The Scythians inhabited the Eurasian steppe from 900 BC to around 200 BC. With no Scythian writing surviving, much of what is known about the people comes from ancient Assyrian and Graeco-Roman literary sources and from archaeological evidence. From these sources, it is clear that the Scythians were formidable warriors and accomplished riders, roaming the Eurasian steppes and controlling the regional trade. The Greeks first encountered the Scythians in the 7th century BC, and with the establishment of many Greek cities in the region, the Greek and Scythian cultures would greatly influence the other’s culture and art for centuries.
Scythian art was primarily decorative in its nature, and the Scythians were famed for their jewellery, which was highly ornate and carefully crafted. This gold appliqué would have been affixed to garments of clothing as decoration. Such items normally would have been affixed in patterns, with multiple gold mounts on a single item of clothing. Gold was so integral to Scythian fashions that even their horses were richly decorated in gold ornamentation.
To discover more about Scythian culture and decorative techniques for metalworks, please visit our relevant blog posts: Scythian Gold and Decorative Metalwork Techniques.
