Did the Scythians of Ukraine Influence Celtic Art and Culture? A Clash of Civilizations?
Channel: Celtic History Decoded
Date: 2023-04-02

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Did the Scythians of Ukraine Influence Celtic Art and Culture? A Clash of Civilizations? 

The Scythians and the Celts were two great civilisations of the ancient world, and evidence is increasingly emerging surrounding their interaction.   

But first, who were these groups? The Celts were a group of peoples bound together by their use of Celtic languages as well as cultural traits. They stretched from the British Isles to Western Europe, and migrated East into Eastern Europe and places such as modern Turkey. The traditional view states that Proto-Celts emerged around 1200 BC in central Europe and flourished from around 500 BC until the Roman Empire conquered much of Celtic territory by the 1st century AD, although the origins of the Celts is debated. Celtic languages and culture still flourish today however, in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the Isles of Man, Cornwall and Britanny in France. I am actually going to do an more detailed breakdown on the ancient Celts soon. 

The Scythians were a nomadic people who roamed the grasslands of the Eurasian step that stretched from Hungary to Mongolia, and they are known for their love of horses. They briefly established a kingdom of Scythia just north of the Black Sea in the Pontic-Caspian Step, centred in Crimea, from around the 6th to the 3rd century BC. They enter the historical record around the 9th century BC, and largely disappear from history around the 3rd century AD, yet Scythian connected groups such as the Alans survived much longer in the Caucasus. I made a video on the history of the Scythians that I will link above. 

There does seem to have been elements of cultural crossover between the two groups, with Celts migrated from West Europe into Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and the Scythians migrated from Central Asia into Eastern Europe.

 Cunliffe notes that a bronze drinking horn terminal found in Hungary which ends in an open mouthed dragon wearing a torc may be one example.  

Sources:

Barry Cunliffe, the Ancient Celts (Oxford University Press, 2018) 

Haaretz, Archaeologists Reveal Celtic Rites Culture in Ancient Ukraine https://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/2022-07-03/ty-article/archaeologists-reveal-celtic-rites-culture-in-ancient-ukraine/00000181-c3f4-dcfd-a797-dbfea5e60000
 
CELTIC MILITARY EQUIPMENT FROM THE TERRITORY OF UKRAINE: TOWARDS A NEW WARRIOR IDENTITY IN THE PRE-ROMAN EASTERN EUROPE1 GENNADIY KAZAKEVICH https://www.ulster.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/942469/0614.pdf 

Creative Commons:

Rosemania https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Parade_helmet.jpg Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/deed.en

Ealdgyth (Own work) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Britishmuseumsnettishamgreattorc.jpg Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en
 
Rosemania https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hochdorf_golden_shoes_ornaments.jpg Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hochdorf_golden_shoes_ornaments.jpg 

Dokyundokyundokyun https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Celtic_languages_over_time.gif  Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Celtic_languages_over_time.gif 

Alexikoua https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Celtic_Expansion.svg Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en 

Antiquistik https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Scythian_kingdom_in_the_Pontic_steppe.jpg  Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International, 3.0 Unported, 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ 

#history #celts #scythian 

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:13 The Celts 
1:12 The Scythians 
2:06 The Celts and the Scythians 
6:25 Support this channel