Pontic Scythian art The art of the
Scythians proper was part of specific zoomorphic style called the "
Animal Style," which was typical of the Eurasian steppe nomads, although the "Animal Style" of the Pontic Scythians was itself an artistic tradition of its own and differed from the variants of the "Animal Style" of the nomads from eastern Eurasia. The Scythian "Animal Style" represented a limited and specific range of animals in very specific canonical poses, although these did evolve over time. Within the "Animal Style," large surfaces that came together at an angle were used to model the bodies of animals, and the most importants parts of animals were exaggerated and stylised, including: • the eyes, ears and horns of ungulates; • the eyes, ears, claws, nostrils, and mouths of beasts of prey; • the eyes and beaks of birds of prey. As part of the Scythian "Animal Style" a specific motif known as "zoomorphic transformations" was used, whereby parts of the animals were themselves depicted as animals or parts of animals, such as, for example, the branches of deer's antlers and claws of beasts of prey, which were depicted as the heads of birds of prey with curved beaks. Some parts of animals, such as legs, hooves, and birds' heads, were often depicted separately.
Development Early Central Asian period The populations of the Srubnaya and Andronovo cultures from whom the Scythians were descended used solely geometric patterns on their pottery and cheek-pieces made of bone.
Eastern Saka origins The earliest Scythian groups and Scythian art and culture are thought to have emerged with the
Early Sakas from eastern Eurasia in the early 1st millennium BC. The "Animal Style" art of the Scythians was a variant of the art of the Eurasian Steppe nomads, which itself initially developed under the
Sakas in the eastern Eurasian steppes of Central Asia and Siberia during the 9th century BC (art of the
Arzhan culture, dated to 800 BC), under the partial influence of ancient Chinese art and of the "static" naturalistic art of the inhabitants of the Siberian woodlands, after which it arrived westward into eastern Europe during the 8th century BC. Chinese stylicized standing deer figures of the
Shang and
Western Zhou dynasties (
an example) do precede the deer figures of the Sakas, and artistic and technical exchanges between the two realms are likely, but the Saka interpretation remains rather original and specific to northern Siberian culture. In return, the new gold-crafting technologies of the Sakas in Central Asia and Southern Siberia were imported by China and influenced the development of gold-crafting technologies there from the 9th century BCE, as seen in the sites of
Dongtalede or
Xigoupan. According to
Duan Qingbo, there is also a possibility that the miniature human and horse shapes of
Qin state funeral figurines were inspired by the
Art of the steppes, as seen in objects such as the
figurines of the Saka incense burners. These technological and artistic exchanges attest to the magnitude of communication networks between China and the Mediterranean, even long before the establishment of the
Silk Road. File:Eleke Sazy stag rotated, morphed, cropped.jpg|Saka recumbent stag plaque,
Eleke Sazy, Kazakhstan; 8th to 6th century BC File:26. Flying deer Chilikti (VII. - VI. B. C.) Kazakhstan.JPG|Saka flying deer,
Shilikty, 7th to 6th century BC, Kazakhstan. File:Arzhan deer.jpg|"Animal style" deer, 7-6th century BC,
Arzhan, Tuva.
West Asian influences During the
Scythian stay in West Asia, and especially during their
occupation of Media, the Scythian upper class came under the influence of West Asian culture, as a consequence of which the art of the Scythians absorbed many West Asian motifs and themes, due to which the "Animal Style" art was influenced by West Asian artistic traditions The art style characteristic to the Scythians proper thus developed under these conditions during the period between 650 and 600 BC. In the earlier phases of the art of the Scythians proper, West Asian motifs dominated the earlier Srubnaya-inherited Scythian elements, with this West Asian influence being reflected in the contents of the
Melgunov Kurgan and kurgans, within which were both Scythian and West Asian artifacts, such as bowls and diadems obtained as booty or as diplomatic gifts, as well as items combining Scythian and West Asian elements, such as swords and axes that were typically Scythian in shape but not in their decorative motifs and artistic styles, although they still reproduced images of the Scythian "Animal Style" art, thus suggesting that they had been commissioned from West Asian craftsmen by Scythian patrons. Representations of eagle-headed griffins were adopted into Scythian art from West Asian sources at this time, and their depictions appear only at sites where contacts with West Asia are visible, such as the Kelermes kurgan; these representations of griffins became rare in the art of the Scythians after their expulsion from West Asia, and were distorted when they did appear. Particularly common during this period was the image of griffin-rams, that is of eagles with ram horns, which was absent outside of the range of the Scythian culture, and might have represented the khvarenah|. Only the items of West Asian origin depicted scenes in this period, and animals were largely depicted isolated or in antithetical compositions. Much of the West Asian imagery was however not absorbed by Scythian art. Examples of this West Asian-influenced art from the 6th century BC were found in western Ciscaucasian burials, as well as in the
Melgunov Kurgan in what is presently Ukraine, and in the
Vettersfelde Treasure trove in what is modern-day Poland. The distinctive style of art characteristic of the Scythians proper thus emerged during their stay in Western Asia during the 7th century BC, and was elaborated primarily to serve the needs of the Scythian aristocracy, hence why it depicted prestigious themes, such as the deification of royal power, and the cults of ancestral heroes and of military valour. The "Animal Style" style was initially restricted to the Scythian upper classes, and the Scythian lower classes in both West Asia and the Pontic Steppe had not yet adopted it, with the latter group's bone cheek-pieces and bronze buckles being plain and without decorations, while the Pontic groups were still using Srubnaya- and Andronovo-type geometric patterns. The Scythian stelae representing armed warriors that were erected over burial mounds, known as kurgan stelae, at this time were sculpted so as to depict faces with almond-shaped eyes, moustaches but not beards, arms, and sometimes phalli; the figures on these sculptures usually wear torcs and belts and sometimes helmets, as well as weapons such as swords, axes, , and more rarely whips. A group of sculptures similar to these were found in Iraq, and might have been erected by a splinter group of Scythians or Cimmerians who had settled there and become acculturated: unlike the typical Scythian stelae, these sculptures represented beards but not moustaches, and only one figure is holding a weapon, namely an axe which is in the figure's hand instead of hanging from his belt.
