai-regions-bozai-burial-ground/ |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Noyanov |first1=Edyl Noyanuly |last2=Yernazar |first2=Sergazy |title=THE "GOLDEN PEOPLE" OF KAZAKHSTAN |journal=World Science |date=2016 |page=46 |url=https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/the-golden-people-of-kazakhstan.pdf}}</ref>]]

The ethnogenesis of the Sarmatians occurred during the 6th to 4rd centuries BCE, when nomads from [[Central Asia]] migrated into the territory of the [[Sauromatian culture|Sauromatians]] in the southern [[Ural Mountains]].<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sarmatian |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica | title = Sarmatian|quote=Sarmatian, member of a people originally of Iranian stock who migrated from Central Asia to the Ural Mountains between the 6th and 4th century BC and eventually settled in most of southern European Russia and the eastern Balkans.|date =13 February 2025 }}</ref><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=141 |doi=10.3764/aja.114.1.129 |jstor=20627646 |s2cid=191399666 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20627646 |issn=0002-9114}}</ref><ref>For the complexity of the interactions of these peoples see, ''e.g.'' {{harvnb|Mordvintseva|2013}} and {{harvnb|Kozlovskaya|2017}}.</ref> These nomads conquered the Sauromatians, resulting in an increased incidence of eastern Asiatic features in the Early Sarmatians, similar to those of the [[Sakas]].<ref>{{cite book |title=The Golden Deer of Eurasia: Scythian and Sarmatian Treasures from the Russian Steppes : the State Hermitage, Saint Petersburg, and the Archaeological Museum, Ufa |date=2000 |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art |isbn=978-0-87099-959-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GWcjhsRCWG4C&pg=PA39 |page=39 |language=en |quote=In skull shape and facial structure, the Filippovka specimens differ considerably from remains of Scythians and Volga River-area Sarmatians. The Filipovka skulls most closely resemble those of [[Saka]] from [[Kazakhstan]] and the [[Aral Sea]] region, and those of the [[Wusun|Usuns]] from Eastern Kazhakhstan.}}</ref>

The name "Sarmatians" eventually came to be applied to the whole of the new people formed out of these migrations, whose constituent tribes were the [[Aorsi]], [[Roxolani]], [[Alans]], and the [[Iazyges]]. Despite the similarity between the names Sarmatian and Sauromatian, modern authors distinguish between the two, since Sarmatian culture did not directly develop from the Sauromatian culture and the core of the Sarmatian culture was composed of these newly arrived migrants.{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000}}{{sfn|Melyukova|1990}} A typical transitional site between these two periods is found in the [[Filippovka kurgans]], which are Late [[Sauromatian]]-Early Sarmatian, and dated to the 5th-4th century BCE.<ref name="Y141">{{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=141 |doi=10.3764/aja.114.1.129 |jstor=20627646 |s2cid=191399666 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/20627646 |issn=0002-9114 |quote= with artifacts found in other barrows, afford us the opportunity to refine the chronology of each object and of the site as a whole and to date it to the second half of the fifth through the fourth centuries B.C.E. (...) Filippovka cemetery is a transition site between the Sauromation and the Sarmatian epochs.}}</ref>

===In the Pontic Steppe and Europe===
[[File:Gold mirror Mayerovsky III Kurgan 4.jpg|thumb|upright|right|Gold mirror, Mayerovsky III Kurgan 4 ([[Nikolayevsky District, Volgograd Oblast|Nikolaevsky District]], [[Volgograd]] region), 2nd-1st centuries BCE.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Yatsenko |first1=Sergey A. |title=Sarmatian Goddess with Two Horses |journal=RSUH/RGGU Bulletin. "Literary Theory. Linguistics. Cultural Studies" Series |date=2022 |issue=7 |pages=211–224 |doi=10.28995/2686-7249-2022-7-211-224 |doi-broken-date=1 November 2024 |s2cid=256651585 |url=}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Moscow State Historical Museum |url=https://www.myvirtualmuseum.ru/text/moscow/gim/greekgold.htm |website=www.myvirtualmuseum.ru}}</ref>]]
During the 4th and 3rd centuries BCE, the centre of Sarmatian power remained north of the Caucasus and in the 3rd century BCE the most important centres were around the lower Don, [[Kalmykia]], the [[Kuban]] area, and the Central Caucasus.{{sfn|Melyukova|1990}}{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000}}

During the end of the 4th century BCE, the [[Scythians]], the then dominant power in the Black Sea Steppe, were militarily defeated by the [[Macedonia (ancient kingdom)|Macedonia]]n kings [[Philip II of Macedon]] and [[Lysimachus]] in 339 and 313 BCE respectively. They experienced another military setback after participating in the [[Bosporan Civil War]] in 309 BCE and came under pressure from the [[Thracians|Thracian]] [[Getae]] and the [[Celtic peoples|Celtic]] [[Bastarnae]]. At the same time, in Central Asia, following the Macedonian [[Alexander's conquest of Persia|conquest]] of the [[Achaemenid Empire]], the new [[Seleucid Empire]] started attacking the [[Saka|Sakā]] and [[Dahae|Dahā]] nomads who lived to the north of its borders, who in turn put westward pressure on the Sarmatians. Pressured by the Sakā and Dahā in the east and taking advantage of the decline of Scythian power, the Sarmatians began crossing the Don river and invaded [[Scythia]] and also migrated south into the [[North Caucasus]].{{sfn|Melyukova|1990}}{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000}}

The first wave of westward Sarmatian migration happened during the 2nd century BCE, and involved the Royal Sarmatians, or Saioi (from Scytho-Sarmatian {{Transliteration|xsc|*xšaya}}, meaning "kings"), who moved into the Pontic Steppe, and the [[Iazyges]], also called the Iaxamatai or Iazamatai, who initially settled between the Don and Dnieper rivers. The [[Roxolani]], who might have been a mixed Scytho-Sarmatian tribe, followed the Iazyges and occupied the Black Sea steppes up to the [[Dnieper|Dnipro]] and raided the [[Crimea]]n region during that century, at the end of which they were involved in a conflict with the generals of the [[Kingdom of Pontus|Pontic]] king [[Mithridates VI Eupator]] in the [[Crimea|Bosporan Chersonesus]], while the Iazyges became his allies.{{sfn|Melyukova|1990}}{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000}}{{sfn|Batty|2007|p=225-236}}

That the tribes formerly referred to by [[Herodotus]] as Scythians were now called Sarmatians by Hellenistic and Roman authors implies that the Sarmatian conquest did not involve a displacement of the Scythians from the Pontic Steppe, but rather that the Scythian tribes were absorbed by the Sarmatians.{{sfn|Batty|2007|p=225-236}} After their conquest of Scythia, the Sarmatians became the dominant political power in the northern Pontic Steppe, where Sarmatian graves first started appearing in the 2nd century BCE. Meanwhile, the populations which still identified as Scythians proper became reduced to Crimea and the [[Dobruja]] region, and at one point the Crimean Scythians were the vassals of the Sarmatian queen [[Amage]]. Sarmatian power in the Pontic Steppes was also directed against the [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] cities on its shores, with the city of [[Pontic Olbia]] being forced to pay repeated tribute to the Royal Sarmatians and their king [[Saitapharnes]], who is mentioned in the [[Protogenes inscription]] along with the tribes of the [[Thisamatae]], Scythians, and [[Saudaratae]]. Another Sarmatian king, Gatalos, was named in a peace treaty concluded by the king [[Pharnaces I of Pontus]] with his enemies.{{sfn|Melyukova|1990}}{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000}}{{sfn|Batty|2007|p=225-236}}

Two other Sarmatian tribes, the [[Siraces]], who had previously originated in the Transcaspian Plains immediately to the northeast of [[Hyrcania]] before migrating to the west, and the Aorsi, moved to the west across the Volga and into the Caucasus mountains' foothills between the 2nd to 1st centuries BCE. From there, the pressure from their growing power forcing the more western Sarmatian tribes to migrate further west, and the Aorsi and Siraces destroyed the power of the Royal Sarmatians and the Iazyges, with the Aorsi being able to extend their rule over a large region stretching from the Caucasus across the [[Terek–Kuma Lowland]] and [[Kalmykia]] in the west up to the Aral Sea region in the east. Yet another new Sarmatian group, the [[Alans]], originated in Central Asia out of the merger of some old tribal groups with the [[Massagetae]]. Related to the [[Asii]] who invaded [[Bactria]] in the 2nd century BCE, the Alans were pushed west by the [[Kangju]] people (known to Graeco-Roman authors as the {{lang|grc|Ιαξαρται}} {{Transliteration|grc|Iaxartai}} in Greek, and the {{lang|la|Iaxartae}} in Latin) who were living in the [[Syr Darya]] basin, from where they expanded their rule from Fergana to the Aral Sea region.{{sfn|Melyukova|1990}}{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000}}

