The barbarism of the Scythians, a people who ruled the Eurasian steppes in ancient times, has just been proven. Pieces of tanned human skin that looked like a quiver were discovered in Ukraine.
Herodotus, the famous Greek historian of the 5th century BC. BC, had told their story: the Scythians were fierce warriors, cruel and bloodthirsty. With a certain level of detail, he described in his works what awaited the enemies defeated in battle by these ancient fighters. They were beheaded, scalped and their skinof the skull or the right hand, he says tanned and processed into leatherwhich becomes a “towel” and is then hung on or over the horse’s bridle a quiver, where the Scythian arrows are placed, in a ultimate humiliation of a warrior. For a long time, Herodotus' words were questioned and relegated to the status of legend. But researchers have just found evidence of the reality of this barbaric tradition.
Human skins under animal skins
For a new study published in the journal PLOS One, a team of researchers led by the University of Copenhagen analyzed several pieces of leather Scythian burial sites in southern Ukraine. A “surprise” was the leather production of the Scythians, who “mainly used domesticated species such as sheep, goats, cattle and horses”. Two pieces of human skin. “The surprising discovery is the presence of two samples of human skin, providing for the first time direct evidence of the claim of the Greek historian Herodotus,” they write.
Enemies were actually transformed into Warrior trophy, and in particular as a quiver “cover,” describes this analysis of 45 pieces of leather from 14 different burial sites. To know whether it was human skin or not is a technique ofLeather protein analysis was used. However, we don't know which part of the body it is. So even if these people, who ruled between 700 and 300 BC. BC over the Eurasian steppeWas nomadicThis research found that “the Scythians had sophisticated leather production technologies that ensured a stable supply of this vital material.”
Here is a Scythian drawing his bow, detail from the Koul Oba Vase (said to be 4th century BC)
The electrum vase (alloy of gold and silver), a Greco-Scythian object, seems to tell us something about the Scythian people through the story of Herodotus. Currently in the Hermitage Museum. pic.twitter.com/blXmElIqQZ
— History and Odyssey (@HistoireOdyssey) July 26, 2022
Among other cruel practices, Herodotus also reported that the Scythians “made clothing from these scalps and sewed them together like skin coats,” reports Science Alert. In the graves found by scientists, certain pieces of leather may be similar boots or clothing, without us being sure. But they weren't not from human skin, a skin “thick, the fairest and whitest of all,” the historian wrote. Enough to give you goosebumps.
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