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2. Archaeology - Continuation |
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At the end of the 6th century BCE, a new funerary rite appeared. Together with
traditional burials in large pits, there now appeared complex structures, so-called ‘catacombs,’ consisting of
a vertical entrance well and one or more burial chambers branching out from it (Figure 9; on the Scythian funerary
rite in general, see Ol’khovskii, 1991). The number of catacombs grew in the course of the 5th century, and in the
4th century BCE structures of this kind were very largely used in élite burials. Only representatives of the common
people were buried in pits. In addition, complex stone vaults were built, the building techniques appear to have been adopted
from the Greeks. Élite burials, as before, were accompanied by a large number of horses, although the latter were
mostly buried in separate graves inside one and the same burial mound. The main burial of a king was usually accompanied
by burials of between three and ten persons who had formed part of his immediate entourage. Burials of this kind have been
recorded in 38 of the 40 largest burial mounds dating from the 4th century BCE. Female burials accompanying the main male
one are encountered quite often both in élite burials and in smaller burial-mounds. |
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Apart from funerary sites, Scythian city-sites from this period have also been discovered.
Many of the earlier city-sites from the forest steppes had continued to exist while others were founded, for example, the
site at Khotovskoe dating from the end of the 5th or beginning of the 4th century BCE and occupying an area of some 30 hectares.
The most prominent city-site from this period, however, was that at Kamenskoe on the Dnieper River in the steppe zone (Grakov;
Gavrilyuk, pp. 28-60), which existed from the end of the 5th century BCE to the beginning of the 3rd. The city-site occupied
an area of 12 square kilometres and it was protected by the rampart and the waters of the Dnieper and its tributary Konka.
The main occupation of the settled population was metal-working. The city-site of Kamenskoe was probably the largest supplier
of metal items for nomadic Scythians. Part of the population was probably engaged in agriculture. The dwellings built above
ground measured approximately 10 x 20 meters and consisted of several rooms. Oval and rectangular dugouts have also been
found. Only a small part of the territory of the city-site was built over. This town was probably not just a center of manufacturing
but also a political center of Scythia. The territory, which had not been built up, could have been set aside for the headquarters
of the Scythian king and his suite during their seasonal visits to the town. It appears that in the 4th century BCE some
of the Scythians were starting to adopt a settled agricultural way of life, which had formerly been typical only for the
population of the forest steppes. As a result, in the lower reaches of the Dnieper, apart from the Kamenskoe city-site,
a number of fortified and non-fortified settlements grew up, in which the main occupation of the population was agriculture
(Gavrilyuk, pp. 28-85, 155-70). Part of the settled population in the chora of Olbia was also of Scythian origin |
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Major changes took place in the material culture of the Scythians
in the 5th and 4th centuries BCE. In the second half of the 6th century BCE, the type of horse bridle used changed
completely (Figures 5, 10). Bronze bits with stirrup-shaped ends disappeared and were replaced by iron ones with
ends bent to form loops. The cheek-pieces used in conjunction with these were of a new shape; they had not three, but two
holes and were not attached to the bit, but inserted into the loops at their ends. The cheek-pieces were made of iron and
bronze. In the 5th century BCE, they had been in the shape of the letter S or the L turned over, but in the 4th century
BCE these types were replaced by cheek-pieces in the shape of the letter C. Cheek-pieces of this type were also found in
the 5th century, but they were less common. Bows and arrows, as before, were the most common weapons (Figure 6).
The shape and structure of the bow remained the same as before, while the shape of the gorytos changed slightly, as
did the shape of the arrowheads used. The old types gave way to tri-lobate and three-edged bronze arrowheads of elongated
proportions with an inner socket or one that protruded slightly. In the course of time, the shape of these arrowheads changed
slightly, but this type remained in use for as long as Scythian culture was in existence. The shape of spearheads also changed;
their proportions became significantly more elongated. Iron akinakai were still being used, but the forms of their cross-guards
and terminals had changed (Figure 7).