[[File:Sarmatian bottle and lid (1st century CE, reproduction).jpg|thumb|left|Sarmatian bottle and lid (1st century CE, reproduction)]]
The hegemony of the Sarmatians in the Pontic Steppe continued during the 1st century BCE, when they were allied with the Scythians against [[Diophantus (general)|Diophantus]], a general of Mithradates VI Eupator, before allying with Mithradates against the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] and fighting for him in both Europe and Asia, demonstrating the Sarmatians' complete involvement in the affairs of the Pontic and Danubian regions. During the early part of the century, the Alans had migrated to the area to the northeast of the [[Sea of Azov|Lake Maeotis]]. Meanwhile, the Iazyges moved westwards until they reached the [[Danube]], and the Roxolani moved into the area between the Dnipro and the Danube and from there further west. These two peoples attacked the regions around [[Constanța|Tomis]] and [[Moesia]], respectively. During this period, the Iazyges and Roxolani also attacked the Roman province of [[Thracia]], whose governor [[Tiberius Plautius Silvanus Aelianus]] had to defend the Roman border of the Danube. During the 1st century BCE, various Sarmatians reached the [[Pannonian Basin]], with the Iazyges passing through the territories corresponding to modern-day [[Moldavia]] and [[Wallachia]] before settling in the [[Tisza]] valley, by the middle of the century.{{sfn|Melyukova|1990}}{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000}}{{sfn|Batty|2007|p=225-236}}

Although the Sarmatian were defeated and their movements stopped temporarily during the 1st century BCE due to the rise of the [[Dacians|Dacian]] kingdom of [[Burebista]], they resumed after the collapse of his kingdom following his assassination and in 16 BCE. [[Lucius Tarius Rufus]] had to repel a Sarmatian attack on Thracia and [[Macedonia (Roman province)|Macedonia]], while further attacks around 10 BCE and 2 BCE were defeated by [[Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Augur|Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus]].{{sfn|Batty|2007|p=225-236}}

[[File:Sarmatian cup with animal handle (1st century CE, reproduction).jpg|thumb|Sarmatian cup with animal handle (1st century CE, reproduction)]]
Meanwhile, other Sarmatian tribes, possibly the Aorsi, sent ambassadors to the Roman emperor [[Augustus]], who tried to establish a diplomatic accommodation with them. During the 1st century CE, the Siraces and Aorsi, who were mutually hostile, participated in the [[Roman–Bosporan War]] on opposite sides: the Siraces and their king [[Zorsines]] allied with [[Tiberius Julius Mithridates|Mithridates III]] against his half-brother [[Tiberius Julius Cotys I|Cotys I]], who was allied with Rome and the Aorsi. With the defeat of Mithridates, the Siraces were also routed and lost rulership over most of their lands. Between 50 and 60 CE, the Alans had appeared in the foothills of the Caucasus, from where they attacked the Caucasus and Transcaucasus areas and the [[Parthian Empire]]. During the 1st century CE, the Alans expanded across the Volga to the west, absorbing part of the Aorsi and displacing the rest, and pressure from the Alans forced the Iazyges and Roxolani to continue attacking the Roman Empire from across the Danube. During the 1st century CE, two Sarmatian rulers from the steppe named Pharzoios and Inismeōs were minting coins in Pontic Olbia.{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000}}{{sfn|Melyukova|1990}}{{sfn|Batty|2007|p=225-236}}

[[File:Headgear of the Sarmatians in Trajan's column.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Headgear of the Sarmatians in [[Trajan's column]]]]
The Roxolani continued their westward migration following the conflict on the Bosporan Chersonesus, and by 69 CE they were close enough to the lower Danube that they were able to attack across the river when it was frozen in winter, and soon later they and the Alans were living on the coast of the Black Sea, and they later moved further west and were living in the areas corresponding to modern-day [[Moldavia]] and western [[Ukraine]].{{sfn|Batty|2007|p=225-236}}

The Sarmatian tribe of the Arraei, who had had close contacts with the Romans, eventually settled to the south of the Danube river, in Thrace, and another Sarmatian tribe, the Koralloi, were also living in the same area alongside a section of the Scythian [[Sindi people|Sindi]].{{sfn|Batty|2007|p=225-236}}

During the 1st and 2nd centuries CE, the Iazyges often bothered the Roman authorities in [[Pannonia]]; they participated in the destruction of the [[Quadi]]an kingdom of [[Vannius]], and often migrated to the east across the [[Transylvanian Plateau]] and the [[Carpathian Mountains]] during seasonal movements or for trade.{{sfn|Batty|2007|p=225-236}}

By the 2nd century CE, the Alans had conquered the steppes of the north Caucasus and of the north Black Sea area and created a powerful confederation of tribes under their rule. Under the hegemony of the Alans a trade route connected the Pontic Steppe, the southern Urals, and the region presently known as [[Russian Turkestan|Western Turkestan]]. One group of the Alans, the [[Antes people|Antae]], migrated north into the territory of what is presently [[Poland]].{{sfn|Melyukova|1990}}{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000}}
[[Image:Sarmatian cataphracts in Trajan's column, 2nd century CE.jpg|thumb|Sarmatian [[cataphract]]s during [[Trajan's Dacian Wars|Dacian Wars]] as depicted on [[Trajan's Column]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bennett |first1=Matthew |last2=Dawson |first2=Doyne |last3=Field |first3=Ron |last4=Hawthornwaite |first4=Philip |last5=Loades |first5=Mike |title=The History of Warfare: The Ultimate Visual Guide to the History of Warfare from the Ancient World to the American Civil War |date=15 September 2016 |publisher=Book Sales |isbn=978-0-7858-3461-8 |page=31 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=27KTDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA31 |language=en}}</ref>]]

=== Decline ===
{{See also|Alans|Ossetians}}
The hegemony of the Sarmatians in the steppes began to decline over the 2nd and 3rd centuries CE, when the [[Huns]] conquered Sarmatian territory in the Caspian Steppe and the Ural region. The supremacy of the Sarmatians was finally destroyed when the [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] [[Goths]] migrating from the [[Baltic Sea]] region conquered the Pontic Steppe around 200 CE. In 375 CE, the Huns conquered most of the Alans living to the east of the Don river, massacred a significant number of them, and absorbed them into their tribal polity, while the Alans to the west of the Don remained free from Hunnish domination. As part of the Hunnic state, the Alans participated in the Huns' defeat and conquest of the kingdom of the Ostrogoths on the Pontic Steppe. Some free Alans fled into the mountains of the Caucasus, where they participated in the ethnogenesis of populations including the [[Ossetians]] and the [[Kabardians]], and other Alan groupings survived in Crimea. Others migrated into Central and then Western Europe, from where some of them went to [[Great Britain|Britannia]] and [[Hispania]], and some joined the Germanic [[Vandals]] into crossing the [[Strait of Gibraltar]] and creating the [[Vandal Kingdom]] in North Africa.{{sfn|Olbrycht|2000}}{{sfn|Melyukova|1990}}

The Sarmatians in the [[Bosporan Kingdom]] assimilated into the Greek civilization.<ref>{{cite book |quote= (...) "the Iranic Sarmatians, whose ability to assimilate into preceding Greek civilization created a brilliant new synthesis" |last1=Davies |first1=Norman |title=Europe: A History |date=1996 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-820171-7 |page=105 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jrVW9W9eiYMC&pg=PA105 |language=en}}</ref> Others assimilated with the proto-[[Circassians|Circassian]] Meot people, and may have influenced the [[Circassian language]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Richmond |first1=Walter |title=The Northwest Caucasus: Past, Present, Future |date=11 June 2008 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-00249-8 |page=12 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E6Z5AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA12 |language=en}} ""While the Sarmatians dominated the Meot lands, they were themselves assimilated and the language of the Meots, the predecessor of the modern Circassian dialects, survived."</ref> Some Sarmatians were absorbed by the [[Alans]] and [[Goths]].<ref>{{cite book |quote= "On the shores of the Black Sea the Alans absorbed two Sarmatian peoples, the Siraci and Aorsi ... Also, the Goths undoubtedly absorbed both Sarmatian and Slavic groups during their two centuries of rule over the steppe land"|last1=Eterovich |first1=Francis H. |last2=Spalatin |first2=Christopher |title=Croatia: Land, People, Culture Volume I |date=15 December 1964 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=978-1-4875-9676-7 |page=112 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XO8_DwAAQBAJ&pg=PT112 |language=en}}</ref> During the Early Middle Ages, the [[Proto-Slavs|Proto-Slavic]] population of [[Eastern Europe]] assimilated and absorbed Sarmatians during the political upheavals of that era.<ref>{{cite book |quote= "But the Slavic tribes survived the collapse of these empires, and gradually the remnants of the Avars, Sarmatians, and others were absorbed into the Slavic culture." |last1=Chodorow |first1=Stanley |title=The Mainstream of Civilization |date=1989 |publisher=Harcourt Brace Jovanovich |isbn=978-0-15-551579-6 |page=368 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NP64BLqDQNIC |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |quote=(..) For example, the ancient Scythians, Sarmatians (amongst others), and many other attested but now extinct peoples were assimilated in the course of history by Proto-Slavs.|title= Slovene Studies | publisher= Society for Slovene Studies | volume = 9-11 | date = 1987 |page= 36 }}</ref> However, a people related to the Sarmatians, known as the [[Alans]], survived in the [[North Caucasus]] into the Early [[Middle Ages]], ultimately giving rise to the modern [[Ossetians|Ossetic]] ethnic group.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Minahan |first1=James |chapter=Ossetians |title=One Europe, Many Nations: A Historical Dictionary of European National Groups |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NwvoM-ZFoAgC |series=Praeger security international |location=Westport, Connecticut |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |date=2000 |page=518 |isbn=9780313309847 |access-date=27 March 2020 |quote=The Ossetians, calling themselves Iristi and their homeland Iryston, are the most northerly of the Iranian peoples.&nbsp;[...] They are descended from a division of Sarmatians, the Alans, who were pushed out of the Terek River lowlands and into the Caucasus foothills by invading Huns in the fourth century A.D.
}}
</ref>

