Barry Cunlife - The Scythians

predatory nomads
0 5
cm
4.21 A selection of bimetallic daggers of Kimmerian type.
spread westwards across the steppe during the ninth and eighth centuries, some of
4.21
them arriving on the Pontic steppe and establishing their authority over the local
population. To what extent the incoming elites maintained their separate identity
is unknown, but Herodotus’ story of how, when later the Kimmerians came under
pressure from Scythians moving into the Pontic region, there was discord between
their kings and the common people, hints at a hierarchic divide perhaps based on
ethnicity.
If this scenario is correct, it means that during the ninth and eighth century movements
of warrior nomads from the mountain region of eastern Central Asia to the
west took place episodically. The driving forces were, no doubt, varied: population
growth, the lure of better pastures in the west, and the ambition of these aspiring to
power would all have contributed. While the distances were not inconsiderable—
some 3,000 km from the Altai to the Black Sea—to a practised horseman used to the
steppe this could have been covered in a matter of a few months. The details of these
early migrations will remain unknown but the reality is likely to have been complex,
with some bands moving fast over long distances, others stopping on the way to
establish themselves in favoured locations. Battles will have been fought, the winners
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