Russia

=== Early history ===
{{further|Ancient Greek colonies||Early Slavs|Huns|Turkic expansion|Prehistory of Siberia}}
{{See also|Proto-Indo-Europeans|Proto-Uralic homeland}}
The first human settlement on Russia dates back to the [[Oldowan]] period in the early [[Lower Paleolithic]]. About 2 million years ago, representatives of ''[[Homo erectus]]'' migrated to the [[Taman Peninsula]] in southern Russia.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Shchelinsky |first1=V.E. |last2=Gurova |first2=M. |last3=Tesakov |first3=A.S. |last4=Titov |first4=V.V. |last5=Frolov |first5=P.D. |last6=Simakova |first6=A.N. |title=The Early Pleistocene site of Kermek in western Ciscaucasia (southern Russia): Stratigraphy, biotic record and lithic industry (preliminary results) |journal=[[Quaternary International]] |volume=393 |pages=51–69 |date=30 January 2016 |doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2015.10.032|bibcode=2016QuInt.393...51S }}</ref> [[Flint]] tools, some 1.5 million years old, have been discovered in the [[North Caucasus]].<ref>{{cite web |last1= Chepalyga |first1= A.L. |last2= Amirkhanov |first2= Kh.A. |last3= Trubikhin |first3= V.M. |last4= Sadchikova |first4= T.A. |last5= Pirogov |first5= A.N. |last6= Taimazov |first6= A.I. |year= 2011 |title= Geoarchaeology of the earliest paleolithic sites (Oldowan) in the North Caucasus and the East Europe |url= http://paleogeo.org/article3.html |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130520090413/http://paleogeo.org/article3.html |archive-date= 20 May 2013 |access-date= 18 December 2013 }}</ref> [[Radiocarbon dated]] specimens from [[Denisova Cave]] in the [[Altai Mountains]] estimate the oldest [[Denisovan]] specimen lived 195–122,700 years ago.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Douka |first1=K. |title=Age estimates for hominin fossils and the onset of the Upper Palaeolithic at Denisova Cave |journal=Nature |year=2019 |volume=565 |issue=7741 |pages=640–644 |doi=10.1038/s41586-018-0870-z |pmid=30700871 |url=https://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1559&context=smhpapers1 |bibcode=2019Natur.565..640D |s2cid=59525455 |access-date=10 January 2022 |archive-date=6 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200506140551/https://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1559&context=smhpapers1 |url-status=live }}</ref> Fossils of ''[[Denny (hybrid hominin)|Denny]]'', an [[archaic human]] hybrid that was half [[Neanderthal]] and half Denisovan, and lived some 90,000 years ago, was also found within the latter cave.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Warren |first=Matthew |title=Mum's a Neanderthal, Dad's a Denisovan: First discovery of an ancient-human hybrid |date=22 August 2018 |journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume=560 |issue=7719 |pages=417–418 |doi=10.1038/d41586-018-06004-0 |pmid=30135540 |bibcode= 2018Natur.560..417W |doi-access=free }}</ref> Russia was home to some of the last surviving Neanderthals, from about 45,000 years ago, found in [[Mezmaiskaya cave]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1= Igor V. Ovchinnikov |last2= Anders Götherström |last3= Galina P. Romanova |last4= Vitaliy M. Kharitonov |last5= Kerstin Lidén |last6= William Goodwin |date= 30 March 2000 |title= Molecular analysis of Neanderthal DNA from the northern Caucasus |journal= [[Nature (journal)|Nature]] |volume= 404 |issue= 6777 |pages= 490–493 |bibcode= 2000Natur.404..490O |doi= 10.1038/35006625 |pmid= 10761915 |s2cid= 3101375}}</ref>

