Analysis of Ancient Scythian Leather Samples Shows Ancient Scythians Made Leather from Human Skin [View all]

The ancient Scythians’ history as fearsome warriors dates back more than 2,000 years, and now research from a multi-institutional team of anthropologists confirms that they are pitiless warriors. Researchers have discovered that Scythian warriors carried their arrows in leather quivers made from the skin of their defeated enemies.

The Scythians (6th to 3rd centuries BC) were a nomadic people known for their fierce nature and mastery of horsemanship in the ancient Eurasian steppes. Their lives were deeply intertwined with the wild, expansive landscapes they roamed. Living in harmony with the harsh environment, they developed a formidable reputation as warriors and skilled riders.

Their nomadic lifestyle meant they were in constant movement, adapting to the ever-changing conditions of the steppe. They were expert archers, able to shoot accurately from horseback while galloping at high speeds—a skill that made them formidable in battle.

In their project, reported on the open-access site PLOS ONE, the researchers tested an account by the Greek historian Herodotus regarding certain behaviors of ancient Scythian warriors.



Scythian warriors, modeled after images from an electrum cup found at the kurgan burial site of Kul’Oba, close to Kerch. Note the typical pointed hood, long jacket with fur or fleece trimming at the edges, decorated trousers, and short boots tied at the ankle. The warrior on the right is stringing his bow and bracing it behind his knee. All adult men appeared to have worn beards, and hair was typically worn long and loose. The two other warriors on the left are talking to each other while brandishing spears or javelins.The quiver is clearly indicated on the left hip of the man on the left, who is wearing a diadem a

More:
https://arkeonews.net/analysis-of-ancient-scythian-leather-samples-shows-ancient-scythians-made-leather-from-human-skin/



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History of Scythia and the Mysterious Scythians

By
Hayden Chakra
May 24, 2023



The earliest known records of the existence of Scythians came from archeological findings in the Euro-Asian steppes that are part of modern day Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Russia, and even as far as bordering the high slopes of what is today known as Mongolia, the Caucasian mountain range, downwards toward modern Iraq and toward the east found as far as modern day Poland and the Balkan Peninsula. Their name is given by the ancient Greeks (Σκυθική, Skythikē and was used to describe the nomadic peoples that lived as early as the 8th century B.C in the vast expansive steppes



First Scythian Kingdom 7th century B.C

Most historical records of these peopleswere written by the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, which described the people of the steppes as having an agricultural and nomadic style of existence that had demanded payment, tribute, gifts or even military payment from the Syrians, the Medians, the Assyrians, and even the Egyptians. It is believed that the ruling dynasty of the Scythians had remained the same over the centuries although this theory is somewhat loosely based, as the Scythians had no form of writing language to record their own history and their only exploits come from second hand whispers and oral history and were as such recorded by the ancient Greek city states. The first kingdom was made by the unification of the nomadic tribes by their legendary figure – Koloksai. He had managed to establish a ruling dynasty among the Scythians, which traded with the Hellenic city states, and had expanded up until the Near East kingdoms. The dynasty as such was repelled back to the Caucasian mountain-range and the Euro-Asian steppes

Second Scythian Kingdom 5th century B.C

The Second Scythian kingdom was created by the end of the 5th and beginning of the 4th century B.C. This kingdom had offered the most known historian records of the nomadic peoples, by the exploits of the two best known king Ateas and queen Tomyris.

The most renowned ruler of the Scythians was Queen Tomyris. Tomyris was a queen of the Messagetae, a Scythian-Iranian pastoral-nomadic coalition of peoples, who were paying a taxing tribute toward the Persian Kingdom, most notably King Cyrus the Great, who saw the weak nomadic folk as easy targets to bully and tax unfairly for their gold, silver, cattle, sheep and goats. He managed to win over the Massagetae by laying a trap. The Persians built a camp and filled it with barrels of wine. The passing Massagetae army had not seen wine as a form of intoxicant, as they relied on hashish and fermented mare milk. The army got drunk to a stupor and the Persians managed to capture most of the army; those that fought did so in vain. Spargapises was the son of Tomyris, who was captured as the general of the Massagetae, and managed to convince his jailers in Persia to relieve him of his bonds. Tomyris, enraged at the mistreatment of her son, rallied her people and challenged Cyrus to a rematch. The Great one honored her and brought with him his elite army, who were outmatched easily by the horse archers of the Massagetae to the point where a rout had broken and scattered the Persian army leaving their King Cyrus to his demise. Tomyris promptly executed him by beheading him and crucifying him in 530 B.C, cementing her place in history and sending the Persian Kingdom into bloody civil-war.



More:
https://about-history.com/history-of-scythia-and-the-mysterious-scythians/