Barry Cunlife - The Scythians

bodies clothed in skins
The large herds of non-working horses served two purposes. They had a recognized
value and could be used in barter, the size of the herd serving as an indication
of the status of the owning family. The second use was to provide food for the community,
milk on a daily basis and meat on those occasions when a feast was called
for. Mare milking is not an easy task. Herodotus describes one method. They ‘thrust
tubes made of bone, not unlike our musical pipes, up the vulva of the mare and then
blow into the tubes with their mouths, some milking while others blow’ (Hist. iv.
2). Modern mare-milkers in Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan use a less intrusive method
by taking foals to the mares to encourage them to lactate. Milking in this manner is
sometimes done six times a day. The milk would then have been put into large vessels
and left to ferment to make koumiss. The benefit of this process is that it converts the
lactose content into lactic acid, ethanol, and carbon dioxide, creating a slightly effervescent
mildly alcoholic drink that can safely be taken by those with lactose intolerance.
It is easy to digest and has medical benefits.
Flocks of sheep were also important. The gold pectoral from Tolstaya mogila (Gallery,
no. 9) shows a boy milking a ewe while in another part of the scene two men
stretch out a fleece. Sheep were also a prime source of meat. Most of the deceased
buried at Pazyryk were provided with an ample quantity of mutton to sustain them
on the journey to the other world. An analysis of the sheep bones found at Pazyryk
showed the beasts to have been of agile build, some at least being of the much desired
fat-tailed variety. Two types of wool were identified, coarse wool for felt making and
much finer wool for other tasks like embroidery. Clearly the sheep, rather like the
horses, were carefully selected to provide a varied range of end products.
The Tolstaya mogila pectoral also depicts goats and cattle with comparatively
short horns. Both animals would have been widely herded but not necessarily in
large numbers in all regions. Cattle have the need to drink large volumes of water at
least twice a day and on the open steppe away from the river valleys this would not
have been possible. In favoured areas, however, cattle might well have predominated.
The milk of cattle, sheep, and goats was made into cheese, the different kinds of milk
often being mixed. Cheese was an extremely efficient way to store food through the
winters. The quantity found in the Pazyryk tombs is an indication of its importance
to the community.
8.17a/b (Opposite) Rural scenes of animal husbandry displayed on the gold pectoral from the tomb of
Tolstaya mogila (see Gallery, no. 9).
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