Abstract:

Many discussions have been made and opinions have been put forward on the origins of the nomadic Scythian/Saka (Sai), Wusun, and Yuezhi communities, which are seen to be engaged in animal husbandry and within the steppe culture circle in the sources. Although our reference resources on the history and cultures of these communities are limited, we obtain basic historical information about them from Ancient Greek, Assyrian, Persian and especially for the Wusuns, which is our article subject, from Chinese sources. However, thanks to material culture remnants, we can deduce about their socio-cultural and economic life and their religious conceptions. Wusuns, one of the nomadic communities mentioned above, is a community that settled especially in the Yedisu region, historically traceable back to the Huns period and engaged in animal husbandry. Many material cultural remnants have been identified in the Yedisu region belonging to the Wusuns. In this respect, our study reveals the information found in historical sources, and the discussions on the origin of the Wusuns in this context and the comparative relations of Wusuns material culture elements with Turkish material culture remnants.