The first war machines
In the southern Ural steppes, archaeological sites of the Sintashta culture hold the earliest known evidence of the spoked-wheel chariot. Radiocarbon dating places these finds to between 2050 and 1750 BCE. This technology appears here centuries before its documented use in the Near East. The burials, located in earthen mounds called kurgans, contain the chariots with their wheels placed in pits on the grave floor. These vehicles were lightweight, featuring a track width of 1.2 to 1.5 meters and wheels with 8 to 12 spokes.
The graves belong to the Sintashta people, a society that flourished from approximately 2200 to 1800 BCE. They constructed fortified settlements, a new development for the steppe region. The type site, Sintashta, was a circular settlement roughly 140 meters in diameter, enclosed by a timber-reinforced earthen wall and a deep ditch. Within the walls of settlements like Sintashta and Arkaim, evidence of intensive copper and arsenical bronze production was found in every excavated house. This industrial-scale metallurgy supplied metal to urban centers in Central Asia, such as the Bactria-Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC).
A blueprint for burial
Sintashta burial rites were complex and often lavish. The deceased were interred in timber-lined chambers within the kurgans. A single kurgan could contain multiple grave pits. Elite male warriors were frequently buried with a chariot and a pair of sacrificed horses. In some cases, as many as eight horses were included in a single grave. Unlike other livestock, these horses were often buried intact.
Grave goods reveal a highly militarized society. Weapons are common finds, with 54% of excavated graves containing them. These include bronze and copper socketed spearheads, axes, daggers, and polished stone mace-heads. Cheek-pieces for horse bridles, carved from antler, are also found. Although the composite bow that became synonymous with later chariot warfare is not present, finds of horn and bone bow components and short arrows (50-70 cm) suggest the use of short bows. The people themselves show a close genetic relationship to the Corded Ware culture of Europe, suggesting an eastward migration onto the steppe. Their domesticated horses, part of the DOM2 lineage, became the ancestors of nearly all modern horses.