In the 5th century, cross-guards for swords became thinner and claw-shaped
terminals became widespread (in the shape of two claws or horns). In the 4th century BCE, most
swords and daggers had a narrow cross-guard
in the shape of a triangle with a notch in its lower edge and an oval terminal.
Cast helmets of the Kuban type
were already no longer used at the beginning of the 6th century BCE. In the second half of the 6th century BCE, scale helmets
were being used, which consisted of iron or bronze plates. Helmets of Greek types were still more widely used; those encountered
most frequently were Attic ones, but Corinthian, Chalcidic, and Thracian helmets were also used. In the 4th century, besides
Greek helmets, wide use was made of Greek greaves (knemides). The armor used was, for the most part, local scale armor,
consisting of iron or bronze plates. In the 5th and 4th centuries terminals were being used, some of which appeared to be
a development of the types from the preceding period. Yet, the most widespread terminals were flat, with depictions of animals,
animal-attack scenes and, on rare occasions, with anthropomorphic depictions. Small bells were hung from terminals of this
type.
In the 5th century BCE, mirrors with a central handle disappeared and were replaced by mirrors with a flat handle
at the side, with examples starting from the second half of the 6th century BCE. In the second half of the 6th century BCE,
so-called mirrors of an “Olbian type” were used, which had a side handle, the ends of which were decorated with
depictions of beasts in the Animal Style. In the 5th and 4th centuries BCE, anthropomorphic sculptures continued to be erected
on burial-mounds, but their style had changed somewhat. In the Scythian culture of the 5th and 4th centuries BCE, artifacts
in the Animal Style were still widely used, but features of the style were changing; some of the old motifs had disappeared
and replaced by new subjects and motifs (Figure 8). This can be explained partly by reference to internal developments
and partly to external influences. A strong Greek influence was observed in Scythian art of the 4th century when a significant
proportion of the examples of Scythian toreutics found in royal and aristocratic burials had been produced by Greek craftsmen.
Some of the elements in the material culture of the Scythians in the 5th-4th centuries BCE represent the development of
objects from Early Scythian culture, but many of them had probably been brought in from the East. The most convincing explanation
for this is the assumption that a new wave of Eurasian nomads had come into the North Pontic region in the second half of
the 6th century BCE. The nomads of this new wave, after mingling with the local Scythian nomads had, most probably, given
rise to this new culture (Alekseev, 2003, pp. 168-93). Closer contacts with the Greek colonies of the North Pontic region
(see above) led to ever increasing Hellinization of the Scythian élite, a feature particularly clear in the 4th century.
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The last period in the development of Scythian culture, the Late
Scythian culture, was the culture, which existed in the territory of the Crimea and the Lower Dnieper, mostly
occupied by Scythians, at the end of the 3rd century BCE through to the 3rd century CE. From the archeological point of
view, this was a completely new culture that had little in common with the Scythian
culture of the 4th century BCE. Late Scythian culture took shape at the end of the 3rd and in the early-2nd century BCE
as a fusion of Scythian cultural traditions with the traditions of the local population from the mountains of the Crimea,
the Tauroi, and of the Greek population of the coasts. The population of Scythia Minor was settled and its main occupation
was stockbreeding, using distant pastures, and agriculture. Trade also played an important role; the Late Scythians acted
as intermediaries between the Classical world and the barbarians of the steppes. The most important site in Crimean Scythia
was Scythian Neapolis, the capital of the Late Scythian kingdom (Vysotskaya, 1979; Zaitsev, 2004), which existed from the
end of the first quarter of the 2nd century BCE to the second quarter of the 3rd century CE (Figure 11). Neapolis
was fortified with a defensive wall with towers and its terrain contained houses with stone and mud-brick walls. The density
of the building varied substantially from one period to another. Building techniques were in general those typical for Greek
architecture, although several buildings were constructed carelessly. Dugouts and other structures connected with barbarian
traditions have also been found. A royal palace discovered in Scythian Neapolis, which dated from the 2nd century BCE, had