==Archaeology==
[[File:Lower-Volga Sarmatian burials, 2nd-1st centuries BCE.png|thumb|upright=1.5|Lower-Volga Sarmatian burials, 2nd-1st centuries BCE. The burials have two types of swords: swords with traditional Sarmatian crescent-shaped pommels and swords with Asian ring pommels, indicative of the influx of new populations from Central Asia.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Skripkin |first1=A. S. |last2=Klepikov |first2=V. M. |title=ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES OF THE LOWER VOLGA REGION OF THE 2nd—1st CENTURIES BC AND SOME ETHNIC ISSUES OF THE SARMATIANS |journal=Archaeology and Early History of Ukraine |date=17 May 2020 |volume=36 |issue=3 |pages=214–222 |doi=10.37445/adiu.2020.03.11 |quote=The paper concerns with chronological analysis of Early Sarmatian military burials with two swords in the Lower Volga region dated to the last centuries BC. There are two combinations of the different bladed weapons in the burials: swords with a ring pommel and daggers with a crescent-shaped pommel; swords without metal pommel with the rhomboid cross-bar and daggers with a crescent-shaped pommel. Swords and daggers with a crescent-shaped pommel are absent in the burials after the turn of AD. Swords and daggers with ring pommel or rhomboid-shaped cross-bar have appeared during the new migration wave in the Lower Volga region not earlier than in the 2nd century BC. This determines the chronological framework of the assemblages. Daggers and swords with a crescent-shaped pommel are the local product, they were used much earlier than the swords of migratory origin. The authors suggest that the emergence of innovations is associated with the migration of the 2nd—1st centuries BC from Central Asia, because in addition to swords with ring pommel and bronze cross-bar without metal pommel, there were found bronze openwork and lattice buckles, jet buckles and cubic incense burners, well known in the East.|doi-access=free }}</ref>]]
[[File:Samartian-Persian necklace and amulet.png|thumb|A Sarmatian-Parthian gold necklace and amulet, second century CE - Tamoikin Art Fund.]]
In 1947, Soviet archaeologist [[Boris Grakov]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schubert |first1=Charlotte |last2=Weiß |first2=Alexander |title=Amazonen zwischen Griechen und Skythen: Gegenbilder in Mythos und Geschichte |date=22 March 2013 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-028616-8 |page=85 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q1gX0IFEAFoC&pg=PA85 |language=de}}</ref> defined a culture flourishing from the 6th century BCE to the 4th century CE, apparent in late [[kurgan]] graves (buried within earthwork mounds), sometimes reusing part of much older kurgans.<ref>Граков Б. Н. [http://liberea.gerodot.ru/a_hist/sarmaty01.htm ГYNAIKOKPATOYMENOI (Пережитки матриархата у сарматов)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211121182848/http://liberea.gerodot.ru/a_hist/sarmaty01.htm |date=21 November 2021 }}//ВДИ, 1947. № 3</ref> It was a [[nomad]]ic steppe culture ranging from the [[Black Sea]] eastward to beyond the [[Volga]] that is especially evident at two of the major sites at Kardaielova and [[Chernaya River (Saint Petersburg)|Chernaya]] in the trans-Uralic steppe. The four phases – distinguished by grave construction, [[burial customs]], [[grave goods]], and geographical spread – are:{{sfn|Sinor|1990|p=113}}<ref name="Genito2002">{{cite book|last=Genito|first=Bruno|title=The Elusive Frontiers of the Eurasian Steppes|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5WMZDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA57|date=1 November 2002|publisher=All’Insegna del Giglio|isbn=978-88-7814-283-1|pages=57–}}</ref><ref name="MG158">{{cite journal |last1=Gursoy |first1=M. |title=Жазба Және Археологиялық Деректер Негізінде Савромат-Сармат Тайпаларының Шығу Тегі |journal=BULLETIN Series Historical and Socio-political Sciences |date=28 February 2023 |volume=1 |issue=72 |page=158 |doi=10.51889/2022-1.1728-5461.16 |quote=In particular, B. N. Grakov proposed a general four-stage chronology  of  the Savromat-Sarmatian  tribes,  based  on  the  specifics  of  their  burial  structures,  burial traditions and material world:  1.The Savromat period or Blumenfeld -VI-IV centuries BC. 2.Savromat-Sarmatian or Prokhorov period-IV-II Centuries BC. 3.The middle Sarmatian period or Suslov -II BC -II Centuries AD.  4.The late Sarmatian period or Shipov –II –IV centuries AD. Since this proposal is generally supported by the majority, this chronology is taken as a basis in the research papers.|doi-access=free }}</ref>

#[[Sauromatian culture|Sauromatian]], 6th–5th centuries BCE, also called the "Blumenfeld culture"
#Early Sarmatian, 4th–2nd centuries BCE, also called the "Prokhorovka culture"
#Middle Sarmatian, late 2nd century BCE to late 2nd century CE, also called the "Suslov culture"
#Late Sarmatian, late 2nd century CE to 4th century CE, also called the "Shipov culture"

While "Sarmatian" and "Sauromatian" are synonymous as ethnonyms, by convention they are given different meanings as archaeological technical terms. The term "Prokhorovka culture" derives from a complex of mounds in the [[Prokhorovski District]], [[Orenburg Oblast|Orenburg region]], excavated by [[Sergei Rudenko|S. I. Rudenko]] in 1916.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Yablonskii |first1=Leonid |last2=Balakhvantsev |first2=Archil |title=A Silver Bowl from the New Excavations of the Early Sarmatian Burial-Ground Near the Village of Prokhorovka |journal=Ancient Civilizations from Scythia to Siberia |date=1 January 2009 |volume=15 |issue=1–2 |pages=167–169 |doi=10.1163/092907709X12474657004809 |url=https://www.academia.edu/24230329 |language=en}}</ref>

Reportedly, during 2001 and 2006 a great Late Sarmatian pottery centre was unearthed near [[Budapest]], [[Hungary]] in the [[Üllő5]] archaeological site. Typical grey, granular Üllő5 ceramics form a distinct group of Sarmatian pottery is found ubiquitously in the north-central part of the [[Great Hungarian Plain]] region, indicating a lively trading activity.

A 1998 paper on the study of glass beads found in Sarmatian graves suggests wide cultural and trade links.<ref>[http://www.nbz.or.jp/eng/pdffiles/hallandyablonsky1998.pdf "Chemical Analyses of Sarmatian Glass Beads from Pokrovka, Russia"] {{webarchive|url=http://webarchive.loc.gov/all/20050415164245/http://www.nbz.or.jp/eng/pdffiles/hallandyablonsky1998.pdf |date=15 April 2005 }}, by Mark E. Hall and Leonid Yablonsky.</ref>

A 2023 paper on a grave discovered in [[Cambridgeshire]], England found via [[archaeogenetics]] that the person had Sarmatian-related ancestry, and was not related to the local population. Stable [[Isotope analysis#Reconstructing ancient diets|isotope analysis]] of his teeth determined that he had probably migrated long distances twice in his life. One tooth was [[Radiocarbon dating|radiocarbon dated]] to cal 126-228 CE.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Silva |first1=Marina |last2=Booth |first2=Thomas |last3=Moore |first3=Joanna |last4=Anastasiadou |first4=Kyriaki |last5=Walker |first5=Don |last6=Gilardet |first6=Alexandre |last7=Barrington |first7=Christopher |last8=Kelly |first8=Monica |last9=Williams |first9=Mia |last10=Henderson |first10=Michael |last11=Smith |first11=Alex |last12=Bowsher |first12=David |last13=Montgomery |first13=Janel |last14=Skoglund |first14=Pontus |title=An individual with Sarmatian-related ancestry in Roman Britain |journal=Current Biology |date=19 December 2023 |volume=34 |issue=1 |pages=204–212.e6 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2023.11.049 |doi-access=free |pmid=38118448 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Ghosh |first1=Pallab |title=DNA sleuths solve mystery of the 2,000-year old corpse |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-67755415 |website=BBC News |date=19 December 2023 |access-date=21 December 2023}}</ref>

Archaeological evidence suggests that Scythian-Sarmatian cultures may have given rise to the Greek legends of [[Amazons]]. Graves of armed women have been found in southern Ukraine and Russia. David Anthony noted that approximately 20% of Scythian-Sarmatian "warrior graves" on the lower [[Don River (Russia)|Don]] and [[lower Volga]] contained women dressed for battle as warriors and he asserts that encountering that cultural phenomenon "probably inspired the Greek tales about the Amazons."<ref name=anthonyd>{{Cite book
 | last = Anthony | first = David W.
 | title = The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World
 | publisher = Princeton University Press | year = 2007
 | isbn = 978-0-691-05887-0
 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=rOG5VcYxhiEC
}}</ref>

