- Yamnaya were buried in pit chambers beneath the barrows/kurgan mounds. See also: [[2020.09.07 Tombs]] - They spent winters in wooded river valleys, summer on the grasslands with the herds - probably invented the wheel and responsible for the first [[domestication]] of horses. (cross-ref [[The Horse The Wheel And Language by David Anthony]]) - probably the first people able to live out on the grasslands. - ate horses, cattle, sheep, pigs — and hunted antelopes and other steppe animals. - drank milk, ate butter, despite lactose intolerance that would have made it difficult to get the *full* benefits of this food — although may not have resulted in actual indigestion. - grew millet and amaranth (why amaranth) but probably wasn't a big part of the diet - warlike, patriarchal culture, meat-heavy diet == big people... which makes it easy to recognize their skeletons. - armies of horseback riders sweeping down from the plains weren't really a thing until the Iron Age. ## Reference - This [video from Dan Davis](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GalZLoTeU74) sort of summarizes the relevant parts of [[The Horse The Wheel And Language by David Anthony]]