The Andronovo culture, named for the village where the first archaeological remains identified as belonging to the culture were discovered, is a blanket term for the groups of people who inhabited the Kazakh steppe between 1800 and 1200 BCE.
[1]
Although these people were dispersed throughout the steppe, there is evidence that communities were in communication with each other. Similar subsistence strategies - sheep and cattle herding combined with small-scale arable farming - were employed and evidence of a shared pottery style has been found. There was also a tradition of metallurgy that included the mining and use of copper, tin and gold and the manufacture of bronze, which was exchanged within interregional trade networks.
[2]
[1]
Population and political organization
Little is known about the social or political organization of Andronovo communities. Settlements were small in scale, comprising around 10 to 40 houses with between 50 and 250 inhabitants per settlement.
[1]
[1]: (Cunliffe 2015, 142) Cunliffe, Barry. 2015. By Steppe, Desert, and Ocean: The Birth of Eurasia. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/AF5PABXA.
[2]: (Masson 1992, 349-350) Masson, V. M. 1992. “The Decline of the Bronze Age Civilization and Movements of the Tribes.” In History of Civilizations of Central Asia, Vol I: The Dawn of Civilization: Earliest Times to 700 B.C., edited by A. H. Dani and V. M. Masson, 337-56. Paris: UNESCO. Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/IKGC9NGJ.
| none |
| Andronovan |
| Yaz I |
| [2,200,000 to 2,300,000] km2 |
| Succeeding: Koktepe I (uz_koktepe_1) [None] | |
| Preceding: Sarazm (tj_sarasm) [None] |
| quasi-polity |
| inferred present |
| present |
| inferred present |
| unknown |
| inferred present |
| present |
| unknown |
| present |
| unknown |
| inferred present |
| Year Range | Andronovo (kz_andronovo) was in: |
|---|---|
| (2000 BCE 1401 BCE) | Sogdiana |
"The ’Andronovo culture’ is a convenient way of referring to the various communities sharing a broadly similar culture that occupied the Kazakh steppe in the period 1800-1200 BC. It represents the consolidation of disparate groups whose livelihood was based on the herding of cattle and sheep, with some recourse to small-scale crop growing, who chose to decorate their pottery in similar ways and to use bronze tools and weapons of broadly similar kinds." [1]
[1]: (Cunliffe 2015, 142) Cunliffe, Barry. 2015. By Steppe, Desert, and Ocean: The Birth of Eurasia. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
"The tin mines of the Zeravshan River valley were found and investigated by N. Boroffka and H. Parzinger between 1997 and 1999. Two tin mines with Bronze Age workings were excavated. The largest was in the desert on the lower Zeravshan at Karnab (Uzbekistan), about 170km west of Sarazm, exploiting cassiterite ores with a moderate tin content ... The potter and radiocarbon dates show that the Karnab mine was worked by people from the northern steppes, connected with the Andronovo horizon ... Dates ranged from 1900 to 1300 BCE ..."
[1]
"The ’Andronovo culture’ is a convenient way of referring to the various communities sharing a broadly similar culture that occupied the Kazakh steppe in the period 1800-1200 BC."
[2]
"By 1600 BCE, peoples carrying the Andronovo cultural package had displaced, if not destroyed, the Bactrian/Margiana towns."
[3]
[1]: (Anthony 2010, 420) Anthony, David W. 2010. The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World. Princeton University Press.
[2]: (Cunliffe 2015, 142) Cunliffe, Barry. 2015. By Steppe, Desert, and Ocean: The Birth of Eurasia. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
[3]: (Lee 2015, 60) Lee, Wayne E. 2015. Waging War: Conflict, Culture, and Innovation in World History. Oxford University Press.
"Some communities specialized in copper mining, which was now carried out on an industrial scale, and it was Andronovo miners who began to exploit the tin ores of the Zeravshan range to enable them to produce standard tin bronze. The pastoral nature of the economy and the trade in bronze maintained a degree of social connectivity throughout the Kazakh steppe and adjacent regions." [1]
[1]: (Cunliffe 2015, 142) Cunliffe, Barry. 2015. By Steppe, Desert, and Ocean: The Birth of Eurasia. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
km squared. 2.2 - 2.3 million km2.
in squared kilometers
"En légère contradiction, E. Kuz’mina (1994b) préconise que l’usage des pâturages à disposition près des villages Andronovo devait conduire tous les 20-25 ans à un déplacement, de ces tribus de plusieurs douzaines de kilomètres à la recherche de pâturages exploitables."