==Ethnology==
[[Image:Sarmatian crown.jpg|thumb|right|A Sarmatian [[diadem]], found at the Khokhlach [[kurgan]] near [[Novocherkassk]] (first century CE, [[Hermitage Museum]]).<ref>{{cite book |title=The Golden Deer of Eurasia: Scythian and Sarmatian Treasures from the Russian Steppes : the State Hermitage, Saint Petersburg, and the Archaeological Museum, Ufa |date=2000 |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art |isbn=978-0-87099-959-8 |page=13 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GWcjhsRCWG4C&pg=PA13 |language=en}}</ref>]]
The Sarmatians were part of the Iranian steppe peoples, among whom were also [[Scythians]] and [[Saka]].{{sfn|Kuzmina|2007|p=220}} These also are grouped together as "East Iranians."{{sfn|Kuzmina|2007|p=445}} Archaeology has established the connection 'between the Iranian-speaking Scythians, Sarmatians, and Saka and the earlier Timber-grave and [[Andronovo culture]]s'.{{sfn|Kuzmina|2007|p=xiv}} Based on building construction, these three peoples were the likely descendants of those earlier archaeological cultures.{{sfn|Kuzmina|2007|p=50}} The Sarmatians and Saka used the same stone construction methods as the earlier Andronovo culture.{{sfn|Kuzmina|2007|p=51}} The [[Timber-grave culture|Timber grave]] ([[Srubnaya culture]]) and [[Andronovo culture|Andronovo]] house building traditions were further developed by these three peoples.{{sfn|Kuzmina|2007|p=64}} Andronovo pottery was continued by the Saka and Sarmatians.{{sfn|Kuzmina|2007|p=78}} Archaeologists describe the Andronovo culture people as exhibiting pronounced [[Caucasoid]] features.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Keyser|first1=Christine|last2=Bouakaze|first2=Caroline|last3=Crubézy|first3=Eric|last4=Nikolaev|first4=Valery G.|last5=Montagnon|first5=Daniel|last6=Reis|first6=Tatiana|last7=Ludes|first7=Bertrand|date=16 May 2009|title=Ancient DNA provides new insights into the history of south Siberian Kurgan people|journal=[[Human Genetics (journal)|Human Genetics]]|volume=126|issue=3|pages=395–410|doi=10.1007/s00439-009-0683-0|pmid=19449030|s2cid=21347353}}</ref>

The first Sarmatians are mostly identified with the Prokhorovka culture, which moved from the [[southern Urals]] to the [[Lower Volga]] and then to the northern [[Pontic steppe]], in the fourth–third centuries BCE. During the migration, the Sarmatian population seems to have grown and they divided themselves into several groups, such as the [[Alans]], [[Aorsi]], [[Roxolani]], and [[Iazyges]]. By 200 BCE, the Sarmatians replaced the Scythians as the dominant people of the steppes.<ref name="Cunliffe2001">{{cite book|author=Barry W. Cunliffe|title=The Oxford Illustrated History of Prehistoric Europe|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NAwGLzAfyhEC&pg=PA402|year=2001|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-285441-4|pages=402–}}</ref> The Sarmatians and Scythians had fought on the [[Pontic steppe]] to the north of [[the Black Sea]].<ref name=Rene>{{cite book |last=Grousset |first=Rene |title=The Empire of the Steppes |url=https://archive.org/details/empireofsteppes00grou |url-access=registration |publisher=Rutgers University Press |year=1970 |isbn=978-0-8135-1304-1 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/empireofsteppes00grou/page/15 15]}}</ref> The Sarmatians, described as a large confederation,{{sfn|Sinor|1990|p=113}} were to dominate these territories over the next five centuries.{{sfn|Brzezinski|Mielczarek|2002|p=}} According to Brzezinski and Mielczarek, the Sarmatians were [[ethnogenesis|formed]] between the [[Don River (Russia)|Don River]] and the [[Ural Mountains]].{{sfn|Brzezinski|Mielczarek|2002|p=}} [[Pliny the Elder]] wrote that they ranged from the [[Vistula]] River (in present-day [[Poland]]) to the [[Danube]].

==Culture==
===Language===
{{Main|Scytho-Sarmatian languages}}
[[File:Assimilation of Baltic and Aryan Peoples by Uralic Speakers in the Middle and Upper Volga Basin (Shaded Relief BG).png|thumb|Iranic peoples of Central Asia during the Iron Age, including Sarmatians]]
[[File:Sarmatians warriors (reconstruction).jpg|thumb|Sarmatians warriors (reconstruction)]]
The Sarmatians spoke an [[Iranian language]] that was derived from 'Old Iranian' and was heterogenous. By the first century CE, the Iranian tribes in what is today South Russia spoke different languages or dialects, clearly distinguishable.{{sfn|Harmatta|1970|loc=3.4}} According to a group of Iranologists writing in 1968, the numerous Iranian personal names in Greek inscriptions from the [[Black Sea]] coast indicate that the Sarmatians spoke a [[North-Eastern Iranian]] dialect ancestral to Alanian-[[Ossetian language|Ossetian]].<ref>Handbuch der Orientalistik, Iranistik. By I. Gershevitch, O. Hansen, B. Spuler, M.J. Dresden, Prof M Boyce, M. Boyce Summary. E.J. Brill. 1968.</ref> However, Harmatta (1970) argued that "the language of the Sarmatians or that of the Alans as a whole cannot be simply regarded as being Old Ossetian."{{sfn|Harmatta|1970|loc=3.4}}

===Equipment===
The Roxolani, who were one of the earlier Sarmatian tribes to have migrated into Europe and therefore were among the more geographically western Sarmatians, used helmets and corselets made of raw ox hide, and wicker shields, as well as spears, bows, and swords. The Roxolani adopted these forms of armour and weaponry from the [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] [[Bastarnae]] near whom they lived.{{sfn|Batty|2007|p=225-236}} The more eastern Sarmatian tribes used scale armour and used a long lance called the [[Kontos (weapon)|{{Transliteration|la|contus}}]] and bows in battle.{{sfn|Batty|2007|p=225-236}}

=== Metalwork ===
The early Sarmatians already possessed the technique of decorating with gold inclusions, observed in Achaemenid metalwork. It was spread by nomads in the Eurasian steppes during the 7th-5th century BCE, from the Altai Mountains ([[Arzhan-2]] kurgan) westward to central Kazakhstan and the southern Urals.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Shemakhanskaya |first1=Marina |last2=Treister |first2=Mikhail |last3=Yablonsky |first3=Leonid |date=31 December 2009 |title=The technique of gold inlaid decoration in the 5th-4th centuries BC: silver and iron finds from the early Sarmatian barrows of Filippovka, Southern Urals |journal=ArcheoSciences. Revue d'archéométrie |volume=33 |language=fr |issue=33 |pages=211–220 |doi=10.4000/archeosciences.2223 |issn=1960-1360|doi-access=free }}</ref> [[Peter the Great]] particularly cherished his Demidov Gift, a Sarmatian gold collection,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Haskins |first=John F. |date=1959 |title=Sarmatian Gold Collected by Peter the Great: - VII; The Demidov Gift and Conclusions |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3249145 |journal=Artibus Asiae |volume=22 |issue=1/2 |pages=64–78 |doi=10.2307/3249145 |jstor=3249145 |issn=0004-3648}}</ref> now exhibited in the Gold Chamber at the [[Hermitage Museum]] in [[Saint Petersburg|St. Petersburg]]. The Novocherkassk Treasure with the famous Sarmatian Diadem<ref>{{Cite web |title=Realms Of Gold The Novel: Treasures of the Sarmatians: Diadem |url=http://realmsofgoldthenovel.blogspot.com/2013/04/treasures-of-samaritans-diadem.html |access-date=1 September 2023 |website=Realms Of Gold The Novel}}</ref> adorned with the [[Tree of life|Tree of Life]] can also be seen in the Hermitage Gold Room.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Hermitage Gold Room - uVisitRussia |url=https://www.uvisitrussia.com/hermitage-gold-room/ |access-date=1 September 2023 |website=www.uvisitrussia.com}}</ref> It is a Sarmatian hoard of gold, silver and bronze articles and jewellery discovered in the Khokhlach barrow in Novocherkassk in 1864. Chronologically it belongs to the first and second centuries CE.<ref>{{Cite web |title=State Hermitage Museum: East/Central Europe (including early nomads) |url=https://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/museums/shm/shmeeur.html |access-date=1 September 2023 |website=depts.washington.edu}}</ref>

Numerous weapons, armour, helmets were already found in the excavations of the Early Sarmatian [[Filippovka kurgan]] (c. 450-300 BCE):<ref name="LTY2013">{{cite journal |last1=Yablonsky |first1=L.T. |title=РАННЕСАРМАТСКИЙ РЫЦАРЬ (Sarmatian warrior) |journal=Поволжская археология (The Volga River Region Archaeology) |date=2013 |volume=2 |issue=4 |pages=104–135 |url=http://archtat.ru/content/uploads/2017/12/PA_2013_24.pdf}}</ref>

Many Chinese mirrors can be found in graves of the Middle-Sarmatian to Late-Sarmatian periods.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Treister |first1=Mikhail |last2=Ravich |first2=Irina |title=Chinese mirrors from the burials of the nomads of Eastern Europe of the second half of the 1st millennium BC-first centuries AD: Typology, chronology, distribution and technology of manufacture |journal=Advances in Archaeomaterials |date=June 2021 |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=24–48 |doi=10.1016/j.aia.2021.07.001 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