been built in accordance with the rules of Greek architecture. In approximately 125 BCE, the mausoleum of Argotos had been
erected in front of the palace façade in the form of a building in antis of the Doric order and decorated with a
naiskos with relief and a Greek inscription in verse. There were also statutes of several Greek deities erected here, from
which the pedestals had survived bearing dedications in the Greek language (Solomonik). In approximately 115 BCE, near the
central gates of Scythian Neapolis and right up against the outside of the defensive walls, a second monumental mausoleum
was built, in which King Skiluros would appear to have been buried; the king’s burial has survived (Shul’ts; Zaitsev,
2001). After the rout of the Scythian kingdom by Diophantes in the final decade of the 2nd century BCE, the royal palace
was not rebuilt and Neapolis lost its metropolitan status but continued to be a major urban center. From the beginning of
the 1st century BCE until the end of the existence of Neapolis, there was, however, a complex of stone Greek-type buildings
in its northern section. It was interpreted as the “Northern Palace” for the period from the mid-2nd until the
first half of the 3rd centuries CE. It is possible that Neapolis remained a political center for at least some of the Late
Scythians. In the second half of the 1st and up to the middle of the 2nd century CE, the appearance of the city underwent
major change. It had virtually no buildings left in it, although the defensive walls continued to exist and also cultic
constructions have been recorded. This was probably connected with the replacement of the settled population by a nomadic
one, which was using Neapolis as a fortified camp. This change, together with the replacement of one kind of funerary rite
by another and the appearance of new features in the material culture, make it possible to assume that the population had
changed and that to some extent the Late Scythians were being assimilated by the Sarmatians; at the same time, there was
a certain continuity to be observed from the previous period (Simonenko, pp. 116-17; Zaitsev, 2004, p. 38). Between the
last quarter of the 2nd and the middle of the 3rd century CE, Scythian Neapolis turned into a non-fortified settlement containing
a few chaotically scattered buildings. |
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Apart from Scythian Neapolis, Late Scythian culture is well-known from the numerous settlements,
both fortified and unfortified (more than 100 have been recorded) and the necropoleis that accompany them. Recent excavations
at Ak-Kaya/Vishennoe suggest that this site played the role of political center of the Crimean Scythia before Neapolis,
in the 3rd–first half of the 2nd centuries BCE. A well-protected fortress was built there, which was constructed like
Neapolis in accordance with the rules of Greek fortification (only preliminary reports are published for now, cf. Zaitsev,
2015). The Late Scythian sites are to be found in two main zones: in the foothills of the Crimean mountains and the territories
immediately adjacent to them and also along the western coast of the Crimea (Smekalova, Koltukhov, and Zaitsev). Some of
these settlements appeared on the sites of earlier Greek settlements, including the towns of Kalos Limen and Kerkinitis,
and some were built from first principles. Many of the coastal settlements were trading ports. The largest of the Late Scythian
settlements in the Crimea after Neapolis and Ak-Kaya/Vishennoe were Bulganak, Ust-Alma, and Kermen-Kyr (Vysotksaya, 1994;
Dashevskaya, 1957; Koltukhov, 1999b). Characteristic not only of Neapolis and Ak-Kaya but of these settlements as well was
the combination of Greek architectural traditions and local ones. A special group of Late Scythian settlements is that consisting
of city-sites situated on both banks of the Lower Dnieper (Pogrebova; Vyaz’mitina; Gavrilyuk, pp. 317-42). Their material
culture was close to that of the Late Scythian sites in the Crimea, but they were still more Hellenized and would appear
to have been closely linked to Olbia, if not politically dependent on that city. As for “Scythia Minor” in Dobruja
its Scythian sites could not be identified. |
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Late Scythian burials can be divided into two groups:
those under burial-mounds and those deposited in flat necropoleis. Stone vaults were erected under burial mounds, in which
burials went on taking place over a fairly long period; the number of deceased varied from a handful of individuals to a
hundred and more. Burials of this type were widespread in the 2nd century BCE, but in some cases burial-mounds were erected