[1]
The use of grazing lands near Andronovo villages led to their relocation every 20-25 years, several dozens of kilometers away to look for new lands to exploit. If a village is roughly equivalent to an independent polity, each polity has a catchment area of several dozens km to allow for grazing. We can give a very rough estimate using such approximations (24-72 km to find a new village). Estimates could range between 1800 square kilometers (24 km) to 16300 square kilometers (72 km). To allow for more variability, they are coded as 1500-20,000. AD.
[1]: (Kuz’mina in Bendezu-Sarmiento 2007, 205)
"It was Andronovo communities that we saw moving southwards into the desert zone and adopting irrigation agriculture in favourable places like the delta of the Amu Darya and the Zeravshan region." [1]
[1]: (Cunliffe 2015, 142) Cunliffe, Barry. 2015. By Steppe, Desert, and Ocean: The Birth of Eurasia. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
"The tin mines of the Zeravshan River valley were found and investigated by N. Boroffka and H. Parzinger between 1997 and 1999. Two tin mines with Bronze Age workings were excavated. The largest was in the desert on the lower Zeravshan at Karnab (Uzbekistan), about 170km west of Sarazm, exploiting cassiterite ores with a moderate tin content ... The potter and radiocarbon dates show that the Karnab mine was worked by people from the northern steppes, connected with the Andronovo horizon ... Dates ranged from 1900 to 1300 BCE ..." [1] "Some communities specialized in copper mining, which was now carried out on an industrial scale, and it was Andronovo miners who began to exploit the tin ores of the Zeravshan range to enable them to produce standard tin bronze." [2]
[1]: (Anthony 2010, 420) Anthony, David W. 2010. The Horse, the Wheel, and Language: How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World. Princeton University Press.
[2]: (Cunliffe 2015, 142) Cunliffe, Barry. 2015. By Steppe, Desert, and Ocean: The Birth of Eurasia. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
The Andronovo settlement Chernoozerje on the Irtysh river was surrounded by a palisade. [1] Sintashta culture 2100-1800 BCE: "One of the signature innovations of the Sintashta culture was the appearance of heavily fortified permanent settlements, with ditches, banks, and substantial palisade walls, in the steppes southeast of the Urals, beginning a shift from mobile to settled pastoralism that was adopted soon afterward across the northern steppe zone both to the east and the west. The late 3rd milennium BC was a time of intensified conflict and intensified interchange between the people of the northern steppes and the forest zone. Conflict and competition for shrinking marsh resources essential for wintering-over pastoral herds probably led to the sedentarization of the formerly mobile pastoralists of the steppes." [2]
[1]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 38) Elena Efimovna Kuzʹmina. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. J P Mallory ed. BRILL. Leiden.
[2]: (Anthony and Brown 2014, 66) David W Anthony. Dorcas R Brown. Horseback Riding and Bronze Age Pastoralism in the Eurasian Steppes. Victor H Mair. Jane Hickman. eds. 2014. Reconfiguring the Silk Road: New Research on East-West Exchange in Antiquity. University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Philadelphia.
"The Andronovans employed as building materials birch, pine and cedar (Siberian pine), rarely other species." [1] Stone was used where there were no trees. [2] The Liventsovka fortress near Rostov on Don "is a semicircular promontory fort, 20-24m high, enclosed by a double semi-circle of massive stone walls and surrounded by ditches, 2-6m wide and 2-3m deep." [3] Note: The Liventsova fortress is not Andronovan but a related culture.
[1]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 42) Elena Efimovna Kuzʹmina. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. J P Mallory ed. BRILL. Leiden.
[2]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 38) Elena Efimovna Kuzʹmina. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. J P Mallory ed. BRILL. Leiden.
