Herodotus called the Sarmatians "lizard-headed". Lomonosov believed that the Slavs originated from them, and the Polish gentry called themselves their direct descendants. Russian girls inherited kokoshniki from the Sarmatians.
The origin of the name of the Sarmatians is shrouded in deep mystery. It is believed that Herodotus first mentioned them in the 5th century BC, calling the nomadic tribes east of Tanais sauromates, which means lizard-headed in Greek. Two centuries later, Sarmatians appeared in the same territory among ancient geographers. Whether the scribal error led to the name change or whether two different tribes were meant is unknown. But by virtue of the identity of the territory, it is customary to consider the Savromats of Herodotus as Sarmatians. In the 1st century BC, the Greek geographer Strabo mentions several tribes after the Sarmatians, the most famous of which were the Roxolans. Their name is translated from Iranian languages as white Alans. Lomonosov later mistook them for the ancestors of the Rus.
The Sarmatians appear on the historical arena in the 3rd century BC, when they attacked and drove the Scythians out of the Black Sea steppes. Until that time, we find only fragmentary mentions of the Sarmatians on the eastern border of Scythia, but archaeological evidence confirms their movement from the southern Urals. In the northern Black Sea region, the Sarmatians for four centuries - until the II century AD, occupied a dominant position, displacing other nomads from there. The Sarmatians were probably never one people and were a group of different ethnic, primarily Iranian-speaking tribes. Sarmatians, Alans, Roxolans, Aors - such names are given by Roman writers to various nomads living north of the Black Sea, from time to time disturbing the Balkan possessions of the Romans. Unfortunately the Romans and Greeks,from the works of which we draw almost all the known data about the Sarmatians, we did not describe them in detail. The archaeological evidence is more numerous, but they cannot answer all the questions.
In Sarmatian burials, and importantly, not only in them, archaeologists sometimes find skulls with an elongated back. Some experts suggest that we can talk about the custom of artificial deformation of the skull, when a newborn baby is tied with a bandage. In the territories of the northern Black Sea region, the Kuban and the North Caucasus, such a custom was observed from the XXII to the VII-VI centuries BC. The "Sarmatian ritual" gradually disappeared from the territory of Russia along with the Sarmatians themselves, but remained imprinted in the folk costume, in particular, in the kokoshnik. After a break comes, and again elongated skulls begin to be found from the 3rd century BC. This time coincides with the activity of the Sarmatians in the region, but it is unclear whether these facts are related.
The Greek historian Herodotus wrote that the Sarmatians descended from the marriages of the Scythians and Amazons. Since then, the Amazons, in the descriptions of the peoples living north of the Black Sea, often coexist with the Sarmatians. This fact acquired special interest in the eyes of ancient writers, since women among the Sarmatians, in his own words, had more rights - they participated in public life, sacred actions and even in battles. Probably, in reality, matriarchy among the Sarmatians at that time was manifested in the account of kinship along the female line, and later this custom was changed.
