page_title: Scythian cultures
section_title: Origins and spread
hierarchical_section_title: Scythian cultures / Origins and spread
caption_attribution_description: English: Pazyrik horseman. Circa 300 BC. Detail from a carpet - 5-4 th century B.C..- in the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg. (see e.g. this image)
context_page_description: Scythian cultures, also referred to as Scythic cultures, Scytho-Siberian cultures, Early Nomadic cultures, Scythian civilization, Scythian horizon, Scythian world or Scythian continuum, were a group of similar archaeological cultures which flourished across the entire Eurasian Steppe during the Iron Age from approximately the 9th century BC to the 2nd century AD. Among Greco-Roman writers, this region was known as Scythia.
  The Scythian cultures are characterized by the Scythian triad, which are similar, yet not identical, styles of weapons, horses' bridles and Scythian art. The question of how related these cultures were is disputed among scholars. Its peoples were of diverse origins, and included not just Scythians, from which the cultures are named, but other peoples as well, such as the Cimmerians, Massagetae, Saka, Sarmatians and obscure forest steppe populations. Mostly speakers of the Scythian branch of the Iranian languages, all of these peoples are sometimes collectively referred to as Scythians, Scytho-Siberians, Early Nomads or Iron Age Nomads.
context_section_description: The Scythian cultures emerged on the Eurasian Steppe at the dawn of the Iron Age in the early 1st millennium BC. The origins of the Scythian cultures has long been a source of debate among archaeologists. The Pontic–Caspian steppe was initially thought to have been their place of origin, until the Soviet archaeologist Aleksey Terenozhkin suggested a Central Asian origin.
  Recent excavations at Arzhan in Tuva, Russia have uncovered the earliest Scythian-style kurgan yet found. Similarly the earliest examples of the animal style art which would later characterize the Scythian cultures have been found near the upper Yenisei River and North China, dating to the 10th century BC. Based on these finds, it has been suggested that the Scythian cultures emerged at an early period in southern Siberia. It is probably in this area the Scythian way of life  initially developed. Recent genetic studies have however suggested an origin in the Srubnaya culture, or in the eastern Pontic–Caspian steppe and the southern Urals.
  The Scythian cultures quickly came to stretch from the Pannonian Basin in the west to the Altai Mountains in the east. There were however significant cultural differences between east and west. Over time they came in contact with other ancient civilizations, such as Assyria, Greece and Persia. In the late 1st millennium BC, peoples belonging to the Scythian cultures expanded into Iran (Sakastan), India (Indo-Scythians) and the Tarim Basin. In the early centuries AD, the western Scythian cultures came under pressure from the Goths and other Germanic peoples. The end of the Scythian period in archaeology has been set at approximately the 2nd century AD.
caption: Horseman from the Pazyryk burials, c.300 BC, one of the most famous archaeological discoveries from the Scythian cultures.[1] Equestrianism is one of the chief characteristics of the Scythian cultures.
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