[3]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 33) Elena Efimovna Kuzʹmina. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. J P Mallory ed. BRILL. Leiden.
Andronovo: "Larger fortified settlements were built in the steppe, protected by walls and ditches." [1] "The Andronovans employed as building materials birch, pine and cedar (Siberian pine), rarely other species." [2] Stone was used where there were no trees. [3] The Liventsovka fortress near Rostov on Don "is a semicircular promontory fort, 20-24m high, enclosed by a double semi-circle of massive stone walls and surrounded by ditches, 2-6m wide and 2-3m deep." [4] Note: The Liventsova fortress is not Andronovan.
[1]: (Barisitz 2017, 16) Stephan Barisitz. 2017. Central Asia and the Silk Road: Economic Rise and Decline over Several Millennia. Springer. Cham.
[2]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 42) Elena Efimovna Kuzʹmina. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. J P Mallory ed. BRILL. Leiden.
[3]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 38) Elena Efimovna Kuzʹmina. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. J P Mallory ed. BRILL. Leiden.
[4]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 33) Elena Efimovna Kuzʹmina. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. J P Mallory ed. BRILL. Leiden.
Sintashta-Petrovka culture (slightly preceding the Andronovo) in southern Urals: "The fortification and layout of the settlements were deliberately planned in advance, taking into account the natural relief. Sites are surrounded by a ditch ... with two rows of defensive walls, 1.7m and more thick, made of clay blocks and vertically erected pine logs ... Walls were also made of timber frameworks filled with earth; there was probably a timber palisade above them. The ditch was cut in steps and reinforced by logs." [1] Sintashta culture 2100-1800 BCE: "One of the signature innovations of the Sintashta culture was the appearance of heavily fortified permanent settlements, with ditches, banks, and substantial palisade walls, in the steppes southeast of the Urals, beginning a shift from mobile to settled pastoralism that was adopted soon afterward across the northern steppe zone both to the east and the west. The late 3rd milennium BC was a time of intensified conflict and intensified interchange between the people of the northern steppes and the forest zone. Conflict and competition for shrinking marsh resources essential for wintering-over pastoral herds probably led to the sedentarization of the formerly mobile pastoralists of the steppes." [2]
[1]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 32) Elena Efimovna Kuzʹmina. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. J P Mallory ed. BRILL. Leiden.
[2]: (Anthony and Brown 2014, 66) David W Anthony. Dorcas R Brown. Horseback Riding and Bronze Age Pastoralism in the Eurasian Steppes. Victor H Mair. Jane Hickman. eds. 2014. Reconfiguring the Silk Road: New Research on East-West Exchange in Antiquity. University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Philadelphia.
Sintashta-Petrovka culture (slightly preceding the Andronovo) in southern Urals: "The fortification and layout of the settlements were deliberately planned in advance, taking into account the natural relief. Sites are surrounded by a ditch ... with two rows of defensive walls, 1.7m and more thick, made of clay blocks and vertically erected pine logs ... Walls were also made of timber frameworks filled with earth; there was probably a timber palisade above them. The ditch was cut in steps and reinforced by logs." [1] Andronovo: "Larger fortified settlements were built in the steppe, protected by walls and ditches." [2] Sintashta culture 2100-1800 BCE: "One of the signature innovations of the Sintashta culture was the appearance of heavily fortified permanent settlements, with ditches, banks, and substantial palisade walls, in the steppes southeast of the Urals, beginning a shift from mobile to settled pastoralism that was adopted soon afterward across the northern steppe zone both to the east and the west. The late 3rd milennium BC was a time of intensified conflict and intensified interchange between the people of the northern steppes and the forest zone. Conflict and competition for shrinking marsh resources essential for wintering-over pastoral herds probably led to the sedentarization of the formerly mobile pastoralists of the steppes." [3]
[1]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 32) Elena Efimovna Kuzʹmina. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. J P Mallory ed. BRILL. Leiden.
[2]: (Barisitz 2017, 16) Stephan Barisitz. 2017. Central Asia and the Silk Road: Economic Rise and Decline over Several Millennia. Springer. Cham.