<gallery>
File:Filippovka 1 Iron armour from burial 2 mound 4.jpg|Filippovka 1 Iron armour from burial 2 mound 4
File:Filippovka 1, Horn armour from mound 29.jpg|Filippovka 1, Horn armour from mound 29
File:Filippovka 1, bronze arrowheads from burial 2, mound 4.jpg|Filippovka 1, bronze arrowheads from burial 2, mound 4
File:Filippovka 1, iron helmets from mound 11.jpg|Filippovka 1, iron helmets from mound 11
File:Filippovka 1, iron sowrds and daggers.jpg|Filippovka 1, iron swords and daggers
File:Золото сарматских вождей. Gold of the Sarmatian - Dagger, Kurgan 4, Burial 2, Filippovka.jpg|Filippovka 1, bronze and inlaid gold dagger 
</gallery>

==Genetics==
{{see also|Scythians#Archaeogenetics|Western Steppe Herders}}

=== Autosomal DNA ===
{{multiple image
| align             = right
| direction         = vertical
| width             = 231
| image1            = Bronze to Iron Age Steppe peoples genetic makeup.png
| caption1          = Genetic makeup of Bronze and Iron Age Steppe populations<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Unterländer |first1=Martina |last2=Palstra |first2=Friso |last3=Lazaridis |first3=Iosif |last4=Pilipenko |first4=Aleksandr |last5=Hofmanová |first5=Zuzana |last6=Groß |first6=Melanie |last7=Sell |first7=Christian |last8=Blöcher |first8=Jens |last9=Kirsanow |first9=Karola |last10=Rohland |first10=Nadin |last11=Rieger |first11=Benjamin |last12=Kaiser |first12=Elke |last13=Schier |first13=Wolfram |last14=Pozdniakov |first14=Dimitri |last15=Khokhlov |first15=Aleksandr |date=3 March 2017 |title=Ancestry and demography and descendants of Iron Age nomads of the Eurasian Steppe |journal=Nature Communications |language=en |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=14615 |doi=10.1038/ncomms14615 |issn=2041-1723 |pmc=5337992 |pmid=28256537|bibcode=2017NatCo...814615U }}</ref>
| image2            = Genetic makeup of the Saka and Scythian cultures.png
| caption2          = Map of Scythian cultures, including different Saka populations with genetic profiles<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Gnecchi-Ruscone |first1=Guido Alberto |last2=Khussainova |first2=Elmira |last3=Kahbatkyzy |first3=Nurzhibek |last4=Musralina |first4=Lyazzat |last5=Spyrou |first5=Maria A. |last6=Bianco |first6=Raffaela A. |last7=Radzeviciute |first7=Rita |last8=Martins |first8=Nuno Filipe Gomes |last9=Freund |first9=Caecilia |last10=Iksan |first10=Olzhas |last11=Garshin |first11=Alexander |last12=Zhaniyazov |first12=Zhassulan |last13=Bekmanov |first13=Bakhytzhan |last14=Kitov |first14=Egor |last15=Samashev |first15=Zainolla |date=26 March 2021 |title=Ancient genomic time transect from the Central Asian Steppe unravels the history of the Scythians |journal=Science Advances |language=en |volume=7 |issue=13 |doi=10.1126/sciadv.abe4414 |issn=2375-2548 |pmc=7997506 |pmid=33771866|bibcode=2021SciA....7.4414G }}</ref>
}}Sarmatians emerged primarily from the [[Bronze Age|Bronze]] and [[Iron Age]] [[Western Steppe Herders]] (Steppe_MLBA), associated with the [[Sintashta culture|Sintashta]], [[Srubnaya culture|Srubnaya]] and [[Andronovo culture]]s, but also carried a small amount of admixed from an East Asian-derived population represented by [[Khövsgöl LBA]] groups, which may have been indirectly mediated via contact with the related [[Saka]] from the [[Altai Mountains|Altai region]], which are regarded as the oldest Scythoid cultural group. The Sarmatians also received geneflow from an ancient Iranian population associated with the [[Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex]].<ref name=":0"/><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=11 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 |volume=29 |issue=14 |pages=2430–2441.e10 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2019.06.019 |pmid=31303491 |issn=0960-9822|doi-access=free |bibcode=2019CBio...29E2430J }}</ref>

A genetic study published in ''[[Current Biology]]'' in 2022 regarding the genetic origin of Huns, Avars, and conquering Hungarians. 265 ancient genomes were analyzed, it revealed that the [[Hungarians|Hungarian]] conquerors admixed with Sarmatians and [[Huns]]. Sarmatian ancestry was also detected among several Hun samples which implies a significant Sarmatian influence on European [[Huns]].<ref name=":22">{{Cite journal |last1=Maróti |first1=Zoltán |last2=Neparáczki |first2=Endre |last3=Schütz |first3=Oszkár |last4=Maár |first4=Kitti |last5=Varga |first5=Gergely I.B. |last6=Kovács |first6=Bence |last7=Kalmár |first7=Tibor |last8=Nyerki |first8=Emil |last9=Nagy |first9=István |last10=Latinovics |first10=Dóra |last11=Tihanyi |first11=Balázs |last12=Marcsik |first12=Antónia |last13=Pálfi |first13=György |last14=Bernert |first14=Zsolt |last15=Gallina |first15=Zsolt |date=25 May 2022 |title=The genetic origin of Huns, Avars, and conquering Hungarians |journal=Current Biology |volume=32 |issue=13 |pages=2858–2870.e7 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2022.04.093 |pmid=35617951 |s2cid=246191357 |doi-access=free |last16=Horváth |first16=Ciprián |last17=Varga |first17=Sándor |last18=Költő |first18=László |last19=Raskó |first19=István |last20=Nagy |first20=Péter L. |last21=Balogh |first21=Csilla |last22=Zink |first22=Albert |last23=Maixner |first23=Frank |last24=Götherström |first24=Anders |last25=George |first25=Robert |last26=Szalontai |first26=Csaba |last27=Szenthe |first27=Gergely |last28=Gáll |first28=Erwin |last29=Kiss |first29=Attila P. |last30=Gulyás |first30=Bence |last31=Kovacsóczy |first31=Bernadett Ny. |last32=Gál |first32=Sándor Szilárd |last33=Tomka |first33=Péter |last34=Török |first34=Tibor|bibcode=2022CBio...32E2858M }}</ref>

There is also evidence for a later eastwards expansion of Sarmatian-like ancestry, evident in a Saka-associated sample from southeastern [[Kazakhstan]] (Konyr Tobe 300CE), displaying around 85% Sarmatian and 15% additional BMAC-like ancestry. Sarmatian-like contributions have also been detected among some [[Xiongnu]] remains.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Jeong |first1=Choongwon |last2=Wang |first2=Ke |last3=Wilkin |first3=Shevan |last4=Taylor |first4=William Timothy Treal |last5=Miller |first5=Bryan K. |last6=Bemmann |first6=Jan H. |last7=Stahl |first7=Raphaela |last8=Chiovelli |first8=Chelsea |last9=Knolle |first9=Florian |last10=Ulziibayar |first10=Sodnom |last11=Khatanbaatar |first11=Dorjpurev |last12=Erdenebaatar |first12=Diimaajav |last13=Erdenebat |first13=Ulambayar |last14=Ochir |first14=Ayudai |last15=Ankhsanaa |first15=Ganbold |date=5 November 2020 |title=A Dynamic 6,000-Year Genetic History of Eurasia's Eastern Steppe |url=|journal=Cell |volume=183 |issue=4 |pages=890–904.e29 |doi=10.1016/j.cell.2020.10.015 |issn=0092-8674 |pmc=7664836 |pmid=33157037}}</ref>

=== Haplogroups ===
Afanasiev et al. (2014) analyzed ten Alanic burials on the Don River. Four of them carried Y-DNA Haplogroup G2 and six of them possessed mtDNA haplogroup I.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Afanasiev |first1=Gennady E. |last2=Dobrovolskaya |first2=M. V. |last3=Korobov |first3=D. S. |last4=Reshetova |first4=Irina K. |year=2014 |chapter=О культурной, антропологической и генетической специфике донских алан [On the cultural, anthropological and genetic specifics of the Don Alans ] |editor-last=Korobov |editor-first=D. S. |script-title=ru:Е.И. Крупнов и развитие археологии Северного Кавказа |trans-title=E.I. Krupnov and the development of the archeology of the North Caucasus |series=XXVIII Krupnov's readings : Proceedings of the International Scientific Conference, Moscow, 21–25 April 2014 |location=Moscow |publisher=Institute of Archaeology, Russian Academy of Sciences |pages=312–315 |isbn=978-5-94375-162-2 |url=https://www.academia.edu/7061155 |via=www.academia.edu}}</ref>

In 2015, again Afanasiev et al. analyzed skeletons of various Sarmato-Alan and Saltovo-Mayaki culture Kurgan burials. The two Alan samples from the fourth to sixth century CE belonged to Y-DNA haplogroups G2a-P15 and R1a-Z94, while two of the three Sarmatian samples from the second to third century CE found to belong to Y-DNA haplogroup J1-M267, and one belonged to R1a. Three Saltovo-Mayaki samples from the eighth to ninth century CE turned out to have Y-DNA corresponding to haplogroups G, J2a-M410 and R1a-z94.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Afanasiev |first1=Gennady E. |display-authors=etal |year=2015 |chapter=Хазарские конфедераты в бассейне Дона [Khazar confederates in the Don basin] |editor-last1=Dobrovolskaya |editor-first1=M. V. |editor-last2=Chernykh |editor-first2=E. N. |script-title=ru:Естественнонаучные методы исследования и парадигма современной археологии |trans-title=Natural scientific methods of research and the paradigm of modern archaeology |series=Proceedings of the All-Russian Scientific Conference, Moscow, Institute of Archeology RAS, 8–11 December 2015 |location=Moscow |publisher=Языки славянской культуры [Languages of Slavic Culture] for Institute of Archaeology, Russian Academy of Sciences |pages=146–153 |isbn=978-5-94457-2431 |url=https://www.academia.edu/15713987 |via=www.academia.edu}}</ref>

