Barry Cunlife - The Scythians

further reading
(Cambridge, 2011), 71–106 and by A. Y. Alekseyev, ‘Scythian Kings and “Royal” Burial-
Mounds of the Fifth and Fourth Centuries BC’, in D. Braund (ed.), Scythians and Greeks:
Cultural Interactions in Scythia, Athens and the Early Roman Empire (Sixth Century BC–First
Century AD) (Exeter, 2005), 39–55.
That gender boundaries were fluid among the Scythians is explicitly stated by
various classical observers, most notably Herodotus and Pseudo-Hippocrates. This
theme and the role of women as warriors have been explored by a number of writers,
most notably by J. Davis-Kimball in three papers: ‘Burial Practices of Iranian Sarmatians’,
Journal of Indo-European Studies. Monograph, 23 (1995), 68–85; ‘Sauro-Sarmatian
Nomadic Women: New Gender Identities’, Journal of Indo-European Studies, 25 (1997),
327–43; and ‘Amazons, Priestesses and Other Women of State: Females in Eurasian
Nomadic Societies’, Silk Road Art and Archaeology, 5 (1998), 1–50. The theme is also
considered in a wide-ranging paper by B. Hanks, ‘Reconsidering Warfare, Status, and
Gender in the Eurasian Steppe Iron Age’, in K. M. Linduff and K. S. Rubinson (eds.),
Are All Warriors Male? Gender Roles on the Ancient Eurasian Steppe (Lanham, Md., 2008),
15–34.
General accounts of everyday life and leisure are to be found in R. Rolle, The World
of the Scythians (London, 1989), 92–117 and I. Lebedynsky, Les Scythes: les Scythes d’Europe
et la période scythe dans les steppes d’Eurasie, VIIe–IIIe siècles av. J.-C. (2nd edn., Paris, 2010),
131–72. Rudenko, Frozen Tombs of Siberia (cited above) also has an excellent chapter
(chapter 6) on life in the Altai. The importance of milk in the diet is discussed in
fascinating detail in D. Braund, ‘Greeks, Scythians and Hippake, or “Reading Mare’s
Cheese” ’, in G. R. Tsetskhladze (ed.), Ancient Greeks West and East (Leiden, 1999), 521–30.
Chapter 9 Bending the Bow
The theme of weapons and warfare is well catered for in several general works
including R. Rolle, The World of the Scythians (London, 1989), 64–91 and I. Lebedynsky,
Les Scythes: les Scythes d’Europe et la période scythe dans les steppes d’Eurasie, VIIe–IIIe
siècles av. J.-C. (2nd edn., Paris, 2010), 187–210. Another good source is a small book
devoted specifically to weapons and warfare: E. V. Cernenko, The Scythians 700–300
BC (Oxford, 1983). A briefer, but more up-to-date account is given in K. V. Chugunov,
T. V. Rjabkova, and St J. Simpson, ‘Mounted Warriors’, in St J. Simpson and S.
Pankova, Scythians: Warriors of Ancient Siberia (London, 2017), 194–255, a chapter which
includes brilliant illustrations and full descriptions of relevant objects. For scenes of
warriors with their weapons see the various vessels illustrated in Gallery of Objects
above (pp. 329–51). For the all-important horses, bridles, and saddles there is no better
introduction than S. I. Rudenko, Frozen Tombs of Siberia: The Pazyryk Burials of Iron
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