Archaeologists have made a “grisly” discovery in Ukraine: leather made from human skin by nomadic warriors 2,000 years ago.
The artifacts belonged to the ancient Scythians, who came from Central Asia and were known for their ferocity in battle and use of innovative weapons.
Stories were passed down from the ancient Greeks that claimed that Scythians took the skin from an enemy's right hand and used it to make leather.
The discovery by researchers at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark is the first evidence that the writings were more than a myth.
The team found a mixture of human skin and animal skin, creating a patchwork-like material that the warrior carried as a trophy.
Archaeologists have made a gruesome discovery in Ukraine: leather made from human skin by nomadic warriors 2,000 years ago
The team uncovered 18 burials at 14 different Scythian sites in southern Ukraine and discovered 45 leather samples.
Most animal fur comes from goat or sheep species, the others come from carnivorous animals.
The team assumes that the predators were tigers, lions, martens, wolverines, otters or hyenas.
The analysis revealed that two samples were from humans, consistent with a text by the ancient Greek “father of history” Herodotus, written around 430 B.C.E. wrote a book about the Scythians.
One of the human skin samples was mixed with goat, horse and cattle skin to create a bag that once contained arrows.
The Scythians or Saka were Iranian nomads who lived from the 9th century BC. BC to the 4th century AD roamed large parts of the Eurasian steppes
The team uncovered 18 burials at 14 different Scythian sites in southern Ukraine and discovered 45 leather samples
And the artifact in the second burial was made of human, sheep, goat and horse skin.
The book contains stories of Scythians who drank the blood of their enemies, used human scalps as trophies, and skinned their dead enemies to turn the skin into a leather sheath for their quivers.
The team found a mixture of human skin and animal skin, creating a patchwork-like material that the warrior carried as a trophy. Human remains have been identified in the leather shown here
“A Scythian drinks the blood of the first man he has defeated.” “He carries to his king the heads of all he has killed in battle…” reads a passage in the book.
“Many Scythians even make garments from these scalps, sewing them together like coats of skin. Many also peel off the skin, nails, and everything else from the right hands of their dead enemies and make them into coverings for their quivers.”
“The surprising discovery is the presence of two human skin samples, providing for the first time direct evidence of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus' claim that the Scythians used the skin of their dead enemies to make leather trophies,” the researchers wrote in the journal Study published in PLOS ONE.
The team also found in the study that archaeological finds also support other Scythian customs described by Herodotus.
For example, the recent re-examination of one of the four largest royal Scythian burial mounds in southern Ukraine led to the discovery of a large burial site in the immediate vicinity.
The mound contained burials of men, women and children, all apparently killed and buried there as part of the burial rites for the burial mound's royal resident.
The Scythians or Saka were Iranian nomads who lived from the 9th century BC. BC to the 4th century AD roamed large parts of the Eurasian steppes.
They are believed to have been among the first to master mounted warfare and lived in allied tribes.
The ancient tribe were also skilled archers and often found employment as mercenaries.