Kushnarenkovo culture

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The Kushnarenkovo culture was an Iron Age culture in the Southern Urals. It was first described from excavations at the Kushnarenkovo burial ground in Bashkortostan led by V. F. Gening in 1955–1959. The culture flourished in the 6th–8th centuries in the Zakamye area, in the basins of the White, Kama, and Ik rivers. It likely formed in the mid-6th century as people moved from forest-steppe regions of the Trans-Urals and Western Siberia. By the 8th century, another culture, the Karayakupovo, appeared to the west of the Ural.

Burials show changes over time: early graves were under mounds with the heads turned north and skulls that show artificial deformation. Later, heads faced west. Grave goods included weapons, horse gear, jewelry, and various ceramics. A lot of pottery has been found at their settlements; the vessels are round and often richly decorated.

Scholars generally link the Kushnarenkovo people to nomadic Ugrian groups. Some researchers see them as ancestors of the ancient Magyars (Hungarians), while others consider them to be ancestors of the ancient Bashkirs. Some genetic studies have found links between late Kushnarenkovo samples (from the 8th–11th centuries) and early Hungarians.