The history of the Scythians—an ancient Eastern Iranic equestrian nomadic people—spans the period from the emergence of early steppe nomadism in the early 1st millennium BCE to the Migration Period in the mid-1st millennium CE. This history unfolds across time and space in Central Asia and Siberia, the Caucasus, ancient West Asia (that is the Ancient Near East) and the Pontic Steppe.
Two main sources provide information on the historical Scythians: Akkadian cuneiform texts from Mesopotamia which deal with early Scythian history from the 7th century BCE, and Graeco-Roman sources which cover all of Scythian history, most prominently those written by Herodotus of Halicarnassus; the Greco-Roman sources are less reliable because the information they contain is mixed with folk tales and learnt constructs of historians.
Pre-Scythian period The arrival of the Scythians in Europe was part of the larger process of westward movement of Central Asian Iranic nomads toward Southeast and Central Europe that lasted from the 1st millennium BCE to the 1st millennium CE, in which other Iranic nomads such as the Cimmerians, Sauromatians, and Sarmatians also participated.
Beginning of steppe nomadism True nomadic pastoralism emerged at the beginning of the first millennium BC due to climatic changes that made the steppe environment of Central Asia and Siberia colder and more arid than before. The decline in solar activity during the 9th century BC turned the arid, inhospitable desert of south-central Siberia into lush, resource-rich grassland capable of supporting massive herds of grazing animals. These changes transformed the sedentary Bronze Age farmers, who relied on a mixed economy, into nomadic herders. Consequently, by the 9th century BC, all settlements of the sedentary Bronze Age populations in the steppe had disappeared, thereby fostering population mobility and the formation of warrior units needed to protect herds and occupy new territories.
These climatic conditions, in turn, prompted nomadic groups to become transhumant herders, constantly moving their herds from one pasture to another across the steppe, and to seek better grazing lands to the west, in Ciscaucasia and the forest-steppe regions of Western Eurasia.
The Chernogorovka-Novocherkassk complex The first wave of nomadic populations who originated in the parts of Central Asia corresponding to eastern Kazakhstan or the Altai-Sayan region, had, beginning in the 10th century BCE and lasting until the 9th to 8th centuries BCE, migrated westward into the Pontic-Caspian and Pannonian Steppe regions, where they formed new tribal confederations constituting the Chernogorovka-Novocherkassk complex, among whom were the Agathyrsi in the Pontic Steppe, as well as the Cimmerians in the Caspian Steppe, and possibly the Sigynnae in the Pannonian Steppe. The archaeological and historical records regarding these migrations are however scarce, and permit only a very broad outline of this complex development to be sketched.
The Chernogorovka-Novocherkassk complex developed natively in the North Pontic region during the 9th to mid-7th centuries BCE from elements that had arrived earlier from Central Asia; thus it exhibited similarities with the other early nomadic cultures of the Eurasian steppe and forest steppe that existed before the 7th century BCE, such as the Aržan culture, so that these pre-Scythian early nomadic cultures were part of a unified Aržan-Chernogorovka cultural layer originating from Central Asia.
Proto-Scythian period
Like the nomads of the Chernogorovka-Novocherkassk complex, the Scythians originated, along with the Early Sakas, in Central Asia and Siberia in the steppes corresponding to either present-day eastern Kazakhstan or the Altai-Sayan region, as attested by the continuity of Scythian burial rites and weaponry types with the Karasuk culture, as well as by the origin of the typically Scythian Animal Style art in the Mongol-Siberian region.
Therefore the Scythians and the nomads of the Chernogorovka-Novocherkassk complex were closely related populations sharing a common origin, culture and language, and the earliest Scythians were thus part of a common Aržan-Chernogorovka cultural layer originating from Central Asia, with the early Scythian culture being materially indistinguishable from the Chernogorovka-Novocherkassk complex.
Going further back, these various steppe nomads had shared a common Iranic Central Asian origin with the other Iranic peoples such as the Medes, Persians, Parthians and Sogdians. These various Iranic peoples still shared significant commonalities in language and culture, for instance common myths as well as dress and ornament styles, until at least the 5th century BCE.
The Scythians were already acquainted with quality goldsmithing and sophisticated bronze-casting at this time, as attested by gold pieces found in the 8th century BCE Aržan-1 kurgan. Arrowheads from the 1st kurgan of the Aržan burials also suggest that the typical "Scythian-type" socketed arrows made of copper alloy might have originated during this period.
Migration out of Central Asia The second wave of Iranic nomads corresponds to the early Scythians' arrival on the Caucasian Steppe, starting in the 9th century BCE, when they were expelled from Central Asia by either the Massagetae, a powerful nomadic Iranic tribe closely related to them, or by another Central Asian people called the Issedones, forcing the early Scythians to the west, across the Araxes river and into the Caspian and Ciscaucasian Steppes.
This western migration of the early Scythians lasted through the mid-8th century BCE and archaeologically corresponds to the westward movement of a population originating from Tuva, in southern Siberia, in the late 9th century BCE and arriving in the 8th to 7th centuries BCE in Europe, especially Ciscaucasia, which it reached some time between and , thus following the same general migration path as the first wave of Iranic nomads of the Chernogorovka-Novocherkassk complex.