in the 1st and 2nd centuries CE as well (Koltukhov, 2001; Zaitsev and Mordvintseva, pp. 174-75). Burials were deposited
more frequently, however, in flat-grave necropoleis. Three necropoleis have been investigated in the vicinity of Scythian
Neapolis (Babenchikov; Symonovich; Puzdrovskii, 2001); several dozen other necropoleis have also been excavated (Vysotskaya,
1972, pp. 69-102; Puzdrovskii, 2007), the largest of which, that of Ust-Alma, has been investigated most thoroughly (Vysotskaya,
1994; Loboda, Puzdrovskii, and Zaitsev; Puzdrovskii and Trufanov). Characteristics of necropoleis dating from between the
2nd century BCE to the 1st century CE are earth vaults, in which burials were deposited on many occasion (they contained
up to 40 skeletons). The deceased were laid out on their back in an extended position. In the second half of the 1st and
the first half of the 2nd centuries CE, the funerary rite underwent gradual change. Vaults for multiple burials gave way
to individual burials in graves with a side-chamber, which appeared in the second half of the 1st century BCE; the burials
were also deposited in simple flat graves (Zaitsev and Mordvintseva, pp. 176-77). |
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The material culture of the Late Scythians did not have many distinctive characteristics and
was similar to the material culture of the neighboring Greek cities and settlements (Dashevskaya, 1991; Zaitsev and Mordvintseva,
pp. 177-88). This has led certain scholars (Gavrilyuk and Krapivina) to regard some of the Late Scythian sites, such as
the city-sites of the Lower Dnieper, as having been populated at least partly by Greeks. In addition to Classical elements,
others are also to be observed in them, including La Tène and Sarmatian elements. |
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SPIRITUAL CULTURE, RELIGION, AND ART |
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The name |
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The Scythians had no written language, therefore
their non-material culture, including their mythology, religion, epics, and so on, can be pieced together only on the basis
of indirect data, which vary as regards their veracity and informative possibilities. Data of this kind are gleaned from
the writings of Classical authors, from parallels found in other Iranian traditions, onomastic and archeological evidence,
and so forth. Herodotus (4.59, cf. 4.127) provides the names of deities venerated by the Scythians and also mentions to
which Greek deities they corresponded. He accorded prime status to Tabiti identified with Hestia and then mentioned Papaios
(Zeus), Api (Gaia), Goitosyros/Oitosyros (Apollo), Agrimpasa/Artimpasa/Arippasa (Aphrodite) and Thagimasadas (Poseidon).
Although he mentioned the worship of Heracles and Ares, he did not include their Scythian names. Most of the names of the
Scythian deities could be traced back to Iranian roots, some more convincingly than others. Tabiti is usually regarded as
the goddess of fire, Papaios as the ruler of the heavens, Api as the deity of the Waters and the Earth. The images of other
deities are less clear and more hypothetical: Argimpasa is usually considered to be the goddess of fertility and is compared
with Anahita (Anahid), and Thagimasadas is held to be the god of water and the protector of horses and so compared with
the Avestan deity Apam Napat. Thagimasadas stands apart in Herodotus’ list: while the remaining seven gods are worshipped
by all Scythians, Thagimasadas is venerated only by Royal Scythians. The functions of Goitosyros are not clear and he is
compared with Iranian Mithra or Vayu. Heracles would appear to have been regarded as the First Man, the forefather of the
Scythians (cf. Hdt., 4.5-10; in the first version of the legend the forefather of the Scythians is referred to as Targitaos
and in the second version as Heracles). Ares, the god of war, is also set apart from the rest by Herodotus. According to
him, the Scythians did not erect statues or altars or temples for their gods, with the exception of Ares (on Scythian deities
see: Bessonova, pp. 25-59). Sanctuaries of Ares were, according to Herodotus (4.62), erected in every district and consisted
of a tumulus made of sticks with a square platform at the top, on which an “ancient iron akinakes”
was placed, taken to represent Ares. Apart from the sacrifices of sheep or goats or horses usual in the case of other gods,
human sacrifices were offered and to him alone. At least one shrine to Ares (which, however, matches Herodotus’ description
only in part) has been recorded archeologically (Boltrik; cf. Alekseev, 1980). The name of one more Scythian goddess, Dithagoia,
