This millennium sees many changes in the ways of life in North and Central Asia, although in the far north, hunting, fishing, and reindeer herding continue. On the steppes, horse-riding pastoralism becomes the dominant way of life at the beginning of the millennium, and a new military elite arises among these nomadic groups. By the middle of the millennium, major states to the west and east extend their political power into Central Asia, and new kinds of cities develop as a result. The rich mix of cultures, religions, and art styles intensifies through regular east-west trade along the Silk Road.