Barry Cunlife - The Scythians

Don
the rise of the pontic steppe scythians
According to Pseudo-Hippocrates, towards the end of the fifth century or the
beginning of the fourth Sauromatae from the Volga River region moved westwards
across the Don into Scythian territory. In a slightly later text the particular group
on the move were referred to as Syrmatai, which may be just a variant spelling. The
infiltration of the Scythian Pontic steppe by Sauromatae can be recognized in the
N
Kurgans
Samara–Ural culture
Sauromatae (Herodotus)
Maeotians
Volga
Kama
Oka
Ural
S AUROMATA E
AORSI
Sea of
Azov
Donets
S AUROMATAE
Don
Volga
Caspian
Emba
MASSAG E TA E
Kuban
Sea
Black Sea
S I R A C
E S
0 200 miles
0 200km
5.5 The Sauromatae, who occupied an extensive region east of the River Don, were nomads culturally
similar to the Scythians of the Pontic steppe. From the fourth century bc there was a general movement to
the west involving different tribal groups mentioned by name by classical writers.
120