European influences Beginning in the 5th century BC, the influence of arriving Sauromatians from the east, the borrowing of elements from Thracian art as well as the incorporation of Greek elements into the complex synthesis which constituted Scythian art after it came under Greek influence, led to an evolution of the "Animal Style": • the compositions became less schematic, and the eyes and ears and mouths of animals becoming portrayed more realistically while their bodies started to be modelled more smoothly • exaggerated representations of certain animal body parts nevertheless became more prevalent in Scythian art during this period, as did stylisation, with bird beaks being depicted as large spirals; • the technique of "zoomorphic transformations" also became more common, as did the depictions of the single legs of ungulates or carnivorous animals; • depictions of fish became more widespread, and so did representations of elk in the forest steppe. In the forest steppe, the art of the Scythian peoples was influenced that of the inhabitants of the eastern European forested areas. This Scythian art formed out of various influences later spread to the west, in the region which corresponds to present Romania, and eventually it brought influences from Iranic and West Asian art into
Celtic art, and also introduced metalwork types which followed
Shang Chinese models, such as "cruciform tubes" used in harnesses, into Western Eurasia, where they were adopted by the
Hallstatt culture. Under the influence of both Greek and
Achaemenid Persian art, scenes of animals fighting or tearing each other also became prevalent in Scythian art. The appearance of plant motifs in Scythian was also a result of Greek influence. The kurgan stelae also evolved at this time, with the style of their faces changing, their eyes becoming more rounded, moustaches becoming rarer, and beards starting to appear; the shapes and arrangement of their hands also changed so that they were always holding a rhyton in their left hands, and swords started being depicted on the sides, while the shapes of the changed. The Greek art further influenced that of the Scythians during the 4th century BC, due to which works of art manufactured by Greek craftsmen for Scythians increased in prevalence in Scythia, although the "Animal Style" art continued to be used. Among these objects were small plaques which followed Greek artistic traditions while depicting elements of the "Animal Style": although these included some images of animals, there was a significantly large number of human depictions, usually of Scythians, but sometimes of Greek themes, such as the story of Achilles. Depictions of griffins reappeared in Scythian art in the 4th century BC due to Greek influence, and did representations of lion-headed griffins. Some of the metal works manufactured by Greek craftsmen represented Scythian myths, such as: • cultic vessels from the
Chasti kurhan near
Voronezh and the
Kul-Oba kurgan, which depict the scene of the contest between the three sons of
Targitaos from the
Scythian genealogical myth; • depictions of the Scythian
Snake-Legged Goddess, who was the mother of the sons of Targitaos in the genealogical myth, were also very common and have been found at Kul-Oba, , and Velyka Blyznytsya; • the representation of a seated goddess holding a mirror while a man or youth holding a rhyton faces her was found at Kul-Oba, , ,
Verkhnii Rohachyk, the 1st kurhan,
Melitopol kurgan, and the 4th kurhan; • on a plate from Sakhnova bearing the depiction the seated goddess and the male figure with a rhyton is also a scene where two Scythians drink from the same rhyton. There were also some wholly Greek art items in Scythian burials during this period, such as Greek earrings from the Kul Oba kurgan, and objects made by Greek craftsmen were present in all royal and aristocratic burials from this period, including examples of identical Scythian ceremonial weaponry made using the same matrix from multiple different burial mounds: these had been manufactured at the same time in the same workshop, presumably as commissions by multiple Scythian rulers, or by Bosporan kings to be used as diplomatic gifts for Scythian rulers. Among these objects were depicting the life of Achilles from the Chortomlyk, Melitopol, the 8th
Five Brothers Kurgans, and
Illintsi kurgans, as well as scabbards from the Chortomlyk and Five Brothers 8 kurgans. At the same time, anthropomorphic imagery started appearing in Scythian art itself, such as a "Mistress of Animals" from the or a
gryphonomachy scene on a terminal from Slonivska Blyznytsia. Anthropomorphic depictions were themselves the most conservative form of Scythian art, and most of the sculptures from the 4th century BC were made in the Scythian artistic tradition, although Greek influence was visible in some Scythian sculptures from Crimea, where clothing and armour were represented to an extent that was unusual in Scythian art.
End Scythian art extended to the
end of the Pontic Scythian kingdom in the early 3rd century BC; the art of the later Scythians of Crimea and Dobruja was completely Hellenised, with the paintings and sculptures from Scythian Neapolis belonging to the Greek artistic tradition and having probably been made by Greek sculptors. The tradition of erecting kurgan stelae nevertheless still continued in this period, although they were cruder than the earlier stelae and the style of their details did not continue the artistic traditions of the Pontic Scythian kingdom. Some crude reliefs similar to Bosporan ones also decorated tombs from this period.
Sarmatian art The
Sarmatians, who replaced the Scythians by about the 3rd century BC, also formed a part of the Scytho-Siberian cultural milieu. Sarmatian art preserved the animal style, but with more floral motifs and geometric ornament. Sarmatians produced art jewelry and plaques in southern Eurasia from the 3rd century BC to the 1st century AD Sarmatian artistic habits influenced the
Goths, the
Germanic tribes of the
Migration Period, and subsequent
European medieval art. ==Archaeology==