The “cities” of nomadic Scythians

Abstract

The issue of temporary “cities’ of nomadic Scythians consisting of tent wagons and removable yurts which arose at the site of the Scythian families and the locations of Scythian aristocrats, Tzars and Nomarhs, is considered in the article. The transition to a nomadic way of life, which was based on extensive herding, was impossible without a number of technical achievements: the development of a perfect system for reining a horse, the widespread development of iron and, as a consequence, the emergence of high-tech and reliable weapon. The creation of dwelling, the most adapted to the conditions of nomadic life was of great importance. First of all, a tent wagon covered with felt, became such a dwelling, drawn by slow, but powerful oxen. In our opinion, besides the tent wagons, the Scythians already had such characteristic dwellings for nomads in the form of removable yurts installed on a platform base. During the stay, tent wagons and removable yurts of the Scythians, especially when it comes to influential and populous Scythian cities, as well as the nomadic locations of the Scythian leaders, from a distance could seem to the traveler to be a real city.

So-called catacombs are characteristic Scythian burials, especially for IV BC. They consist of a vertical entrance pit (in the mounds of the Scythian aristocracy, its depth could reach 15 m) and one or more burial chambers arranged in the walls or at the corners of the entrance pit. These chambers had an arched vault, resembling a canopy of Scythian tent wagon. Considering that the wheels sometimes appeared on the pledge of these chambers, it can be safely assumed that the Scythian burial chambers recreated the habitual dwelling of the deceased, a tent wagon in which he was born and died. In this case, the “cap” of the Scythian mounds of the hemispherical shape could recreate another nomadic dwelling — a yurt.