On the Origins of Nomadism in the Asian Steppes

The article summarizes the results of almost thirty years of research into issues surrounding the reconstruction of economic principles and lifestyle among the population of the steppe region of the Trans-Ural community representing the Chalcolithic cultures of geometric pottery. Rresearchers from Russia, Kazakhstan, and Western Europe have gathered diverse information suggesting that cattle and horse breeding constituted the foundation of the economy among this particular population, while hunting animals such as saiga antelopes and kulans (Asiatic wild ass) had only secondary importance in economic terms. Although settlements were of a seasonal nature, they were not shepherd's camps, and had a considerable number of inhabitants; the level of tool development excluded the possibility of storing forage for animals in winter, and so herding animals was possible only under conditions of year-round grazing. Therefore, the communities which left Tersek and Botai antiquities as their heritage should be considered nomadic.