OANNES - Uluslararası Eskiçağ Tarihi Araştırmaları Dergisi

Öz

The absence of written texts by the Scythians themselves has led to ongoing debates about their origins. Early Russian scholars tried to link them to Iranian roots based on inconclusive evidence. However, Turkish scholars have argued that the Scythians' way of life is tied to the Steppe culture and suggested that they originated in Turkistan (Central Asia). Herodotus' information, indicating that the origins of the Scythians lie in the east, has been influential in this regard. We also hold the view that the Scythians came from the east and belong to the Steppe cultural sphere. Yet, while the Scythians carried many material culture elements from the east to the west, they also acquired more from the Near Eastern world. They particularly acted as intermediaries in the transfer of metal goods between Near Asia and Central Asia. The technology of metal smelting from Near Asia was thereby transferred eastward, playing an essential role in the evolutionary development of metal tools. In Central Asia around 5000 BCE, piercing and cutting tools were made from stone and bone, but copper goods started to be used around 3000 BCE. With the improvement in the quality of copper, the use of bronze (an alloy of copper and tin) significantly increased in material culture. Despite the widespread use of bronze in Steppe culture, iron began to be used due to the difficulty of finding tin, a component of bronze. Although the Scythians specialized in bronze, they also used iron and made various tools and equipment from it. The metal object we will examine in this context is the axe. We will particularly focus on a few examples of axes obtained from the kurgans in the northern Black Sea.