Barry Cunlife - The Scythians

bodies clothed in skins
much we can accept, but lack of facial hair is belied by iconographic representations
of Scythians with their healthy beards, unless, that is, the observer was referring to
a specifically Mongoloid band or tribes like those living in the Altai who preferred
to shave. Nor is the generalization about squatness supported by the archaeological
evidence. In some elite burials men are often over 1.80 m in height, but this is a factor
of status and the lower classes are consistently shorter, averaging 1.64 m. Pseudo-
Hippocrates may not have been enamoured with the nomads he encountered and
may have exaggerated a little but the picture he conjures up is probably not far from
the truth.
Recent scientific analysis of Scythian inhumations has thrown new light on the
health of the nomad. Four of the skeletons from the southern Siberian cemetery
of Aymyrlyg had bony lesions caused by gastrointestinal infections resulting from
bovine tuberculosis. Given the diet of the nomads the disease may well have been
widespread. Cancers are also attested. The elite male from the Arzhan 2 kurgan died
at the age of 40–50 from prostate cancer after months of being bedridden, while the
30-year-old woman from Ak-Alakha suffered from terminal breast cancer and died
not long after a serious fall from a horse. Evidence of bed sores suggests that she, too,
had become bedridden. In her last years she relieved her considerable pain by inhaling
hemp, traces of which were found in her hair. Had Pseudo-Hippocrates known of
all this it would have confirmed his low opinion of the nomadic lifestyle.
Dress and Display
There are many depictions of Scythians on items of precious metal made in the north
Pontic workshops. Two are particularly informative: the gold-plated silver bowl from
Gaymanova mogila and the gold beaker from Kul’-Oba, both dating to the second
half of the fourth century. The bowl (Gallery, no. 3) depicts six men in various sitting
or reclining positions, apparently in an easy social context, while the beaker (Gallery,
no. 1) shows seven men kneeling or sitting on the ground engaged in activities
which would seem to suggest two separate scenes, one before and one after a battle.
Twelve of the thirteen figures have shoulder-length hair and long beards, in one case
the hair being held off the face with a bandana. The figures on the Kul’-Oba beaker
wear long-sleeved thigh-length tunics, tightly belted and cut somewhat longer at the
back than the front, over close-fitting trousers with soft calf-length boots bound at
the ankle. Three of the figures wear tall pointed hats coming down to the shoulders
and covering the ears. It is not clear what material the clothes were made of but in
all probability it was thick felt or soft leather lined with felt or fur. The trousers were
heavily decorated with what appears to be embroidery. The tunics and hats were
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