Barry Cunlife - The Scythians

of gods, beliefs, and art
they chose to display on their dress and on that of the horses, in their homes, and
tattooed on their bodies were part of their identity. These images proclaimed shared
values; they protected them, and, we can suppose, they pleased them. But it was seldom,
if ever, art for art’s sake. Even the painted decoration on such disposable items
as arrow shafts is likely to have had meaning, ensuring that the arrow sped true to its
prey and struck with a viper’s sting.
For much of their long history the Scythians and related nomads were in contact
with other peoples and learned from them: from the Persians, from the warring polities
in the Near East, and from the Greeks. Even people remote from direct contact
with neighbouring states could not escape outside influence. The communities of
the Altai lived with ornate items from Persia, India, and China alongside their homegrown
folk art. Outside influences can be recognized taking hold over time but the
nomad tradition remained strong, allowing in only those alien expressions that sat
comfortably with their central beliefs and values. Even when foreign craftsmen were
at work serving the Scythian elite, as in the case of the Greek masters living around
the Black Sea, the items produced conformed closely to Scythian demands, reflecting
the nomad way of life and their understanding of the world.
Scythian art has its origins in the art of the early nomads of the Karasuk and
Tagar periods in the Minusinsk Basin in southern Siberia, which itself has deep
roots in the rock carved animal art of a larger region, including modern Mongolia
and eastern Kazakhstan. The recurring motifs were wild animals that lived in
the mountainous regions and the forest steppe, the most commonly chosen being
stags, felines, and birds. The deer is depicted as a noble beast often in repose with
legs tucked beneath its body. Conceptually it may have symbolized the source of
life. The felines, often coiled upon themselves, and the birds of prey with sharp
beaks are predators in competition for the deer. Thus all three interact, creating an
interlocking cycle of tension. For pastoralists husbanding the flocks and herds in
the mountains and forests, deer and of the other herbivores—the elk, the moose,
and the ram—would have been familiar sights and scenes of predation would not
have been uncommon. Life’s struggle was ever present: it was the very essence of
being and it is no surprise that it became a central theme in Scythian art. How the
struggle was conceptualized to fit into a world view of the supernatural we can only
guess at but the deer, or its herbivore substitutes, may have been conceived of as the
Tree of Life sustaining a world always in tension. In the hands of a shaman it was
powerful imagery through which to contain people’s fears and superstitions and it
pervaded their lives.
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