The Sarmatians were a large confederation of ancient Iranian equestrian nomadic peoples who dominated the Pontic steppe from about the 3rd century BC to the 4th century AD.
Sarmatian cataphracts in Trajan's column, 2nd century CE.
Reconstruction of early Sarmatian chieftain. Araltobe kurgan, Kazakhstan, III-II c. BC. Excavation of Z. Samashev.
Gold mirror, Mayerovsky III Kurgan 4 (Nikolaevsky District, Volgograd region), 2nd-1st centuries BCE.
Sarmatian bottle and lid (1st century CE, reproduction)
The Iranian peoples or Iranic peoples are a diverse grouping of peoples who are identified by their usage of the Iranian languages and other cultural similarities.
The Bistun Inscription of Darius the Great describes itself to have been composed in Arya [language or script].
Early Indo-European migrations from the Pontic steppes and across Central Asia.
According to Allentoft (2015), the Sintashta culture probably derived from the Corded Ware culture.
Saka horseman, Pazyryk, from a carpet, c. 300 BC