Barry Cunlife - The Scythians

the scythians as others saw them
2.11 Tombs of the Macedonian elite were found in the great burial mound at Vergina in northern Greece.
Tomb II is believed to be that of Phillip II. In the antechamber was found a Scythian gorytos (arrow quiver)
made in gold and two greaves associated with the cremated remains of a female, probably his Scythian
wife or concubine.
the theatre of Aigai (Vergina) in Macedonia, Philip was assassinated and his body was
buried in the royal cemetery nearby.
In 1977, in one of the most spectacular archaeological discoveries of the century,
the Macedonian royal cemetery was discovered and Philip’s tomb was excavated. In
the antechamber the cremated remains of a young woman was found buried together
with a gold-covered Scythian gorytos for carrying a bow and arrows, a number of
arrows, and two gilded bronze greaves (leg armour), the left shorter and narrower
than the right. A careful analysis of the bones showed that the young woman, aged
about 30, had been an experienced horse rider and that she had broken her left leg,
leaving it deformed. A plausible explanation of the discovery is that the woman in the
antechamber was a Scythian princess, the daughter of Ateas, who had become ÂPhilip’s
seventh wife or concubine. She had died and had been buried in his tomb ready to
accompany him to the other world, a custom widely practised among the Scythians.
Philip’s engagement with the Scythian world was brief and of little moment but it
was a reminder to his successor, Alexander, of the formidable power that the Scythians
could still wield. It may have been this awareness that prompted Alexander to
keep well clear of them and to concentrate his efforts on conquering the Persian
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