is mentioned in the dedication by the daughter of King Skiluros called Senamotis, which was found in Panticapaeum (SEG XXXVII,
no. 674). |
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The Scythians had professional priests, but the question as to whether they constituted
a separate hereditary group and, in general, as to what extent the Ancient Iranian system of pištra still existed in
Scythian society, remains the subject of debate (Grantovskii; Raevskii, 1977, pp. 145-61; Bessonova, pp. 56-59; Ivantchik,
1999a). Among the priests, there existed a distinct group of transvestites, referred to by Herodotus as enareës (????ee?;
1.105.4; 4.67.2), and more accurately by Pseudo-Hippocrates (Aër. 22) as anarieis (??a??e??, from the Iranian *anarya-,
“unmanly”). They are often compared to shamans known among many peoples of Eurasia (Meuli), but there are no grounds
for their identification with shamans, despite the fact that they share a number of common characteristics. According to
Herodotus (4.60), animals used for sacrifices were usually strangled; sacrifices involving the shedding of blood were only
offered to Ares. |
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In Scythian mythology, an important role was assigned to the myth about the First
Man, the origin of men (i.e., Scythians), their kings, and the whole structure of their society. This myth, which echoes
in many respects myths of other Iranian peoples, has survived in several versions in the writings of a number of classical
authors (; the most complete and least Hellenized version was preserved by Herodotus. Analysis of this legend together with
other data reveals that, in Scythian ideology, considerable importance was attached to the division of society into three
hereditary classes or castes (warriors, priest, and producers), which were descended from three brothers, sons of the First
Man. Each of the classes was linked with one of three levels in the Cosmos: the class of warriors, which also included kings,
was associated with the upper world, the class of priests with the middle level, and that of producers with the lower one.
Royal power was considered sacred. The idea of xwarrah (x?ar?nah; glory, splendor see FARR[AH]) found in different Iranian
traditions, was very important, including the idea of royal xwarrah, the charisma of royalty, which had heavenly and solar
origin. Information supplied by a number of Classical authors makes it possible to assume that the Scythians had their own
epic legends. Thus, much of the Classical tradition regarding the Scythian rule in Asia can probably be traced back to a
Scythian epic. |
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Most of the known objects of Scythian art belong to the sphere of applied art,
decoration of various everyday objects (horses’ bridles, weapons, vessels, and so on). Scythian
art was mainly zoomorphic. It is characterized by a specific style, termed “Animal Style,” which is
marked by a rather limited range of images (specific animals depicted in specific canonical poses), which changed over time,
and also a range of standard techniques for depicting them. The bodies of the animals were usually modeled using large surfaces,
which came together at an angle. The most significant parts of animals (horns of ungulates, claws, nostrils, and mouths
of beasts of prey, the ears of both groups, the beaks of birds of prey, and the eyes of all three groups of animals) were
greatly exaggerated and often stylized. Certain parts were sometimes complete with additional depictions of animals or their
parts (e.g., the branches of deer’s antlers or the claws of beasts of prey were depicted as the heads of birds of prey
with curved beaks), a device known as “zoomorphic transformations” (Kantorovich). Certain parts of animals’
bodies (legs or hooves, birds’ heads, et al.) were often depicted separately as well. Despite the existence of local
variations (see, e.g., Shkurko, 1976; idem, 2000), Scythian Animal Style was a self-contained entity and differed from the
Animal Style peculiar to the Eastern regions of Eurasia. |
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The animals most frequently depicted in this style can be divided into three groups—birds,
ungulates, and beasts of prey—and for each of them there are characteristic iconographic patterns. Birds (usually birds
of prey) are depicted mainly with outstretched wings, but occasionally with folded ones; their heads are depicted still
more frequently, either separately or as elements of “zoomorphic transformations.” Ungulates are most frequently
depicted with legs bent underneath them and the head stretched forward; the heads of goats and deer are often turned backwards.
