32 CHAPTER 1
The influx of new ethnic groups of Iranian origin to the cities of the
Northern Black Sea region is also evidenced by the appearance of new, previ-
ously unused names. In the mid-third century, Tanais was probably destroyed
not by the Goths, but by a tribe, whose center was located in the Central
Caucasus. An argument in favor of this is the spread of the catacomb ritual in
the Volga-Don Interfluve, which indicates an influence or influx of a popula-
tion of North Caucasian origin among the Alans, since this ritual is not typi-
cal for the Sarmatians.62 This ritual in particular became typical for the Alans
during the following centuries and distinguished them from the rest of the
Sarmatian tribes.
Clearly, there is no reason to attribute all Late Sarmatian monuments to
the Alans. While it is unclear what territory the Alanian union occupied, it is
unlikely that its influence spread beyond the Volga to the east. A significant
amount of the Late Sarmatian monuments from the third to the fourth century
is located east of the lower reaches of the Volga, on the territory of contempo-
rary Bashkiria and in the South Cis-Ural Region. In this territory, a severing of
the ties to the region along the Black Sea and the North Caucasus occurred, as
well as a strengthening of those to Middle Asia and to regions, located even
further to the east. A. Skripkin assumes that this population was included in
the union of the Huns.63
The results of the research on the origins of the Bulgars, Alans and the
Khazars lead to one particular region in Middle Asia (the lower and middle
reaches of the Syr Darya), which in one way or another, all three ethnic groups
had something in common with. This is not some presumed land of origin,
but a region that in the scope of several centuries has synthesized in its cul-
ture Iranian and Turkic traits. This refers primarily to the Dzhetyasar culture
(along the lower reaches of the Syr Darya), but also to the closely related to it
Otrar-Karatau culture (along the middle reaches of the river and in the Karatau
mountain region). The ancient state of Kangju with a possible center in Otrar
62 Skripkin 1982, 51–54; Krivosheev and Skripkin 2006, 128–134. See also Shelov 1974. The
reasons for the emergence and spread of the catacomb ritual in the North Caucasus and
the surrounding territories are still unclear, since this ritual is not typical not only for the
Sarmatians, but also for the local population in earlier times. It could be argued that sev-
eral specific regions with different versions of the catacomb ritual formed in the areas of
contact between the older Caucasian steppe peoples and steppe newcomers, which could
indicate different ethnic communities (Abramova, Krasil’nikov, and Piatykh 2004, 61–62).
Not surprisingly, M. Magomedov associates one of these versions with the Khazars. The
scholar accepts that the catacomb burial ritual, defined by him as Khazar, stems from the
traditions of Middle Asia (Magomedov 1994, 33–34 and 91–97).
63 Skripkin 1982, 54.