Barry Cunlife - The Scythians

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ENTER THE
PREDATORY NOMADS
The brief period of two centuries, from the mid ninth to the mid seventh century,
saw a dramatic transformation in steppe society. At the beginning of the period
a patchwork of different communities, culturally rooted in their traditional
territories, characterized the vast steppe corridor. Variations in ecology and climate
affected different regions in different ways, in some facilitating growth in population, in
others nudging populations to modify their pastoral strategies. All these communities
are historically anonymous, known only by the names ascribed to them by archaeologists.
By the end of the period the archaeological evidence suggests that bands of predatory
horsemen were ranging widely over considerable areas. Historical texts speak of
Kimmerians on the Pontic steppe with Scythians thundering in from Central Asia to
oust the Kimmerians from their homeland and to rampage through Asia Minor. To
untangle what was going on during these two crucial centuries is a challenge, not least
because there are considerable gaps in the evidence and reliable radiocarbon data are
few but, that said, it is possible to examine in detail the cultural transformations underway
in certain regions and to construct at least the skeleton of a narrative that embraces
the archaeological evidence while making sense of the brief historical references.
One matter of nomenclature needs to be clarified at the start: the use of the name
Scythian. As we have seen (above, pp. 30–5) the ancient Greek writers used it specifically
to refer to people who were settled on the Pontic steppe and whom they
believed came from the east. They also knew of many other nomadic groups by name
which they distinguished from the Scythians. Archaeologists, on the other hand,
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