[3]: (Anthony and Brown 2014, 66) David W Anthony. Dorcas R Brown. Horseback Riding and Bronze Age Pastoralism in the Eurasian Steppes. Victor H Mair. Jane Hickman. eds. 2014. Reconfiguring the Silk Road: New Research on East-West Exchange in Antiquity. University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. Philadelphia.
Sintashta-Petrovka culture (slightly preceding the Andronovo) in southern Urals: "The fortification and layout of the settlements were deliberately planned in advance, taking into account the natural relief. Sites are surrounded by a ditch ... with two rows of defensive walls, 1.7m and more thick, made of clay blocks and vertically erected pine logs ... Walls were also made of timber frameworks filled with earth; there was probably a timber palisade above them. The ditch was cut in steps and reinforced by logs." [1] The (not Andronovo) Bactrian-Margiana Archaeological Complex c2200-1700 BCE of southern Turkmenistan is very close to Sogdiana region: here "The presence of triple-walled circular forts in the BMAC also matches the description of the fortified sites depicted in the Vedas. [2] Strong inferrence for Andronovo also.
[1]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 32) Elena Efimovna Kuzʹmina. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. J P Mallory ed. BRILL. Leiden.
[2]: (Mallory 1997, 72-73) J P Mallory. BMAC. J P Mallory. D Q Adams. ed. 1997. Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers. London.
"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE. The Scythian bow was different from the Mesopotamian one primarily in its overall dimensions - it was smaller so that it could be used from the horseback. At the same time, self bows were also in use, but because of their large size they were not suitable for use by horse riders." [1]
[1]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018.
Judging from contemporary texts from Mesopotamia chariot warriors typically required the spear. [1] Vedic sources connect charioteering with spear. [2] Presumably this is a spear that could be thrown from the chariot?
[1]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 136) Elena Efimovna Kuzʹmina. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. J P Mallory ed. BRILL. Leiden.
[2]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 136-137) Elena Efimovna Kuzʹmina. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. J P Mallory ed. BRILL. Leiden.
absent before the gunpowder era
"Composite bows are known from both Mesopotamia and the Great Steppe from the III millennium BCE. The Scythian bow was different from the Mesopotamian one primarily in its overall dimensions - it was smaller so that it could be used from the horseback. At the same time, self bows were also in use, but because of their large size they were not suitable for use by horse riders." [1] Judging from contemporary texts from Mesopotamia and also Vedic sources chariot warriors typically required the bow and arrow. [2]
[1]: Sergey A Nefedov, RAN Institute of History and Archaeology, Yekaterinburg, Russia. Personal Communication to Peter Turchin. January 2018.
[2]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 136) Elena Efimovna Kuzʹmina. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. J P Mallory ed. BRILL. Leiden.
Vedic sources connect charioteering with mace. [1] Not everyone agrees Vedic culture was descendant from, and thus can tell us about, Andronovo culture. [2]
[1]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 136-137) Elena Efimovna Kuzʹmina. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. J P Mallory ed. BRILL. Leiden.
[2]: (Lamberg-Karlovsky 144-145) C C Lamberg-Karlovsky. 2005. Archaeology and language: the case of the Bronze Age Indo-Iranians. Edwin Francis Bryant. Laurie L Patton. eds. The Indo-Aryan Controversy: Evidence and Inference in Indian History. Routledge. Abingdon.
Vedic sources connect charioteering with sword. [1] Not everyone agrees Vedic culture was descendant from, and thus can tell us about, Andronovo culture. [2]
[1]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 136-137) Elena Efimovna Kuzʹmina. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. J P Mallory ed. BRILL. Leiden.
[2]: (Lamberg-Karlovsky 144-145) C C Lamberg-Karlovsky. 2005. Archaeology and language: the case of the Bronze Age Indo-Iranians. Edwin Francis Bryant. Laurie L Patton. eds. The Indo-Aryan Controversy: Evidence and Inference in Indian History. Routledge. Abingdon.