A genetic study published in ''[[Nature Communications]]'' in March 2017 examined several Sarmatian individuals buried in Pokrovka, Russia (southwest of the [[Ural Mountains]]) between the fifth century BCE and the second century BCE. The sample of [[Y-DNA]] extracted belonged to haplogroup R1b1a2a2. This was the dominant lineage among males of the earlier [[Yamnaya culture]].<ref>{{harvnb|Unterländer et al.|2017|loc=Supplementary Information, pp. 55, 72}}. "Individual I0575 (Sarmatian) belonged to haplogroup R1b1a2a2, and was thus related to the dominant Ychromosome lineage of the Yamnaya (Pit Grave) males from Samara..."</ref> The eleven samples of [[mtDNA]] extracted belonged to the haplogroups [[Haplogroup U (mtDNA)#Haplogroup U3|U3]], [[Haplogroup M (mtDNA)|M]], [[Haplogroup U (mtDNA)#Haplogroup U1|U1a'c]], [[Haplogroup T (mtDNA)|T]], [[Haplogroup F (mtDNA)|F1b]], [[Haplogroup N (mtDNA)|N1a1a1a1a]], [[Haplogroup T (mtDNA)|T2]], [[Haplogroup U (mtDNA)#Haplogroup U2e2|U2e2]], [[Haplogroup H (mtDNA)#H2, H6 and H8|H2a1f]], [[Haplogroup T (mtDNA)|T1a]], and [[Haplogroup U (mtDNA)#Haplogroup U5|U5a1d2b]].{{sfn|Unterländer et al.|2017|loc=Supplementary Information, p. 25, Supplementary Table 1}} The Sarmatians examined were found to be closely related to peoples of the earlier Yamnaya culture and to the [[Poltavka culture]].<ref>{{harvnb|Unterländer et al.|2017|pp=3–4}}. "The two Early Sarmatian samples from the West... fall close to an Iron Age sample from the Samara district... and are generally close to the Early Bronze Age Yamnaya samples from Samara... and Kalmykia... and the Middle Bronze Age Poltavka samples from Samara..."</ref>

A genetic study published in ''[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]'' in May 2018 examined the remains of twelve Sarmatians buried between 400 BCE and 400 CE.{{sfn|Damgaard et al.|2018|loc=Supplementary Table 2, Rows 19, 21-22, 25, 90-93, 95-97, 116}} The five samples of Y-DNA extracted belonged to [[Haplogroup R1a|haplogroup R1a1]], [[Haplogroup I-M438|I2b]], [[Haplogroup R (Y-DNA)|R]] (two samples), and [[Haplogroup R1|R1]].{{sfn|Damgaard et al.|2018|loc=Supplementary Table 9, Rows 15, 18, 64, 67, 68}} The eleven samples of mtDNA extracted belonged to [[Haplogroup C (mtDNA)|C4a1a]], [[Haplogroup U (mtDNA)#Haplogroup U4|U4a2]] (two samples), [[Haplogroup C (mtDNA)|C4b1]], [[Haplogroup I (mtDNA)#I1|I1]], [[Haplogroup A (mtDNA)|A]], [[Haplogroup U (mtDNA)#Haplogroup U2|U2e1h]] (two samples), [[Haplogroup U (mtDNA)#Haplogroup U4|U4b1a4]], [[Haplogroup H (mtDNA)|H28]], and [[Haplogroup U (mtDNA)#Haplogroup U4|U5a1]].{{sfn|Damgaard et al.|2018|loc=Supplementary Table 8, Rows 57, 79-80, 84, 25-27, 31-33, 59}}

A genetic study published in ''[[Science Advances]]'' in October 2018 examined the remains of five Sarmatians buried between 55 CE and 320 CE. The three samples of Y-DNA extracted belonged to [[Haplogroup R1a|haplogroup R1a1a]] and [[Haplogroup R-M269|R1b1a2a2]] (two samples), while the five samples of mtDNA extracted belonged to haplogroup [[Haplogroup H (mtDNA)#H2, H6 and H8|H2a1]], [[Haplogroup T (mtDNA)|T1a1]], [[Haplogroup U (mtDNA)#Haplogroup U5|U5b2b]] (two samples), and [[Haplogroup D (mtDNA)#D4|D4q]].{{sfn|Krzewińska et al.|2018|loc=Supplementary Materials, Table S3 Summary, Rows 4-8}}

A genetic study published in ''[[Current Biology]]'' in July 2019 examined the remains of nine Sarmatians from the southern [[Ural Mountains]] between 7th–2nd century BCE. The five samples of Y-DNA extracted belonged to [[Haplogroup Q-M242|haplogroup Q1c-L332]], [[Haplogroup R1a|R1a1e-CTS1123]], [[Haplogroup R1a|R1a-Z645]] (two samples), and [[Haplogroup E-M123|E1b1b-PF6746]], while the nine samples of mtDNA extracted belonged to [[Haplogroup W (mtDNA)|haplogroup W]], [[Haplogroup W (mtDNA)|W3a]], [[Haplogroup T (mtDNA)|T1a1]], [[Haplogroup U (mtDNA)#Haplogroup U5|U5a2]], [[Haplogroup U (mtDNA)#Haplogroup U5|U5b2a1a2]], [[Haplogroup T (mtDNA)|T1a1d]], [[Haplogroup C (mtDNA)|C1e]], [[Haplogroup U (mtDNA)#Haplogroup U5|U5b2a1a1]], [[Haplogroup U (mtDNA)#Haplogroup U5|U5b2c]], and [[Haplogroup U (mtDNA)#Haplogroup U5|U5b2c]].{{sfn|Järve et al.|2019|loc=Table S2}}

A archaeogenetic study published in ''[[Cell (journal)|Cell]]'' in 2022, analyzed 17 Late Sarmatian samples from 4-5th century CE from the [[Pannonian Basin]] in Hungary. The nine extraced Y-DNA belonged to a diverse set of haplogroups, 2x I2a1b1a2b1-CTS4348, 2x I1a2a1a1a-Z141, I1a-DF29, G2a1-FGC725, E1b1b-L142.1, R1a1a1b2a2a1-Z2123 and R1b1a1b1a1a2b-PF6570, while the mtDNA haplogroups C5, H, 2x H1, H5, H7, H40, H59, HV0 I1, J1, 2x K1a, T1a, 2x T2b, U2.{{sfn|Gnecchi-Ruscone|Szécsényi-Nagy|Koncz|Csiky|2022|loc=Table S1}}

==Physical appearance==
{{multiple image|perrow=1/2|total_width=300|caption_align=center
| align    = right
| direction =horizontal
| image1   = Reconstruction based on the skull of a mature male (40–50 years old) from the Elton cemetery, kurgan 10, burial 9, Early Sarmatian time, 4th century BCE.jpg
| caption1 =Forensic reconstruction based on the skull of a mature male (40–50 years old) from the [[Lake Elton|Elton cemetery]], kurgan 10, burial 9, Early Sarmatian time, 4th century BCE.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Balabanova |first1=Maria |last2=Nechvaloda |first2=Aleksey |title=Ancient Population of the Lower Volga Region According to Craniology and Anthropological Facial Sculptural Reconstruction from a Skull |journal=Nizhnevolzhskiy Arheologicheskiy Vestnik |date=December 2022 |issue=2 |pages=158–173 |doi=10.15688/nav.jvolsu.2022.2.10 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/366524989|doi-access=free }}</ref>
| image2   = Early Sarmatian chieftain, Araltobe kurgan, 3rd-2nd century BCE.jpg
| caption2 = Early Sarmatian chieftain, [[Araltobe kurgan]], 3rd-2nd century BCE.<ref name="astanatimes.com">{{cite journal |last1=Ualikhanova |first1=Aruzhan |title=Archeologists Discover Golden Artifacts in Abai Region's Bozai Burial Ground |journal=The Astana Times |date=22 April 2023 |url=https://astanatimes.com/2023/04/archeologists-discover-golden-artifacts-in-abai-regions-bozai-burial-ground/ |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Noyanov |first1=Edyl Noyanuly |last2=Yernazar |first2=Sergazy |title=The "Golden People" of Kazakhstan |journal=World Science |date=2016 |page=46 |url=https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/the-golden-people-of-kazakhstan.pdf}}</ref>
| image3   = Early_Sarmatian_woman,_3rd-2nd_century_BCE,_Old_Knishkin_Burial_ground,_Bashkortostan,_Karmikalyi_Ri.jpg
| caption3 = Early Sarmatian woman, 3rd-2nd century BCE, Old Knishkin burial, [[Bashkortostan]].<ref>[[Ufa]] Ethnology museum</ref>
| footer=
}}
The Early Sarmatians from the [[Filippovka kurgans]] (4th century BCE) combined Western ([[Timber Grave]] and [[Andronovo]]) and Eastern characteristics. Compared with classical [[Sauromatians]], Early Sarmatians, such as those of Filippovka, generally display an increased incidence of eastern Asiatic features.<ref name="GD39"/> They most closely resembled the [[Saka]] populations of [[Central Asia]], particularly from the [[Altai Mountains|Altai]] region ([[Pazyryk culture|Pazyryk]]), and were very different from the western [[Scythians]], or the Sarmatians of the [[Volga River]] area.<ref name="GD39">{{cite book |title=The Golden Deer of Eurasia: Scythian and Sarmatian Treasures from the Russian Steppes : the State Hermitage, Saint Petersburg, and the Archaeological Museum, Ufa |date=2000 |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art |isbn=978-0-87099-959-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GWcjhsRCWG4C&pg=PA39 |page=39 |language=en}}</ref>

The Roman author [[Ovid]] recorded that one of the Sarmatian tribes, the Coralli, had blond hair, which is a characteristic that [[Ammianus Marcellinus]] also ascribed to the Alans. He wrote that nearly all of the Alani were "of great stature and beauty, their hair is somewhat yellow, their eyes are frighteningly fierce."

