Scythian Internecine Feuds

In the Scythian period burials have been identified, in which metal arrowheads have been found in or among the bones of the deceased which may have been the cause of death. In all such cases, without exception, the arrowheads, which had wounded or killed the deceased, were of specifically Scythian types, used precisely at that time for the weaponry of both Scythians and their contemporaries constituting the military contingents of various tribal alliances in the forest-steppe zone. Analysis of the sample has shown that in most cases those who perished were victims of armed conflicts within the ethno-political world of Scythia. In a number of further cases, arrow wounds had been caused as a result of a rite forming part of a funerary ritual. Some other archaeological data, such as the dismantling of and re-use of Scythian anthropomorphic stelai and also the virtually total plundering of their kurgans by the Scythians themselves, can also indicate the conflict situation within Scythian society in the late-5th and 4th centuries bc . Certain data from written sources also tie in with the existence of internecine feuds in Scythia, including the reliably recorded fact of clashes between Scythian élites. The inter-tribal violence recorded in the light of arrow wounds quite probably reflects, among other things, the new form of relationships within Scythian society resulting from rivalry for possession of territory and resources.