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That which we discover for ourselves we cherish.
Although, on the map, the distances along the steppe corridor look formidable in terms of ancient travel, the relatively level, open land facilitated speed. In the thirteenth century AD it is claimed that a Mongol dispatch rider, setting out from Karakorum in the Mongolian steppe, changing horses whenever necessary, could reach Hungary within a month. Even at the more leisurely pace of 25 km a day the journey could be accomplished comfortably within the year. The very nature of the steppe encouraged movement. On a horse, with nothing but swaying grass extending to the horizon, why not go
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warrior lords, like the individual interred at Arzhan 1, were being buried in grand ceremonies involving large assemblies of people willing to invest their effort in the construction of the kurgan and thereafter to indulge in lavish feasting. The burial of a leader was a spectacle designed to display, for all to see, the might of the clan. The greater the consumption in labour and material resource, the greater its power.
Scythian trilobite arrowheads are not infrequently found in destruction layers in hillforts, and one was actually found embedded in a body lying in a destroyed fort gate. These have led some archaeologists to argue that they represent extensive Scythian raids which were instrumental in the weakening of the local Lusatian culture.
but it must in some way reflect the mobility of the elites constantly moving through networks built on alliances, exchanging gifts, sharing ideas and beliefs, negotiating marriages, and, of course, feasting. In all probability the death of a revered leader would have provided the occasion for the disparate bands to come together to reaffirm alliances through storytelling, reminding those gathered of the exploits and valour of the ancestors.
the desire of some Scythian males to take on the female role was induced by the gods and that such people had supernatural powers enabling them to become diviners and shamans. Transgender behaviour was a characteristic of shamanism in various parts of the world in the recent past.
The royal hearth is an especially sacred place and swearing an oath by it is an act of great solemnity: a false oath can affect the king’s health
Staffs, capped in this way, were symbols of authority and were probably carried by priests, the rattling noise or tinkling of the bells calling the audience to attend to the rites about to be performed. The sound itself was unsettling and the sight of the predatory birds in the flickering lamplight looking as if they were about to swoop would have unnerved the superstitious. It is upon such artifice that priests build their power.
Communities in the past needed origin myths to give them a sense of self and a right to existence, a pantheon of gods to offer moral support at times of adversity, and a class of interpreters to manage the communication between mortals and the deities.
THE wide expanse of steppe flowing through Eurasia, with its grey-green horizons receding in the distance and its shimmer as the wind rustles the grass, challenges everyone to be on the move. Like the sea, it is a world where nothing can stay still and, like the sea, it sweeps everything onward.