Displacement of the Cimmerians The Scythians' westward migration brought them to the Caspian Steppe, in the lands of the Cimmerians, who had themselves originated in the first westward wave of proto-Scythian migrations of nomadic populations to arrive from Central Asia into the Pontic-Caspian Steppe regions during the 10th century BCE.
The Cimmerians at this time were leaving their homelands in the Caspian Steppe to move into West Asia: the Cimmerians might have migrated under pressure from the Scythians, although sources are lacking for any such pressure on the Cimmerians by the Scythians or of any conflict between these two peoples at this early period. Moreover, the arrival of the Scythians in West Asia about 40 years after the Cimmerians did so suggests there is no available evidence to the later Graeco-Roman account that it was under pressure from Scythians migrating into their territories that the Cimmerians crossed the Caucasus and moved south into West Asia.
The remnants of the Cimmerians in the Caspian Steppe were assimilated by the Scythians, facilitated by their similar ethnic backgrounds and lifestyles. Thus dominance of this region was transferred from the Cimmerians to the Scythians, who then settled in the Ciscaucasian Steppe where their kingdom's headquarters was, between the Araxes river to the east, the Caucasus Mountains to the south, and the Maeotian Sea to the west.
The arrival of the Scythians and their establishment in this region in the 7th century BCE corresponds to a disruption in the development of the Cimmerian peoples' Chernogorovka-Novocherkassk complex. This complex was thus replaced through a continuous process over the years to in southern Europe by the early Scythian culture, which nevertheless still showed links to the Chernogorovka-Novocherkassk complex. Some aspects of Scythian culture, such as elements of funerary rituals, ceramics, horse gear, and some weapon types, also showed links to the older Timber Grave culture that had existed in the north Pontic region in the Bronze Age.
Early (or Archaic) Scythian period Ciscaucasian kingdom After their initial westwards migrations, and beginning around , the Scythians settled in the Ciscaucasian Steppe between the Araxes river to the east, the Caucasus mountains to the south, and the Maeotian Sea to the west, and were especially concentrated in the valley of the Kuban river, where their kingdom's headquarters would be until the end of the 7th century BCE: the Scythians who first arrived in Ciscaucasia did not consist of large numbers of people and they lived in a small area. During these early phases of Scythian history, Ciscaucasia was where the nomadic state and the culture of the Scythians developed, and it would remain the centre of the Scythian kingdom until around .
Several Scythian royal burials from the 7th century BCE, such as those of Krasnoye Znamya at Stavropol, Kelermesskaya, Ulsky Aul and Kostromskaya Stanitsa, date from this period and constitute evidence of a wealthy Scythian aristocracy living in Ciscaucasia at this time. These upper-class burials exhibited significant differences from commoner burials, implying the existence of important levels of social stratification among the population of the early Scythian kingdom.
In Ciscaucasia the Scythians came into contact with a heterogeneous group of agrarian Maeotian tribes, whom they subjugated and thereafter dominated by means of their mobility and military units, needed to conquer new areas and protect their herds. There was significant social differentiation between the Scythians and their native subjects, especially the Maeotians, with the Scythian ruling class being buried in lavishly equipped kurgans whilst the Maeotians were buried in poorly furnished flat cemeteries.
Since the Scythians needed agricultural and craft products from the native populations, they conquered them and established interdependent systems: the Scythians obtained surplus through collecting tribute from the populations of the native Koban and Maeotian cultures of Ciscaucasia, who provided various goods to the Scythians, such as agricultural products, and crafted goods such as clay and bronze vessels, various weapons, bridles and horse harness equipment; the Maeotian craftsmen especially made large wide-necked pots, jugs, mugs and small basins for Scythian customers.
These interactions between the Scythians and Maeotians widened through the 8th to 7th centuries BCE, leading to the creation of a mixed culture, and some of the local tribes were assimilated into the Scythians, thereby contributing to the growth of the Scythian population. Significant exchanges between the Scythians and the native inhabitants of the Caucasus region also occurred during this period: the Scythian culture adopted many elements of the native Ciscaucasian cultures, so that the interaction with the various Maeotian tribes contributed significantly to the cultural development of the Scythians; the Ciscaucasian peoples were in turn significantly influenced by the Scythians, so that the burials of the Koban and Colchian cultures contained Scythian-type weapons and horse equipment.
This earliest phase of Scythian culture, called "pre-Kelermes" because it pre-dates the Kelermes kurgans containing West Asian objects, was formed in the Ciscaucasian Steppe over the years to . The early Scythian culture thus developed under the partial influence of the native Ciscaucasian cultures, and, to a lesser degree, of the civilisation of West Asia, resulting in Scythian art from Ciscaucasia displaying influences from the Koban culture. The Scythians would in particular use helmets of Ciscaucasian origin until the 6th century BCE.
Arrival in West Asia Cimmerian migration into West Asia