Barry Cunlife - The Scythians

bending the bow
9.27 The gilded silver facing plate from the gorytos found in the Solocha burial. Though brittle and
broken, it shows a battle scene between young (unbearded) Scythian warriors and older Scythians (with
beards), perhaps illustrating the story told by Herodotus of the attempted repulsion of warriors returning
after a long absence.
since the artist has been at pains to distinguish them as different individuals by their
clothing, especially by the decoration of their trousers. A storyteller, armed with the
beaker, would have been able to use it as a visual aid, either to tell of an event and of
individuals who had taken part or to use it as a moral guide for young men approaching
battle for the first time.
The Solokha comb is altogether different (Gallery, no. 5). Here are three men at
a tense moment in battle. In the centre is a heavily armed warrior on horseback
wielding a short spear confronting another man on foot with a short sword/dagger
ready for action. Between them is an expiring horse bleeding profusely from a
neck wound—presumably the mount of the man now forced to fight on foot. Behind
the mounted warrior, advancing in his support, is a simply dressed foot soldier with
shield and short sword/dagger poised. The two principal adversaries, both wearing
armour, though of different kinds, are presumably members of the elite, while the
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