Barry Cunlife - The Scythians

the rise of the pontic steppe scythians
Scythian kurgans
Area of early Scythian occupation
Possible routes of Scythian raids
Don
Volga
Kuban
Kuma
Terek
Black Sea
C a u c a
s u s
M o u n
t a i
n s
Caspian
Sea
Kura
L.Sevan
Araxes
N
L.Van
L.Urmiya
0 300 miles
0 300km
5.1 One of the earliest incoming groups of Scythians settled in the north Caucasus with a concentration
in the valley of the River Kuban. From here warrior bands crossed the mountains in the late eighth and
seventh centuries to become involved in the conflicts being fought out between the Kingdom of Urartu
and the Assyrians.
tory which at the time was occupied by the Kimmerians. In this story, he said, ‘I am
more inclined to put faith than in any other’. An ultimate homeland in eastern Central
Asia, possibly in eastern Kazakhstan or the Altai–Sayan region, has archaeological
support. Not only are many elements characteristic of Scythian culture—aspects
of burial rites and types of weaponry—to be found there, rooted in the Final Bronze
Age Karasuk culture, but the animal art that pervades Scythian culture so clearly has
its origins in the Mongolian–Siberian region. The simplest hypothesis, consistent
with the available evidence, would be to see the Scythian migration to the west as
part of a general flow of horse-riding nomads, of which the Kimmerians had formed
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