The first trace of an [[Ust'-Ishim man|early modern human]] in Russia dates back to 45,000 years, in [[Western Siberia]].<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Fu Q, Li H, Moorjani P, Jay F, Slepchenko SM, Bondarev AA, Johnson PL, Aximu-Petri A, Prüfer K, de Filippo C, Meyer M, Zwyns N, Salazar-García DC, Kuzmin YV, Keates SG, Kosintsev PA, Razhev DI, Richards MP, Peristov NV, Lachmann M, Douka K, Higham TF, Slatkin M, Hublin JJ, Reich D, Kelso J, Viola TB, Pääbo S|title=Genome sequence of a 45,000-year-old modern human from western Siberia |journal=Nature | issue= 7523| pages=445–449|date=23 October 2014|doi=10.1038/nature13810 | pmid=25341783 | volume=514 | pmc=4753769|bibcode=2014Natur.514..445F |hdl= 10550/42071}}</ref> The discovery of high concentration cultural remains of [[Human|anatomically modern humans]], from at least 40,000 years ago, was found at [[Kostyonki–Borshchyovo]],<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dinnis |first1=Rob |last2=Bessudnov |first2=Alexander |last3=Reynolds |first3=Natasha |last4=Devièse |first4=Thibaut |last5=Pate |first5=Abi |last6=Sablin |first6=Mikhail |last7=Sinitsyn |first7=Andrei |last8=Higham |first8=Thomas |title=New data for the Early Upper Paleolithic of Kostenki (Russia) |pmid=30777356 |doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2018.11.012 |journal=[[Journal of Human Evolution]] |year=2019 |pages=21–40 |volume=127 |s2cid=73486830 |url=https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01982049/file/Dinnis%20et%20al%202019%20New%20data%20for%20the%20EUP%20of%20Kostenki%20%28green%20open-access%20post-print%29.pdf |access-date=21 January 2022 |archive-date=5 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220405163036/https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01982049/file/Dinnis%20et%20al%202019%20New%20data%20for%20the%20EUP%20of%20Kostenki%20%28green%20open-access%20post-print%29.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> and at [[Sungir]], dating back to 34,600 years ago—both in [[European Russia|western Russia]].<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1126/science.aao1807 |pmid=28982795 |title=Ancient genomes show social and reproductive behavior of early Upper Paleolithic foragers |journal=Science |volume=358 |issue=6363 |pages=659–662 |year=2017 |vauthors=Sikora, Martin ''et al.'' |bibcode=2017Sci...358..659S |doi-access=free }}</ref> Humans reached [[Far North (Russia)|Arctic Russia]] at least 40,000 years ago, in [[Mamontovaya Kurya]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Pavlov |first=Pavel |author2=John Inge Svendsen |author3=Svein Indrelid |date=6 September 2001 |title=Human presence in the European Arctic nearly 40,000 years ago |journal=Nature |volume=413 |pages=64–67 | doi= 10.1038/35092552 |pmid=11544525 |issue=6851|bibcode=2001Natur.413...64P |s2cid=1986562 }}</ref> [[Ancient North Eurasian]] populations from Siberia genetically similar to [[Mal'ta–Buret' culture]] and [[Afontova Gora]] were an important genetic contributor to [[Ancient Beringian|Ancient Native Americans]] and [[Eastern Hunter-Gatherer]]s.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Balter |first1=M. |title=Ancient DNA Links Native Americans With Europe |journal=Science |date=25 October 2013 |volume=342 |issue=6157 |pages=409–410 |doi=10.1126/science.342.6157.409 |pmid=24159019 |bibcode=2013Sci...342..409B |doi-access=free }}</ref>

[[File:Yamnaya Steppe Pastoralists.jpg|thumb|320px|left|Bronze Age spread of [[Yamnaya culture|Yamnaya]] [[Western Steppe Herders|Steppe pastoralist]] ancestry between 3300 and 1500 BC,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gibbons |first1=Ann |title=Thousands of horsemen may have swept into Bronze Age Europe, transforming the local population |journal=Science |date=21 February 2017 |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/thousands-horsemen-may-have-swept-bronze-age-europe-transforming-local-population |access-date=25 September 2022 |archive-date=25 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220925154535/https://www.science.org/content/article/thousands-horsemen-may-have-swept-bronze-age-europe-transforming-local-population |url-status=live }}</ref> including the [[Afanasievo culture]] of southern Siberia]]

