 As the Scythians are referenced in the histories of the Scots, the Picks and numerous other peoples, it's important to ask who were the Scythians. The first thing to note about the Scythians is that they were masters of the horse and they're often depicted in their art as being with their horses. The horse-human connection almost had a spiritual significance in Scythia. They were one of the earliest groups to master the art of horse riding and this allowed them great mobility across the Eurasian steppe, a vast land of grasslands stretching from Hungary to Mongolia and it was in this area that the Scythian culture flourished. Scythian men and women were heavily tattooed and this is still shown on certain mummies from the Scythian era. These were intricate and beautiful detailed patterns of their world and their beliefs. These tattoos often depicted the animals that they hunted as well as mythical creatures such as the griffin, a creature that had essentially the legs and the lower body of a lion and the head and the wings of an eagle. Scythian tattoos also seemed to have some sort of magical belief within Scythian culture, belief that the tattoos would protect them in the spiritual realm and they were also used to commemorate shows of bravery on the battlefield. Scythian men were depicted as having long hair and beards in most instances and often wore baggy trousers. Scythian art also flourished for a large period during their history and this often involved intricate pieces of gold jewellery, combs and various other artifacts that they would still have today. They spoke Eastern Iranian languages. The Scythian's choice of weapon was usually a bow and arrow and Herodotus, the Greek historian, says that most of Scythian arrows were poisoned. With the poison made by taking the blood from an animal and mixing it with the venom from a pregnant snake and allowing this to sit for a period. This is called a nightcap in Glasgow. The Scythians had a warrior culture and status was often defined in the male domain at least by the number of men a Scythian warrior had killed. This body count was shown by Scythians often taking a scalp from their victims and displaying it on their horses, on the front of their horses and also if they had enough also making cloaks out of the scalps of their victims. Scythian mercenaries were often seen in Athens serving as bodyguards. As to where the Scythians were located, this is a simple question yet the answer is far from simple. The easiest way to describe where the Scythians were located was the Eurasian steppe, this vast grassland area perfect for horse riding and traveling by horse over this vast territory that essentially ran from Hungary in Europe and the east of Europe all the way through to Mongolia and the very northeast of China as well. The Scythians were known as simple or the nomadic people stretching across Eurasia, concentrated in Central Asia and then diverging from there. Numerous peoples in numerous different groups emerged from the Scythian culture as well and they often had different names which makes it quite confusing. Scythia proper you could say was just north of the Black Sea and the Pontic Caspian steppe. Essentially modern in Ukraine and parts of modern in Russia centered around the Crimea region just on the Black Sea. Yeah so if we look in the modern map today, this is Ukraine, this is obviously Russia, this is Crimea here so this was the center of the Scythian Empire. Just on the Black Sea and the Greeks basically, Greece obviously here, Ancient Greece had numerous trading ports around the outskirts of the Black Sea so Pontic Albia was one, a kind of trading city right in there which allowed the Greeks to interact with the Scythians but yeah the city and empire, Crimea was the center right on the Black Sea allowed them to trade with different cultures around particularly the Ancient Greeks. The Scythians would often trade slaves, certain Scythians also also farmed so they would trade grain, slaves, different furs and different materials and things they could make from the forest and different lands north of the Black Sea and the Scythians would trade in exchange for wine and various other commodities and elements of that nature. This Scythian Empire was established by Scythians migrating west from Central Asia and established in their kingdom centered around Crimea. This migration brought them into conflict with the Commerians though, an award that lasted around 30 years. The Scythians came out on top however and they established their kingdom centered on Crimea which existed from around the sixth century to the third century BC when it started to come under pressure from various other groups. Even within the Scythian Empire however there was variation, some Scythians grew grain for instance where others didn't. The Scythians developed for a period a class of aristocrats who were known for their elaborate graves filled with artifacts of gold and other jewels of that nature and news were known as the Royal Scyths. Scythian culture flourished across the entire Eurasian steppe however for a large period. The first reference to the Scythians seems to come around the 9th century BC and their thought to have come from Iranian stock. Although the origins of these people is still somewhat mysterious. So we'll look at the Eurasian steppe just in the modern context of the modern map. This is Hungary here and the Eurasian steppe basically ran all the way through all the way through parts of Central Asia, Kazakhstan, parts of Russia, parts of the very tip of China into Mongolia. So it was this vast vast kind of territory all through here that the Scythians and Scythian related peoples populated for a large period. Some went down into various regions into the Central Asian Republics today into parts of Iran. There was different conflicts with the Meads and different people in these general areas. The Persians at certain point as well recorded Scythians and spoke of them. Their word for the Scythians was the Saka but they were essentially the same people. But yeah this was the general territory seemed to establish themselves in Central Asia and then the migrated west at various points through their history. One element makes studying the Scythians quite complicated is the fact that various cultures referred to them by various names. This is a point that's made by Barry Cunnliffe the Emirates Professor of European Archaeology at the University of Oxford who wrote a book on the Scythians and gave a talk a couple years ago that I'll reference below and also use them as a source. I'll listen to it before recording this video. It was a really interesting kind of 30-40 minute discussion they gave just in some of the archaeology and some of the findings of what we know about the Scythians. But one point it does make is that the Persians for instance referred to essentially the Scythians a Scythian connected group at least is the Saka S-A-K-A which was a common name the Persians used and you'll see it on various maps of antiquity the people of the Saka and various people of the Saka known as the Saka. Scythian and Saka also seem to be used interchangeably at various points. To make matters even more confusing Scyth and Saki seem to also be words used interchangeably both with Scythia and Saka. Various other groups of Scythian origin who were part of the Scythian culture spread out as well. The Indo-Scythians also known as the Indo-Sakas were a group of Scythians that migrated from Central Asia into parts of Afghanistan, Pakistan and also into India today. From around the 4th or 3rd century BC the Scythians increasingly came under pressure from the Sirmations a connected group who managed to push the Scythians over a matter of centuries out of the Pontic Caspian steppe. The last reference to the Scythians in history really comes in the form of the Alans, a group that takes his name from the older Aenian word essentially meaning Arian. They were recorded by Roman sources and increasingly came under pressure from the Huns and the Goths around the 3rd and 4th centuries AD. Many of the Alans joined different Germanic groups who eventually migrated west and the Alans were recorded as moving as far west as Portugal today close to Lisbon. Not all the Alans migrated west however, many stayed in the Caucasus region and the Alans were still referenced by the same name as late as the 14th century AD. In fact today in the Caucasus region, in the region of Asetia, which is a kind of somewhat politically charged area of the world itself, with South Asetia essentially being a somewhat semi-autonomous kingdom and North Asetia being part of Russia, with the names of these countries giving us a fascinating insight into the history of these lands and the Scythians themselves. The south is called the Republic of South Asetia, the state of Elania and the north is called the Republic of North Asetia, Elania. As I said initially, the Scythians are often referenced in relation to the origin of both the Scots and the Picts. To find out more please click here. 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