Karasuk Culture Woman (RISE496)

The Karasuk culture thrived in the Minusinsk Basin of Siberia during the late Bronze Age, roughly between 1500 and 800 BC. These skilled metalworkers were successors to the Andronovo culture and likely influenced by eastern metallurgy. They were both farmers and herders, relying on sheep for sustenance. Notably, unlike their predecessors, the Karasuk people lived a more mobile lifestyle. Their settlements consisted of pit houses, and their burials were unique. They placed their dead in stone cists covered by mounds and surrounded by square enclosures made of stones. Distinctive bronze artifacts, particularly knives with curved profiles and decorated handles, and horse bridles, are hallmarks of the Karasuk culture. Their legacy and influence extended westward into Siberia and even reached the southern regions near the Aral Sea and Tian Shan mountains.