"the warrior’s weapon includes a sword (Yašt 5.130; 10.131; 14.27), a spear (Yašt 10.39,102; 15.48; 17.12), bow and arrows (Yašt 7.28; 10.39) and a mace, which sometimes has a bull handle, sometimes it has 100 edges (Yašt 6.5, 10.96, 101, 132; 11,10), and sometimes it is made of gold (Yašt 10.96, 131). The body was covered by protective armor, the main part of which was a helmet made of a bull skin or metal (Yašt 13.45; 15.57) and a shield." [1] Andronovo had spearheads. [2] Judging from contemporary texts from Mesopotamia chariot warriors typically required the spear. [3] Vedic sources connect charioteering with spear. [4] Was this spear only one thrown from the chariot or was it also used as a handheld weapon?
[1]: (Kuz’mina 2007: 137) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/UW7JEMDK/q/Kuz’mina.
[2]: (Mallory 1997, 21) J P Mallory. Andronovo culture. J P Mallory. D Q Adams. eds. 1997. Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture. Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers. Chicago.
[3]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 136) Elena Efimovna Kuzʹmina. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. J P Mallory ed. BRILL. Leiden.
[4]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 136-137) Elena Efimovna Kuzʹmina. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. J P Mallory ed. BRILL. Leiden.
"Bronze knives, awls, stone axes, maces and grindstones are mentioned in the texts". [1] Vedic sources connect charioteering with use of bronze knife [2] but not sure of context whether this means it’s certainly used as a weapon or whether it could be only a tool. Not everyone agrees Vedic culture was descendant from, and thus can tell us about, Andronovo culture. [3]
[1]: (Kuz’mina 2007: 136) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/UW7JEMDK/q/Kuz’mina.
[2]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 136-137) Elena Efimovna Kuzʹmina. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. J P Mallory ed. BRILL. Leiden.
[3]: (Lamberg-Karlovsky 144-145) C C Lamberg-Karlovsky. 2005. Archaeology and language: the case of the Bronze Age Indo-Iranians. Edwin Francis Bryant. Laurie L Patton. eds. The Indo-Aryan Controversy: Evidence and Inference in Indian History. Routledge. Abingdon.
Vedic sources connect charioteering with stone axe. [1] Not everyone agrees Vedic culture was descendant from, and thus can tell us about, Andronovo culture. [2]
[1]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 136-137) Elena Efimovna Kuzʹmina. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. J P Mallory ed. BRILL. Leiden.
[2]: (Lamberg-Karlovsky 144-145) C C Lamberg-Karlovsky. 2005. Archaeology and language: the case of the Bronze Age Indo-Iranians. Edwin Francis Bryant. Laurie L Patton. eds. The Indo-Aryan Controversy: Evidence and Inference in Indian History. Routledge. Abingdon.
Used in chariot warfare (16th-12th centuries BCE) and, later in the period, for riding. [1] "In the 12th century BC chariot warfare tactics lost their importance in Andronovo society; mounted horsemen armed with bows and arrows replaced chariot drivers." [2] The bridle was developed across the period. Class III, Type II cheek pieces appeared at the end of the 2nd millennium BCE which "shows the time when horse riding spread across the steppes." [1]
[1]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 131) Elena Efimovna Kuzʹmina. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. J P Mallory ed. BRILL. Leiden.
[2]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 138) Elena Efimovna Kuzʹmina. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. J P Mallory ed. BRILL. Leiden.
Judging from contemporary texts from Mesopotamia chariot warriors typically required the leather shield and Vedic sources also mention a shield in reference to the equipment of charioteer gods. [1]
[1]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 136-137) Elena Efimovna Kuzʹmina. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. J P Mallory ed. BRILL. Leiden.
Judging from contemporary texts from Mesopotamia chariot warriors (currently not confirmed by archaeology) typically required arm and neck protection. This could include a leather hood that covered the neck and shoulders and which had sewn-in bronze plates (numbering 140-190). [1]
[1]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 136) Elena Efimovna Kuzʹmina. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. J P Mallory ed. BRILL. Leiden.
Vedic for ’breastplate’ is Indo-Iranian. [1] Not everyone agrees Vedic culture was descendant from, and thus can tell us about, Andronovo culture. [2]
[1]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 137) Elena Efimovna Kuzʹmina. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. J P Mallory ed. BRILL. Leiden.
