[1][2][3] It came to flourish around the middle Volga, the southwest Urals and western Kazakhstan.

[13] It is considered to have been part of an eastward expansion of cultures originating on the Pontic steppe.

[21][22] The Potapovka culture is especially distinguished by the presence of bone cheek-pieces for controlling horses.

Potpovka kurgans measure around 24 to 30 m in diameter and stand up to half-a-meter in height.

Near the central burial complex, horses, cattle, sheep, goats and dogs may be found.

According to David W. Anthony, this is hardly accidental, testifying to a "symbolic connection" between the Poltavka and Potapovka people.

[b] In a study published in Nature in 2015, the remains of three individuals of the Potapovka culture was surveyed.

[6] In a genetic study published in Science in 2018, the remains four individuals ascribed to the Potapovka culture was analyzed.

These were found to harbor mixed ancestry from the Yamnaya culture and peoples of the Central European Middle Neolithic.

[f] The Potapovka culture is thought to belong to an eastward migration of Indo-European-speakers who eventually emerged as the Indo-Iranians.