Barry Cunlife - The Scythians

the rise of the pontic steppe scythians
disappeared into the tombs of the wealthy. It was not until the late eighteenth century
ad that they began to reappear, to the delight of an astonished world.
Not all the Greek cities of the north Pontic region thrived. Already by the fifth century
Olbia was beginning to decline while the cities of the Kimmerian Bosphorus
became more prosperous, taking over much of its trade. With the incursion of the
Sauromatians at the beginning of the fourth century Olbia suffered still further. It
lost its markets on the middle Dnieper, thus reducing its sphere of influence to a limited
coastal region between the estuaries of the Dnieper and Dniester. A further blow
came from Macedonia. Already in 339 bc Philip II had confronted a Scythian army
operating south of the Danube (above, pp. 55–7). Four years later Alexander crossed
the river in pursuit of the Getae. All this disruption upset the trading networks upon
which Olbia depended. Not long after, in 331 bc, one of Alexander’s generals, Zopyrion,
then serving as governor of Thrace, mounted a direct attack on the city. This
was repelled by a defending force of Scythian-Sarmatians, but it was the beginning of
the end of Olbia as tribes from the west, among them the Celts, began to move into
the region. From now on the interaction of the Greek and Scythian worlds became
firmly focused on the Bosporan kingdom.
Inland Markets and Royal Residences
Although settlements are known throughout the forest steppe zone, where they
were characteristic of the sedentary lifestyle of the indigenous population, such sites
played no part in the life of the early nomads on the open steppe. But with a more
settled economy developing in some parts of the region from the sixth century and
trade with the Greek cities intensifying, permanent settlements, sometimes of considerable
size, began to appear. The best known are Elizavetovskaya at the mouth of
the Don, Kamenskoe on the middle Dnieper, Trakhtemirov further upriver, Nadlimanskoe
near the estuary of the Dniester, and Bel’sk on the River Vorskla, a tributary
of the Dnieper.
The fortification (gorodišče) of Kamenskoe sits on the left bank of the Dnieper some
300 km upriver from the estuary. By making use of the natural defences provided by
the river, its tributary the Konka, and the salt lake of Belozërka, and by constructing
lengths of rampart and ditch between them, it was possible to create an enclosure
of 12 square kilometres. The defended area was further divided into two parts, an
‘acropolis’ sited high above the river with its own defensive earthworks, and a much
larger space within which were areas devoted to metalworking and an open tract
possibly reserved for grazing flocks and herds.
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