Human settlement | |
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Indo-European migrations
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Current distribution of the Uralic languages
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Prehistory | |
Paleo Humans |
Homo neanderthalensis Modern humans |
Northern and Central Ural | |
Proto-Uralic homeland | Finno-Ugric, Komi, Udmurts, Khants, Mansi, Samoyeds, Nenets, |
Southern Ural | |
Indo-European migrations Nomadic migration Settled tribes |
Andronovo culture, Sintashta culture Scythians, Sarmatians Huns, Avars, Slavs, Bulgars, Avars-Warhonits, Turks of Ashina, Pechenegs, Guzs, Hungarians-Magyars, Kipchaks, Mongols, Golden Horde, Tyurks, Bashkirs, Volga Tatars |
Colonization period, Modern Era | |
The Ural Mountains extend from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Ural River and northwestern Kazakhstan in the south over a distance of 1,500 mi (2,400 km), the boundary between Europe and Asia. Human occupation begins in the Paleolithic and continues to this day.
Earliest presence is documented for the Homo neanderthalensis. Although no Neanderthal fossils were ever discovered, stone tools found at Byzovaya, that date to 33,000 years ago are attributed to the Mousterian culture.
Indigenous people, that migrated in the prehistoric era belong to the Ural-Altaic language families, such as Finno-Ugric, Komi, Udmurts, Khants, Mansi; Samoyeds - Nenets; Tyurks - Bashkirs and Volga Tatars. The name "Uralic" derives from the fact that areas where these languages are spoken spread on both sides of the Ural Mountains. Also, the original homeland (Urheimat) is commonly hypothesized to lie in the vicinity of the Urals. Proto-Uralic is the reconstructed language ancestral to the Uralic language family. The language was originally spoken in a small area about 7,000 to 2,000 years BCE (estimates vary), and expanded to differentiated proto-languages. The exact location of the area or Urheimat is not known and various strongly differing proposals have been advocated, but the vicinity of the Ural Mountains is usually assumed.
Indo-European settlers of the Southern Ural region arrive during the Bronze Age and the middle of the first millennium BCE. Colonization by the Russian Empire including Ukrainians, Germans and other peoples begins during the 16th century.