They are only rarely depicted standing on straight legs. Beasts of prey, usually felines, are often depicted coiled round
in a ring, and this constitutes one of the earliest and most typical images of the Animal Style. They can also be found
with their legs bent at an obtuse or a right angle. Within these groups it is only seldom possible to distinguish between
species of animals (e.g., wolves from felines, species of felines from each other, species of birds of prey); it is likely
that little importance was attached to such distinctions. Ungulates, as a rule, are easier to identify; the most frequent
images of them were those of deer, goats, and rams, while other species, including horses and elk—were only rarely
depicted. These three groups of animals depicted in Scythian art were probably associated with the three Cosmic horizons;
birds with the upper level (that of heavens), ungulates with the middle level (that of the Earth), and beasts of prey, as
well as also snakes and fish, which were depicted less often, with the lower level below the earth (Raevskii, 1985; Perevodchikova,
1994). |
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Images of fantastic creatures are not rare in Scythian Animal Style, but in most
cases they have been adopted from elsewhere. The most widespread of these are depictions of eagle-headed griffins. This
image would appear to have been adopted in the Near East, and it is found mainly at sites reflecting early contacts with
that region (Kelermes); later on, it is seldom found in proper Scythian art and in a distorted form. It appeared again in
the 4th century BCE under Greek influence. Lion-headed griffins also appeared at that time. In the Early Scythian culture
of the 7th-6th centuries BCE, depictions of griffin-rams were common—the bird of prey with a ram’s horn. This
image was specifically Scythian and it does not appear to have been encountered outside the range of Scythian culture. It
is possibly the depiction of a xwarrah |
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The Scythian Animal Style appeared in Eastern Europe in a well established form
together with Early Scythian archeological culture; none of its elements had been present in pre-Scythian cultures of the
region. The question of its origin is the subject of debate. Some scholars believe that it took shape within the territory
of Eastern Europe under the influence of the Near East during the Scythian campaigns of the 7th century BCE (Artamonov;
Pogrebova and Raevskii, pp. 74-163). Yet the more well-founded hypothesis is the suggestion that it took shape in the eastern
part of the Eurasian steppes, partly under the influence of Chinese art. It is borne out by the greater age of the eastern
sites containing objects worked in the Animal Style (Arzhan burial mound) in comparison to the East European ones (Jettmar;
Kossack; Alekseev, 2003, pp. 55-57, with bibliography). Some scholars try to reconcile these two points of view, suggesting
that the Animal Style evolved simultaneously and independently in the West and East of Eurasia under the influence of the
Near East and Asia Minor, in the first instance, and, in the second, that of the Karasuk culture and the Ordos bronzes (the
“polycentric” theory; see Perevodchikova, 1994). |
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Despite the clear anthropomorphism intrinsic to Scythian religion, in Early
Scythian art anthropomorphic depictions are only to be found in one group of artifacts, stelae erected over burials (Figure
12; Ol’khovskii and Evdokimov). All the stelae known to us depict armed warriors, faces with large almond-shaped
eyes, usually with mustaches but not beards, and, when it comes to anatomical details, arms are shown and also often phalli.
Usually torques and belts are depicted, sometimes helmets and also weapons such as swords,
axes, gorytoi and occasionally whips. Of particular interest is a group of six sculptures discovered in northeastern Iraq
(Boehmer). In general they are reminiscent of Early Scythian sculpture, but there are several significant differences, in
particular in the presentation of the faces (beards instead of mustaches) and the position and portrayal of the hands. Only
one figure is holding a weapon, an axe, but the axe is of unusual shape and in the figure’s hand rather than suspended
from his belt. It is possible that these sculptures belonged to a group of Scythians or Cimmerians, who had taken part in
Near Eastern campaigns, settled in the area, and gradually lost its traditional culture. |
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These stelae do remind me to some extent of celtic anthropomorphic figures. |
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Scythian art was subjected to major external influences at various times. In the
7th century BCE, during Near Eastern campaigns, the main influence had been that of Near Eastern art. The rich burials at
Kelermes and in the Litoi burial mound contain, above actual Scythian and Near Eastern artifacts (e.g., bowls and diadems,
which were evidently booty or diplomatic gifts), other artifacts that combined Scythian and Near Eastern elements (e.g.,
swords, axes). Their style and most of the images were not typical for Scythian art, but at the same time they reproduced
typical images of the Scythian Animal Style; the shape of the decorated articles is also typically Scythian (Chernenko,
1980; Metdepenninghen; Kisel’, 1997; idem, 1998). These objects were probably made by Near Eastern craftsmen for Scythians.