The [[Kurgan hypothesis]] places the Volga-Dnieper region of southern Russia and [[Ukraine]] as the [[urheimat]] of the [[Proto-Indo-Europeans]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Anthony |first1=David W. |last2=Ringe |first2=Don |date=1 January 2015 |title=The Indo-European Homeland from Linguistic and Archaeological Perspectives |journal=Annual Review of Linguistics |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=199–219 |doi=10.1146/annurev-linguist-030514-124812 |issn=2333-9683|doi-access=free }}</ref> Early [[Indo-European migrations]] from the [[Pontic–Caspian steppe]] of Ukraine and Russia spread [[Yamnaya culture|Yamnaya]] ancestry and [[Indo-European languages]] across large parts of Eurasia.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Haak|first1=Wolfgang|last2=Lazaridis|first2=Iosif|last3=Patterson|first3=Nick|last4=Rohland|first4=Nadin|last5=Mallick|first5=Swapan|last6=Llamas|first6=Bastien|last7=Brandt|first7=Guido|last8=Nordenfelt|first8=Susanne|last9=Harney|first9=Eadaoin|last10=Stewardson|first10=Kristin|last11=Fu|first11=Qiaomei|date=11 June 2015|title=Massive migration from the steppe was a source for Indo-European languages in Europe|journal=Nature|volume=522|issue=7555|pages=207–211|doi=10.1038/nature14317|issn=0028-0836|pmc=5048219|pmid=25731166|bibcode=2015Natur.522..207H|arxiv=1502.02783}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/nomadic-herders-left-strong-genetic-mark-europeans-and-asians |first=Ann |last=Gibbons |date=10 June 2015 |title=Nomadic herders left a strong genetic mark on Europeans and Asians |journal=Science |publisher=AAAS |access-date=25 September 2022 |archive-date=2 September 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220902191050/https://www.science.org/content/article/nomadic-herders-left-strong-genetic-mark-europeans-and-asians |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Nomadic pastoralism]] developed in the Pontic–Caspian steppe beginning in the [[Chalcolithic]].<ref name="Belinskij-1999">{{Cite journal |last1=Belinskij |first1=Andrej |last2=Härke |first2=Heinrich |title=The 'Princess' of Ipatovo |journal=Archeology |volume=52 |issue=2 |year=1999 |url=http://cat.he.net/~archaeol/9903/newsbriefs/ipatovo.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080610043326/http://cat.he.net/~archaeol/9903/newsbriefs/ipatovo.html |archive-date=10 June 2008 |access-date=26 December 2007}}</ref> Remnants of these steppe civilizations were discovered in places such as [[Ipatovo kurgan|Ipatovo]],<ref name="Belinskij-1999"/> [[Sintashta]],<ref name="mounted">{{Cite book |author=Drews, Robert |title=Early Riders: The beginnings of mounted warfare in Asia and Europe |year=2004 |publisher=Routledge |location=New York |page=50 |isbn=978-0-415-32624-7}}</ref> [[Arkaim]],<ref>{{cite web |author=Koryakova, L. |title=Sintashta-Arkaim Culture |publisher=The Center for the Study of the Eurasian Nomads (CSEN) |url=http://www.csen.org/koryakova2/Korya.Sin.Ark.html |access-date=13 May 2021 |archive-date=28 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190228104055/http://www.csen.org/koryakova2/Korya.Sin.Ark.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> and [[Pazyryk burials|Pazyryk]],<ref>{{cite web |title=1998 NOVA documentary: "Ice Mummies: Siberian Ice Maiden" |work=Transcript |url=http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/2517siberian.html |access-date=13 May 2021 |archive-date=16 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160416163503/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/2517siberian.html |url-status=live }}</ref> which bear the earliest known traces of [[horses in warfare]].<ref name="mounted"/> The genetic makeup of speakers of the [[Uralic language family|Uralic]] language family in northern Europe was shaped by migration from [[Siberia]] that began at least 3,500 years ago.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lamnidis |first1=Thiseas C. |last2=Majander |first2=Kerttu |last3=Jeong |first3=Choongwon |last4=Salmela |first4=Elina |last5=Wessman |first5=Anna |last6=Moiseyev |first6=Vyacheslav |last7=Khartanovich |first7=Valery |last8=Balanovsky |first8=Oleg |last9=Ongyerth |first9=Matthias |last10=Weihmann |first10=Antje |last11=Sajantila |first11=Antti |last12=Kelso |first12=Janet |last13=Pääbo |first13=Svante |last14=Onkamo |first14=Päivi |last15=Haak |first15=Wolfgang |date=27 November 2018 |title=Ancient Fennoscandian genomes reveal origin and spread of Siberian ancestry in Europe |journal=Nature Communications |language=en |volume=9 |issue=1 |page=5018 |doi=10.1038/s41467-018-07483-5 |pmid=30479341 |pmc=6258758 |bibcode=2018NatCo...9.5018L |s2cid=53792952 |issn=2041-1723}}</ref>