Modern historians have offered conflicting opinions about the description of the Alans as being tall and having blond hair. For instance, [[Roger Batty]] has posited that "presumably, only some of the Alans would have been blond".<ref>{{harvnb|Batty|2007|p= [https://books.google.com/books?id=mRokAQAAIAAJ 235]}} (Footnote 224) "In reality, presumably only some Alans were blond."</ref> [[Bernard Bachrach]] has likewise suggested that because the Alans assimilated so many foreigners, the majority of them are unlikely to have been blond-haired, and that there was no distinguishing physical characteristic of the Alans.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bachrach |first1=Bernard |title=A history of the Alans in the West : from their first appearance in the sources of classical antiquity through the early Middle Ages |date=1973 |publisher=University of Minnesota Press |location=Minneapolis |isbn=0-8166-0678-1 |pages=76–77 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SXER_fLym9kC&pg=PA76}}</ref> However, John Day has argued that Bachrach's analysis is flawed, because he mistranslated the original passage from Ammianus Marcellinus, and that the majority of the Alans were in fact blond.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Day |first1=John V. |title=Indo-European origins : the anthropological evidence |date=2001 |publisher=Institute for the Study of Man |isbn=0-941694-75-5 |page=57 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GiQSAQAAIAAJ |quote= "Mistranslating their hair colour as ' generally blond ', Bachrach doubts that Alans really were so fair, considering that, as Ammianus Marcellinus says, they had assimilated so many other ethnic groups (1973:19)."}}</ref> [[Iver Neumann]] has suggested that the description of Alans as blond may mean that their [[Indo-Iranians|Indo-Iranian]] ancestry was greater than it was in the Huns.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Neumann |first1=Iver B. |last2=Wigen |first2=Einar |title=The Steppe Tradition in International Relations: Russians, Turks and European State Building 4000 BC–2017 AD |date=19 July 2018 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, United Kingdom |isbn=978-1-108-42079-2 |pages=103–104 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=huRfDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA104 |language=en}} "They saw Alans as tall and blond, whereas the Huns were seen as squat and ugly (Bachrach 1973:19), we may take this to mean that the Alans looked more like Romans, i.e. that the Iranic element was stronger in them than it was in the Huns."</ref> [[Charles Previté-Orton]] wrote that the Alans were only partly of Iranian heritage, and that the other part of their ancestry came from captive women and slaves.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Previté-Orton |first1=C. W. |title=Cambridge Medieval History, Shorter: Volume 1, The Later Roman Empire to the Twelfth Century |date=24 July 1975 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-20962-5 |page=42 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RXU5AAAAIAAJ |language=en}} "...the blond Alans between the Don, the Volga, and Mount Caucasus were Iranian in speech and partly in blood, and remnants of other Iranian nomads, not to mention descendants of captive women and slaves..."</ref>

==Sarmatism==
{{Main|Sarmatism}}

[[Sarmatism]] (or [[Sarmatianism]]) is an ethno-cultural [[concept]] with a shade of politics designating the formation of an idea of the origin of [[Poland]] from Sarmatians within the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]].<ref name=ukrsar/> It was the dominant [[Baroque in Poland|Baroque]] [[culture]] and [[ideology]] of the nobility (''[[szlachta]]'') that existed in times of the [[Renaissance]] to the eighteenth centuries.<ref name=ukrsar>Kresin, O. ''[https://web.archive.org/web/20170416130854/http://www.ukrhistory.narod.ru/texts/kresin-2.htm Sarmatism Ukrainian]''. Ukrainian History</ref> Together with another concept of "[[Golden Liberty]]," it formed a central aspect of the Commonwealth's culture and society. At its core was the unifying belief that the people of the Polish Commonwealth descended from the ancient [[Iranian peoples|Iranic]] Sarmatians, the legendary invaders of Slavic lands in antiquity.<ref>[[Tadeusz Sulimirski]], ''The Sarmatians'' (New York: Praeger Publishers 1970) at 167.</ref><ref>P. M. Barford, ''The Early Slavs'' (Ithaca: Cornell University 2001) at 28.</ref>

==Tribes==
{{Indo-European}}
{{History of Ukraine}}
{{History of Russia}}
*[[Alans]]
**[[Ossetians]]
**[[Jasz people]] 
*[[Roxolani]]
*[[Iazyges]]
*[[Aorsi]]
*[[Arcaragantes]]
*[[Hamaxobii]] (possibly)
*[[Limigantes]]
*[[Saii]]
*[[Serboi]]
*[[Siraces]]
*[[Spali]]
*[[Taifals]] (possibly)
*[[Turcae]]

==See also==
* [[List of ancient Iranian peoples]]
* [[Salm (Shahnameh)|Sarm]]
* [[Andronovo culture]] 
* [[Alans]]
* [[Cimmerians]]
* [[Early Slavs]]
* [[Eurasian nomads]]

==References==
{{Reflist|3}}

==Sources==
{{refbegin|20em}}
;Books
*{{cite book |last=Batty |first=Roger |date=2007 |title=Rome and the Nomads: The Pontic-Danubian Realm in Antiquity |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-198-14936-1}}
*{{cite book|last1=Brzezinski|first1=Richard|last2=Mielczarek|first2=Mariusz|title=The Sarmatians 600 BC–AD 450|series=Men-At-Arms (373)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tCknvgAACAAJ|year=2002|publisher=Bloomsbury USA; Osprey Publishing|isbn=978-1-84176-485-6}}
*{{cite book|last1=Davis-Kimball|first1=Jeannine|author1-link=Jeannine Davis-Kimball|last2=Bashilov|first2=Vladimir A.|last3=Yablonsky|first3=Leonid T.|title=Nomads of the Eurasian Steppes in the Early Iron Age|location=Berkeley|publisher=Zinat Press|year=1995|isbn=978-1-885979-00-1}}
*{{cite book|last=Day|first=John V.|title=Indo-European origins: the anthropological evidence|year=2001|publisher=Institute for the Study of Man|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GiQSAQAAIAAJ|isbn=978-0941694759}}
*{{cite book|last=Hinds|first=Kathryn|title=Scythians and Sarmatians|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=400IFGXTvpYC|year=2009|publisher=Marshall Cavendish|isbn=978-0-7614-4519-7}}
*{{cite book|last1=Istvánovits|first1=Eszter|last2=Kulcsár|first2=Valéria|title=Sarmatians: History and Archaeology of a Forgotten People|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B34uMQAACAAJ|year=2017|publisher=Schnell & Steiner|isbn=978-3-7954-3234-8}}
*{{cite book|last=Kozlovskaya|first=Valeriya |year=2017 |title=The Northern Black Sea in Antiquity: networks, connectivity, and cultural interactions |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hcwnDwAAQBAJ |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-01951-5}}
*{{cite book|last=Kuzmina|first=Elena Efimovna|title=The Origin of the Indo-Iranians|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x5J9rn8p2-IC|year=2007|publisher=BRILL|isbn=978-90-04-16054-5|pages=50, 51, 56, 64, 78, 83, 220, 410}}
*{{cite book |last=Melyukova |first=A. I. |author-link=Anna Melyukova |editor-last=Sinor |translator-last=Crookenden |translator-first=Julia |editor-first=Denis |editor-link=Denis Sinor |date=1990 |title=The Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia |volume=1 |url= |location=[[Cambridge]], [[United Kingdom]]; [[New York City]], [[United States]] |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |pages=97–117 |isbn=978-0-521-24304-9 }}
*{{cite book |last=Mordvintseva |first=Valentina I.|date=30 August 2017 |chapter=The Sarmatians in the northern Black Sea Region|url=https://dokumen.pub/the-northern-black-sea-in-antiquity-networks-connectivity-and-cultural-interactions-1107019516-9781107019515.html |title=The Northern Black Sea in Antiquity|pages=233–283|editor-last=Kozlovskaya |editor-first=Valeriya |access-date=16 February 2025 |edition= |publisher=Cambridge University Press |doi=10.1017/9781139094702.011  |isbn=978-1-107-01951-5}}
*{{cite book |last=Olbrycht |first=Marek Jan |author-link= |date=2000 |title=Collectanea Celto-Asiatica Cracoviensia |chapter=Remarks on the Presence of Iranian Peoples in Europe and Their Asiatic Relations |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/11934986 |location=[[Kraków]] |publisher=[[:pl:Księgarnia Akademicka|Księgarnia Akademicka]] |pages=105–107 |isbn=978-8-371-88337-8 }}
*{{cite book|editor-last=Sinor|editor-first=Denis|editor-link=Denis Sinor|title=The Cambridge History of Early Inner Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ST6TRNuWmHsC&pg=PA295|year=1990|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-24304-9}}
*{{cite book|author=К.Ф. Смирнов|title=Сарматы и утверждение их политического господства в Скифии|date=1984 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EY79AgAAQBAJ|publisher=Рипол Классик|isbn=978-5-458-40072-5}}
*{{cite book|last=Sulimirski|first=Tadeusz|author-link=Tadeusz Sulimirski|title=The Sarmatians|series=Ancient People and Places, vol. 73|url=https://archive.org/details/sarmatians0000suli|url-access=registration|year=1970|publisher=Praeger}}