While adhering to their own traditions, they have, at the same time, taken into account the requirements of those commissioning
their work. A large proportion of the Near Eastern images was not assimilated into Scythian art and not subsequently reproduced.
On many occasions, attention has been drawn to the similarities between these finds and a number of artifacts from the so-called
“Ziwiye hoard” in Kurdistan (Godard; Ghirshman). Use of these, however, is impeded by the fact that the exact
location and circumstances of their discovery are unknown, and it is impossible to be sure, not only whether they were found
together, but also whether they all come from one and the same place or even are authentic (Muscarella). |
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In the 5th century BCE changes took place in the Animal Style, which can
partly be explained with reference to growing Greek influence and partly to internal developments. It is possible that some
innovations can also be explained by the arrival of a new wave of nomads from the east (see above). The depictions become
less schematic and the eyes, ears, and mouths of the animals are portrayed in a more realistic way. The surfaces of the
animals’ bodies start to be modeled more smoothly. At the same time, certain parts of the bodies of animals and birds
are depicted in a still more exaggerated way than before; sometimes they are stylized. The beaks of birds, for instance,
are depicted in the shape of a large spiral. More use is made of the technique of “zoomorphic transformations.”
Depictions of a single leg of an ungulate or beast of prey become more widespread, as do depictions of fish, which had previously
been a rarity. In the forest steppes, depictions of elk become more common. In the Animal Style of the 7th-6th centuries
BCE, there were no depictions of scenes (images of that type in the Kelermes burial-mounds were of Near Eastern origin);
the animals were depicted in isolation or, less frequently, in antithetical (“heraldic”) compositions. From the
5th century BCE onwards, scenes of animals fighting or tearing each other became widespread, probably under the influence
of Graeco-Persian art. Greek influence is also likely to have been the reason why plant motifs began to appear in Scythian
art. |
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Changes also took place regarding the stelae erected above graves, which were
least subject to Hellenization. The presentation of faces changed, eyes became rounded, mustaches only appeared rarely,
while depictions of beards began to appear. The shape of hands changed and also the way they were arranged; left hands would
virtually always be holding a rhyton, swords would usually be arranged not in front of figures but at their sides, and gorytos
shapes were modified as well. |
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In the 4th century BCE, there was a particularly marked increase in the influence of Greek
art. The Animal Style went on being used, but art objects made either under strong Greek influence or simply by Greek craftsmen
for Scythians became widespread. This group included small items such as plaques and also the best-known examples of Scythian
toreutics. These objects still incorporated elements of Animal Style, but in the main they exemplified traditions of Greek
art. Some of them were depictions of animals, but there was an especially large number of depictions of human beings, including
scenes. Usually the figures were Scythians, but in some cases there were purely Greek subjects (for example, the history
of Achilles). Some art objects found in Scythian burials were purely Greek, not linked with Scythians, either as regards
style or subject matter (e.g., the earrings from Kul’-Oba). Yet, at the same time, anthropomorphic depictions appear,
which have clearly been fashioned by Scythians. This applies, for instance, to depictions of the female deity, “Mistress
of the Animals,” from the Alexandropol burial mound or to the depiction of a griffinomachy on a terminal from Slonovskaya
Bliznitsa. Objects made by Greek craftsmen were found in all royal and aristocratic burials of the 4th century BCE. Some
examples of Scythian ceremonial weaponry made using a same matrix and virtually identical to each other have been found
in several different burial-mounds. They had been made at approximately the same time in a single workshop as special orders
for a number of Scythian dynasts, or for Bosporan kings to be used as diplomatic gifts for Scythians. Gorytoi bearing scenes
from the life of Achilles, for example, were found in the Chertomlyk, Melitopol, Five Brothers 8 and Il’intsy burial