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Sarmatians are considered innovators in equestrian combat techniques. This provided them with two types of weapons - a long heavy spear and a long sword. Before the Sarmatians, the cavalry of the steppe nomads was mainly lightly armed - large masses of horse archers ensured superiority over all the armies of the settled states. Heavily armed cavalry, with short swords - akinaki and shields, were few in number and in battles they were assigned the role of the last reserve. The Sarmatians were the first among the nomads to use long swords up to 130 cm. Later, a heavy spear was added to the sword - contus sarmaticus. Its length was 3 meters or more and had to be held with both hands. With such weapons, there were no arms left for a shield, and the only protection of the Sarmatian horseman was a scaly shell. The penetrating power of a rider with such a spear was extremely great. At the first blow, the horseman could "string" several people on the spear, after which he threw it back and took up the sword. Most likely, the Sarmatians borrowed this type of cavalry from the Parthians, and later such horsemen became the elite of the Byzantine army - the cataphracts. Sarmatian burial mounds and gold In the south of Russia - in the Kuban region, in the North Caucasus and Ukraine, the Sarmatians left many traces. First of all, these are barrows up to 5 meters high. Burials were located under the mounds, often very rich. Gold necklaces, brooches, bracelets, bronze mirrors accompanied the dead. Also in the mounds one could find weapons and ornaments for horses, but the horse bones themselves in them are more the exception than the rule.and later, such horsemen became the elite of the Byzantine army - the cataphracts. Sarmatian burial mounds and gold In the south of Russia - in the Kuban region, in the North Caucasus and Ukraine, the Sarmatians left many traces. First of all, these are barrows up to 5 meters high. Burials were located under the mounds, often very rich. Gold necklaces, brooches, bracelets, bronze mirrors accompanied the dead. Also in the mounds one could find weapons and ornaments for horses, but the horse bones themselves in them are more the exception than the rule.and later, such horsemen became the elite of the Byzantine army - the cataphracts. Sarmatian burial mounds and gold In the south of Russia - in the Kuban region, in the North Caucasus and Ukraine, the Sarmatians left many traces. First of all, these are barrows up to 5 meters high. Burials were located under the mounds, often very rich. Gold necklaces, brooches, bracelets, bronze mirrors accompanied the dead. Also in the mounds one could find weapons and ornaments for horses, but the horse bones themselves in them are more the exception than the rule.brooch brooches, bracelets, bronze mirrors accompanied the dead. Also in the mounds one could find weapons and ornaments for horses, but the horse bones themselves in them are more the exception than the rule.brooch brooches, bracelets, bronze mirrors accompanied the dead. Also in the mounds one could find weapons and ornaments for horses, but the horse bones themselves in them are more the exception than the rule.
The jewelry was richly ornamented, the craftsmen who made them were proficient in filigree and grain techniques, and knew how to work with gold wire. The figures of animals - predators, dragons, ungulates, were usually depicted in dynamic, curving poses. Where these artisans lived is not entirely clear. It was difficult for a Roman or Greek master to make such jewelry. Perhaps these masters lived in the Meoto-Sarmatian settlements not yet discovered by archaeologists. Sarmatian archaeological sites disappear in the III-IV centuries AD, which is associated by scientists with the invasion of the northern Black Sea region by the Goths and their founding by the legendary leader Germanarich of the Gothic state. The Sarmatians, probably under the names of smaller tribes - the same Alans, are advancing under pressure from east and north to south, to the Balkans. From there, the Alans, will move to Spain, where they form their small kingdom,subdued by the Visigoths several centuries later. Sarmatians and kokoshnik It is interesting that some scientists trace the roots of the Russian kokoshnik to the Sarmatians. Among them, the custom of artificial deformation of the skull was widespread, due to which the human head acquired the shape of an elongated egg. The origin of the cult itself dates back to the Paleolithic and can be considered as a manifestation of yo yy] initially, during the time of matriarchy, only women underwent ritual skull deformation. The "Sarmatian ritual" gradually disappeared from the territory of Russia along with the Sarmatians themselves, but remained imprinted in the folk costume, in particular, in the kokoshnik. Sarmatism In the 15th - 17th centuries, in the era when modern nations were taking shape, interest in the works of ancient Greek and Roman writers grew greatly. In their works, political scientists of the early modern era began to look for the origins of their states and nations. And if for the majority of Western European countries the Roman Empire was the common ancestor state, and for the Germans - the victorious ancient Germanic tribes, then the Poles began to look for their ancestors in the Sarmatians. In Poland, this led to the creation of a whole ideology of Sarmatism - a kind of genetic myth. The gentry considered themselves descendants of the Sarmatians, the thunderstorms of the Western world and the cultural neighbors of the wild east, and they were also sure that the coats of arms of the Polish nobility were copied from the Sarmatian tamgas (generic signs). This gave rise to gentry liberties, republicanism, an oriental love of luxury, the borrowing of baroque culture and the domination of Catholicism, which grew into the idea of the messianism of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. With the Sarmatian tribe itself, ideology was associated only with an ancient name,however, she greatly contributed to its spread.