Tashtyk culture

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A culture that flourished in the Yenisei valley and elsewhere in central Siberia from the first to the fourth century CE.

The Tashtyk tribes were probably of mixed Turkic, Iranian , and Tocharian origin. Their most famous monuments were immense barrows-crypt structures; these have yielded large quantities of clay and metal vessels and ornaments. Tashtyk settlements and hill-forts have been unearthed throughout the Yenisei region, particularly the Sayan canyon area. In addition, numerous petrographic carvings have been unearthed.

Tashtyk culture is particularly known for the richly-decorated funerary masks it produced.

[edit] Bibliography

• Christian, David. A History of Russia, Central Asia and Mongolia. Blackwell Publishers, 1999.