Book Review: Barry Cunliffe, The Scythians: Nomad Warriors of the Steppe. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019.

Abstract

The Scythians is an expansive study of a lost civilization with everlasting characteristics and a rich cultural and artistic heritage. It provides a sympathetic account of a nomadic civilization encompassing a wide variety of sources. Most significantly, it utilizes interdisciplinary methodology to exemplify a model of how to research a nomadic culture doing justice to its historical understanding. The book is arranged into twelve chapters, each focusing on a different aspect of the Scythians: its people, geography, culture, military, art, and history. Rather than following a chronological format, Cunliffe focuses on tracing the evidence in historical records as well as archeological findings in compiling a picture of the Scythians as complete as possible with available material. The book is rich with visual material: pictures, illustrations, maps, images of objects and crafts, as well as an addendum gallery with ten objects presented and interpreted in detail providing depictions of the Scythian life.