[2]: (Lamberg-Karlovsky 144-145) C C Lamberg-Karlovsky. 2005. Archaeology and language: the case of the Bronze Age Indo-Iranians. Edwin Francis Bryant. Laurie L Patton. eds. The Indo-Aryan Controversy: Evidence and Inference in Indian History. Routledge. Abingdon.
Judging from contemporary texts from Mesopotamia chariot warriors (currently not confirmed by archaeology) typically required arm and neck protection. This could include a leather hood that covered the neck and shoulders and which had sewn-in bronze plates (numbering 140-190). [1] "the warrior’s weapon includes a sword (Yašt 5.130; 10.131; 14.27), a spear (Yašt 10.39,102; 15.48; 17.12), bow and arrows (Yašt 7.28; 10.39) and a mace, which sometimes has a bull handle, sometimes it has 100 edges (Yašt 6.5, 10.96, 101, 132; 11,10), and sometimes it is made of gold (Yašt 10.96, 131). The body was covered by protective armor, the main part of which was a helmet made of a bull skin or metal (Yašt 13.45; 15.57) and a shield." [2]
[1]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 136) Elena Efimovna Kuzʹmina. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. J P Mallory ed. BRILL. Leiden.
[2]: (Kuz’mina 2007: 137) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/UW7JEMDK/q/Kuz’mina.
Vedic sources mention charioteer warrior gods with helmet of bull skin or metal. [1] Judging from contemporary texts from Mesopotamia chariot warriors (currently not confirmed by archaeology) typically required "leather coats of mail (sometimes with bronze) for horses". [2]
[1]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 137) Elena Efimovna Kuzʹmina. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. J P Mallory ed. BRILL. Leiden.
[2]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 136) Elena Efimovna Kuzʹmina. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. J P Mallory ed. BRILL. Leiden.
Vedic sources mention charioteer warrior gods with helmet of bull skin or metal. [1] Not everyone agrees Vedic culture was descendant from, and thus can tell us about, Andronovo culture. [2]
[1]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 137) Elena Efimovna Kuzʹmina. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. J P Mallory ed. BRILL. Leiden.
[2]: (Lamberg-Karlovsky 144-145) C C Lamberg-Karlovsky. 2005. Archaeology and language: the case of the Bronze Age Indo-Iranians. Edwin Francis Bryant. Laurie L Patton. eds. The Indo-Aryan Controversy: Evidence and Inference in Indian History. Routledge. Abingdon.
Judging from contemporary texts from Mesopotamia chariot warriors (currently not confirmed by archaeology) typically required "leather coats of mail (sometimes with bronze) for horses". [1] I don’t believe that chain mail is referred to here.
[1]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 136) Elena Efimovna Kuzʹmina. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. J P Mallory ed. BRILL. Leiden.
"the warrior’s weapon includes a sword (Yašt 5.130; 10.131; 14.27), a spear (Yašt 10.39,102; 15.48; 17.12), bow and arrows (Yašt 7.28; 10.39) and a mace, which sometimes has a bull handle, sometimes it has 100 edges (Yašt 6.5, 10.96, 101, 132; 11,10), and sometimes it is made of gold (Yašt 10.96, 131). The body was covered by protective armor, the main part of which was a helmet made of a bull skin or metal (Yašt 13.45; 15.57) and a shield." [1] Vedic for ’breastplate’ is Indo-Iranian. [2] Not everyone agrees Vedic culture was descendant from, and thus can tell us about, Andronovo culture. [3]
[1]: (Kuz’mina 2007: 137) Seshat URL: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1051264/seshat_databank/items/itemKey/UW7JEMDK/q/Kuz’mina.
[2]: (Kuz’mina 2007, 137) Elena Efimovna Kuzʹmina. 2007. The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. J P Mallory ed. BRILL. Leiden.
[3]: (Lamberg-Karlovsky 144-145) C C Lamberg-Karlovsky. 2005. Archaeology and language: the case of the Bronze Age Indo-Iranians. Edwin Francis Bryant. Laurie L Patton. eds. The Indo-Aryan Controversy: Evidence and Inference in Indian History. Routledge. Abingdon.