Horses and Gold: The Scythians of the Eurasian Steppes

Abstract

Beginning in the seventh century B.C., a people known to us as the Scythians ranged over Eurasia from the Black Sea to the borders of China. They were one of numerous eastern nomadic groups that swept over Europe between the first millennium B.C. and the middle of the second millennium A.D. The east-to-west movement of these nomadic military societies changed the character of the population in Europe and Asia both by displacing indigenous peoples and by transmitting a new culture. By the third century A.D. the Scythians had passed from the historical scene, but their art and culture left a lasting legacy. Little was known about them outside of contemporary writings until the late eighteenth century, when an intense scientific interest in ancient cultures began to develop. Earlier Russian engineers and explorers had collected objects from Scythian graves, but these discoveries were not widely disseminated. It was not until the early twentieth century that the world became aware of the richness of Scythian culture, when finds from the Altai Mountains were published.

For 28 years the Scythiam were masters over Asia, and all was wasted by their violence and pride, for apart from their exacting of tribute, which they laid upon each man, they rode around and plundered whatsoever it was that anyone possessed.¹