mounds (Figure 13, Stähler and Nieswandt). Scabbards found in the Chertomlyk and Five Brothers 8 burial mounds
and bought by the Metropolitan Museum of Art (assumed to be from the Chayan burial mound) are also virtual copies of each
other (Stähler). |
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Some scenes depicted on Greek metal objects can confidently be interpreted as illustrations
of Scythian legends, known to us from written sources. This applies, for example, to depictions on cultic vessels of Greek manufacture from the Chastye burial mounds near Voronezh and from the Kul’-Oba burial
mound in the Crimea (Figure 14), which illustrate the legend about the origin of the Scythians and the contest between
the three sons of Heracles rendered by Herodotus (IV, 8-10; Raevskii, 1977, pp. 31-36). The frequent depictions of the anguiped
goddess, the mother of the three brothers (e.g., at Kul’-Oba, Tsymbalova Mogila, and Bolshaya Bliznitsa) are linked
with this same legend. In Graeco-Scythian art of the 4th century BCE, there are also numerous reproductions of certain other
scenes, which probably possess religious and mythological significance. They include the depiction of a seated woman (evidently
a goddess) with a mirror and that of a man or youth in front of her holding a rhyton (found in the Kul’-Oba, Chertomlyk,
Oguz, Verkhnii Rogachik, 1st Mordvinovskii, Melitopol, Nosaki 4 and other tumuli; for possible interpretations, see Raevskii,
1977, pp. 95-100; Bessonova, pp. 98-107). In one case (a plate from Sakhnovka), this pair of figures has been placed in
the center of a multi-figure composition, in which there is another pair of figures frequently reproduced, two Scythians
drinking out of one and the same rhyton (the so-called fraternity scene). Other scenes as well may often have mythological
or epic significance, but their specific interpretation is of a much more hypothetical nature (the comb from Solokha, the
bowl from Gaimanova Mogila, the vase from Chertomlyk, et al.). |
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Anthropomorphic sculpture was the most conservative variety of Scythian art. The vast majority
of sculptures from the 4th century BCE was in the Scythian tradition. Yet Greek influence manifests itself most clearly
in some sculptures of this period found in the Crimea (Privetnoe, Chernomorskoe). These are sculptures in the round on which
garments and armor are detailed to a degree that is uncharacteristic of Scythian sculpture. |
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Works of Scythian art are held by many museums, both within the territory of Russia and the Ukraine and
beyond. The largest of these collections are in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg (where objects found during excavations
of Scythian tumuli in the 19th and early-20th century are housed) and in the Museum of Historical Treasures of the Ukraine
in Kiev (which houses most of the Scythian works of art from 20th-century excavations). There are collections of lesser
importance in the State Historical Museum and the State Museum of the Art of the Peoples of the East in Moscow, the Institute
of Archeology (Academy of Sciences of the Ukraine), and regional museums such as those of Kharkov, Zaporozhye, Odessa, and
Kerch. Small collections of Scythian art are also to be found in various other museums including the Antikensammlung (Berlin),
the Louvre (Paris), the Ashmolean Museum (Oxford), the Metropolitan Museum (New York), et al. Works of Scythian art have
been published on numerous occasions, including in exhibitions’ catalogues (for the finest reproductions, see Amandry
and Schiltz; Piotrovsky, Galanina, and Grach; Rolle, Müller-Wille, and Schietzel; Schiltz; Reeder). |
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Original Scythian art ceased to exist after the Scythian archeological culture disappeared
at the beginning of the 3rd century BCE. The art of the Late Scythians was completely Hellenized. Fragments of sculpture
and wall paintings found in Scythian Neapolis belong to Greek tradition and probably were created by Greek masters. Yet
the tradition of fashioning anthropomorphic gravestones did not disappear in the Late Scythian period; crude anthropomorphic
sculptures were often erected in necropoleis. They were significantly cruder than those dating from the 4th century BCE,
and the detail would not appear to represent a clear continuation of what had gone before (Voloshinov). Sometimes crude
reliefs on tombs were also found, which could be compared with those from the Bosporan Kingdom. |
© H. Föll (Iron, Steel and Swords script)
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