;Journals
*{{cite journal|last=Абрамова|first=М. П.|year=1988|title=Сарматы и Северный Кавказ|journal=Проблемы сарматской археологии и истории|pages=4–18}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Damgaard |first1=P. B. |last2=Marchi |first2=N. |display-authors=1 |date=9 May 2018 |title=137 ancient human genomes from across the Eurasian steppes |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-018-0094-2 |access-date=11 April 2020 |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |publisher=[[Nature Research]] |volume=557 |issue=7705 |pages=369–373 |doi=10.1038/s41586-018-0094-2 |pmid=29743675 |bibcode=2018Natur.557..369D |hdl=1887/3202709 |s2cid=13670282 |ref={{harvid|Damgaard et al.|2018}}|hdl-access=free }}
*{{cite journal|last=Genito|first=Bruno|year=1988|title=The Archaeological Cultures of the Sarmatians with a Preliminary Note on the Trial-Trenches at Gyoma 133: a Sarmatian Settlement in South-Eastern Hungary (Campaign 1985)|journal=Annali dell'Istituto Universitario Orientale di Napoli|volume=42|pages=81–126|url=http://opar.unior.it/592/1/2_Annali_1988_48_(f2)_Genito.pdf}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Gnecchi-Ruscone |first1=Guido Alberto |last2=Szécsényi-Nagy |first2=Anna |last3=Koncz |first3=István |last4=Csiky |first4=Gergely |last5=Rácz |first5=Zsófia |last6=Rohrlach |first6=A. B. |last7=Brandt |first7=Guido |last8=Rohland |first8=Nadin |last9=Csáky |first9=Veronika |last10=Cheronet |first10=Olivia |last11=Szeifert |first11=Bea |date=14 April 2022 |title=Ancient genomes reveal origin and rapid trans-Eurasian migration of 7th century Avar elites |journal=Cell |language=English |volume=185 |issue=8 |pages=1402–1413.e21 |doi=10.1016/j.cell.2022.03.007 |issn=0092-8674 |pmid=35366416|pmc=9042794 |s2cid=247859905 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Järve |first1=Mari |last2=Saag |first2=Lehti |display-authors=1 |date=11 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]] |publisher=[[Cell Press]] |volume=29 |issue=14 |pages=2430–2441 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2019.06.019 |doi-access=free |pmid=31303491 |bibcode=2019CBio...29E2430J |ref={{harvid|Järve et al.|2019}}}}
*{{cite journal|last=Harmatta|first=J.|title=Studies in the History and Language of the Sarmatians|journal=Acta Antique et Archaeologica|volume=XIII|year=1970|url=http://www.kroraina.com/sarm/jh/index.html}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Krzewińska |first1=Maja |last2=Kılınç |first2=Gülşah Merve |display-authors=1 |date=3 October 2018 |title=Ancient genomes suggest the eastern Pontic-Caspian steppe as the source of western Iron Age nomads |journal=[[Science Advances]] |publisher=[[American Association for the Advancement of Science]] |volume=4 |issue=10 |pages= eaat4457|doi=10.1126/sciadv.aat4457 |pmc=6223350 |pmid=30417088 |bibcode=2018SciA....4.4457K |ref={{harvid|Krzewińska et al.|2018}}}}
*{{cite journal|last1=Клепиков|first1=В. М.|last2=Скрипкин|first2=А. С.|year=1997|title=Ранние сарматы в контексте исторических событий Восточной Европы|journal=Донские древности|volume=5|pages=28–40}}
*{{cite journal|last=Козлова|first=Р. М.|script-title=uk:О Сормах, Сарматах, Сорматских горах|journal=Студії з ономастики та етимології|year=2004|language=uk}}
*{{cite book|last=Lebedynsky|first=Iaroslav|title=Les Sarmates: amazones et lanciers cuirassés entre Oural et Danube, VIIe siècle av. J.-C.-VIe siècle apr. J.-C.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-stoAAAAMAAJ|year=2002|publisher=Errance|isbn=978-2-87772-235-3}}
*{{cite journal|last=Mordvintseva|first=Valentina I.|title=Сарматы, Сарматия и Северное Причерноморье|trans-title=Sarmatia, the Sarmatians and the North Pontic Area|journal=Вестник древней истории [Journal of Ancient History]|volume=1|issue=292|year=2015|pages=109–135|url=ftp://istorichka.ru/Periodika/Vestnik_drevnej_istorii/2015/2015_1.pdf}}
*{{cite journal|last=Mordvintseva|first=Valentina I.|title=The Sarmatians: The Creation of Archaeological Evidence|journal=Oxford Journal of Archaeology|volume=32|issue=2|pages=203–219|year=2013|doi=10.1111/ojoa.12010}}
*{{cite journal|last=Moshkova|first=M. G.|year=1995|title=A brief review of the history of the Sauromatian and Sarmatian tribes|journal=Nomads of the Eurasian Steppes in the Early Iron Age|pages=85–89}}
*{{cite journal|last=Perevalov|first=S. M.|year=2002|title=The Sarmatian Lance and the Sarmatian Horse-Riding Posture|journal=Anthropology & Archeology of Eurasia|volume=40|issue=4|pages=7–21|doi=10.2753/aae1061-195940047|s2cid=161826066}}
*{{cite journal|last=Rjabchikov|first=Sergei V.|title=Remarks on the Scythian, Sarmatian and Meotian Beliefs|journal=AnthroGlobe Journal|year=2004|url=http://www.pax-barbarorum.ru/s-a/rjabchikov_remarks.doc}}
*{{cite journal|last1=Симоненко|first1=А. В.|last2=Лобай|first2=Б. И.|year=1991|title=Сарматы Северо-Западного Причерноморья в I в. н. э.|journal=Погребения знати у с. Пороги|language=ru}}
* {{cite journal |last=Tokhtasyev |first=Sergey |author-link=:ru:Тохтасьев, Сергей Ремирович |date=2005 |title=Sauromatae - Syrmatae - Sarmatae |url=https://www.academia.edu/7169847 |language=ru |journal=[[:ru:Херсонесский сборник|Херсонесский сборник]] |trans-journal=Chersonesian Collection |volume=14 |pages=291–306 |access-date=4 September 2023}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Unterländer |first1=Martina |last2=Palstra |first2=Friso |display-authors=1 |date=3 March 2017 |title=Ancestry and demography and descendants of Iron Age nomads of the Eurasian Steppe |journal=[[Nature Communications]] |publisher=[[Nature Research]] |volume=8 |issue=14615 |page= 14615|doi=10.1038/ncomms14615 |pmc=5337992 |pmid=28256537 |bibcode=2017NatCo...814615U |ref={{harvid|Unterländer et al.|2017}}}}
{{Refend}}

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* Смирнов К. Ф. Савроматы. М., 1964; 
* Пшеничнюк А. Х. Культура ранних кочевников Южного Приуралья. М., 1983; 
* Скрипкин А. С. Азиатская Сарматия. Саратов, 1990.
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==External links==
{{Commons|Sarmatians}}
* {{cite encyclopedia | article = CLOTHING vii. Of the Iranian Tribes on the Pontic Steppes and in the Caucaus | last = Yatsenko | first = S. A. | url = http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/clothing-vii | encyclopedia = Encyclopaedia Iranica, Vol. V, Fasc. 7 | pages = 758–760 | year = 1992 | title = CLOTHING vii. Of the Iranian Tribes – Encyclopaedia Iranica }}
* [http://dpg.lib.berkeley.edu/webdb/dsheh/heh_brf?Description=&CallNumber=HM+1092 Ptolemaic Map (Digital Scriptorium)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170211090054/http://dpg.lib.berkeley.edu/webdb/dsheh/heh_brf?Description=&CallNumber=HM+1092 |date=11 February 2017 }}
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20061009045233/http://www.csen.org/BAR%20Book/BAR.%20Part%2001.TofC.html Kurgans, Ritual Sites, and Settlements: Eurasian Bronze and Iron Age]}}
*[http://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15324coll10/id/96120/rec/302 Nomadic Art of the Eastern Eurasian Steppes], an exhibition catalog from The Metropolitan Museum of Art (fully available online as PDF), which contains material on Sarmatians

{{Scythia}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Sarmatians|*]]
[[Category:Historical Iranian peoples]]
[[Category:Bosporan Kingdom]]
[[Category:History of the North Caucasus]]
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[[Category:Tribes in classical historiography]]
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