Altai-Sayan Region

The Altai-Sayan region is a region of Inner Asia roughly proximate with the Altai Mountains and the Sayan Mountains. The Altai Mountains are a range situated right on the intersection between eastern Mongolia, northeastern China, Russia to the north, and Kazakhstan to the east. The Sayan Mountains are situated just to the northeast of the Altai range, located in northwestern Mongolia and southern Siberia, Russia.

While the Altai-Sayan region will be unfamiliar to most people, its significance cannot be understated in the context of the history of our species. For thousands of years of human history the Altai-Sayan region has been on the crossroads between East and West of Eurasia. It was through this region that the Silk Road passed, transporting goods, resources, ideas, people (both willing and not), and culture between the great nations of Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. In the mists of prehistory, this region was important in the spread of our species Out of Africa and throughout Eurasia on our way from the Middle East to Asia, and onwards to the Americas.

Today the Altai-Sayan region remains culturally, ethnically, and ecological diverse. The ecosystems of this land have probably changed the least since the End of the Last Ice Age of anywhere in the world, and remain one of the last places of refuge for some of the worlds most endangered species.

Anthropology

In addition to being culturally and ecologically diverse, it is also diverse in the language and religion of its inhabitants. Speakers of four major language families have traditionally called the Altai-Sayan region home: Slavic languages (such as Russian), Sinitic languages (like Chinese), Turkic languages, and Mongolic languages.

There are over 20 indigenous groups that call this land home, and maintain their ancestral ways. While religions like Tengrism, Shamanism, Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity are all practiced here.

In 2010 a discovery that shocked the world — and radically altered our perception of both the past and our own species — took place in the Altai-Sayan region. For it was here, in a mountain range mostly in Russia and Mongolia (but extending in a small percentage into China and Kazakhstan) that Denisova Cave was discovered.

Within Denisova Cave the 50,000–year–old fossilized remains of a previously unknown human ancestor species was discovered, the Denisovans. Since their discovery they have been identified within the modern homo sapiens genome. Further investigation in Denisova Cave discovered remains of Neanderthal man and homo sapiens alongside Denisovan remains, making the Altai-Sayan region the only geographical region where the habitat of all three of these species of man are known to have overlapped.

Another significant archaeological site in the region is Malaya Syya in Khakassia. It has been dated to 35,000 BCE. [1]

Ecology

The biological landscape of the Altai-Sayan region is especially diverse. In particular, the region might have protected its mammals better than any other on Earth during the cataclysmic End of the Last Ice Age. We see here perhaps the least disruption of local fauna who thrived during the last ice age — compared to places like the Americas where more than 40 species of large mammal went extinct.

Today the region is home to an estimated 700 rare or endangered species of vascular plants, as well as a number of endangered animals like the snow leopard, saiga (a species of antelope), nerpa (species of earless seal), and a number of rare or endangered migrating birds. [1]

Resources

1. Altai-Sayan region. Wikipedia. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altai-Sayan_region>. Accessed 24 Aug 2023.