In the 3rd to 4th centuries CE, the [[Goths|Gothic]] kingdom of [[Oium]] existed in southern Russia, which was later overrun by [[Huns]]. Between the 3rd and 6th centuries CE, the [[Bosporan Kingdom]], which was a Hellenistic [[polity]] that succeeded the Greek colonies,<ref>{{Cite book |author=Tsetskhladze, G. R. |title=The Greek Colonisation of the Black Sea Area: Historical Interpretation of Archaeology |publisher=F. Steiner |year=1998 |page=48 |isbn=978-3-515-07302-8}}</ref> was also overwhelmed by nomadic invasions led by warlike tribes such as the Huns and [[Pannonian Avars|Eurasian Avars]].<ref>{{Cite book |author=Turchin, P. |title=Historical Dynamics: Why States Rise and Fall |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=2003 |pages=185–186 |isbn=978-0-691-11669-3}}</ref> The [[Khazars]], who were of [[Turkic peoples|Turkic origin]], ruled the steppes between the Caucasus in the south, to the east past the Volga river basin, and west as far as Kyiv on the Dnieper river until the 10th century.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Weinryb |first=Bernard D. |title=The Khazars: An Annotated Bibliography |journal=Studies in Bibliography and Booklore |publisher=[[Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion]] |volume=6 |number=3 |pages=111–129 |year=1963 |jstor=27943361}}</ref> After them came the [[Pechenegs]] who created a large confederacy, which was subsequently taken over by the [[Cumans]] and the [[Kipchaks]].<ref>Carter V. Findley, ''The Turks in World History'' (Oxford University Press, 2004) {{ISBN|0-19-517726-6}}</ref>

The ancestors of [[Russians]] are among the [[List of ancient Slavic peoples|Slavic tribes]] that separated from the Proto-Indo-Europeans, who appeared in the northeastern part of Europe {{Circa|1500}} years ago.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Zhernakova |first1=Daria V. |display-authors=etal |title=Genome-wide sequence analyses of ethnic populations across Russia |volume=112 |number=1 |journal=Genomics |year=2020 |pages=442–458 |doi=10.1016/j.ygeno.2019.03.007 |doi-access=free |publisher=[[Elsevier]] |pmid=30902755}}</ref> The East Slavs gradually settled western Russia (approximately between modern [[Moscow]] and [[Saint-Petersburg]]) in two waves: one moving from [[Kyiv|Kiev]] towards present-day [[Suzdal]] and [[Murom]] and another from [[Polotsk]] towards [[Novgorod]] and [[Rostov, Yaroslavl Oblast|Rostov]].<ref>{{Cite book |author=[[David Christian (historian)|Christian, D.]] |title=A History of Russia, Central Asia and Mongolia |publisher=Blackwell Publishing |year=1998 |pages=6–7 |isbn=978-0-631-20814-3}}</ref> Prior to Slavic migration, that territory was populated by [[Finno-Ugrian]] peoples. From the 7th century onwards, the incoming East Slavs slowly assimilated the native Finno-Ugrians.<ref name="Curtis-1998">{{cite web |last=Curtis |first=Glenn E. |url=http://countrystudies.us/russia/2.htm |title=Russia – Early History |year=1998 |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=Federal Research Division of the [[Library of Congress]] |access-date=29 June 2021 |archive-date=14 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230814163709/https://countrystudies.us/russia/2.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>Ed. [[Timothy Reuter]], ''The New Cambridge Medieval History'', Volume 3, Cambridge University Press, 1995, pp. 494-497. {{ISBN|0-521-36447-7}}.</ref>
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