Re-evaluating Scythian lifeways: Isotopic analysis of diet and mobility in Iron Age Ukraine

Abstract

The Scythians are frequently presented, in popular and academic thought alike, as highly mobile warrior nomads who posed a great economic risk to growing Mediterranean empires from the Iron Age into the Classical period. Archaeological studies provide evidence of first millennium BCE urbanism in the steppe while historical texts reference steppe agriculture, challenging traditional characterizations of Scythians as nomads. However, there have been few direct studies of the diet and mobility of populations living in the Pontic steppe and forest-steppe during the Scythian era. Here, we analyse strontium, oxygen, and carbon isotope data from human tooth enamel samples, as well as nitrogen and carbon isotope data of bone collagen, at several Iron Age sites across Ukraine commonly associated with ‘Scythian’ era communities. Our multi-isotopic approach demonstrates generally low levels of human mobility in the vicinity of urban locales, where populations engaged in agro-pastoralism focused primarily on millet agriculture. Some individuals show evidence for long-distance mobility, likely associated with significant inter-regional connections. We argue that this pattern supports economic diversity of urban locales and complex trading networks, rather than a homogeneous nomadic population.

Dining in Tuva: Social correlates of diet and mobility in Southern Siberia during the 2nd–4th centuries CE

“…H2. According to previous archeological and ethnographic studies (Ventresca Miller et al, 2021) we expect mobility at Tunnug1 to be relatively low and represented by few nonlocal individuals.…”

“…To this aim, we used the median of sulfur isotopic ratios ± triple the median absolute deviation (3MAD) of herbivores as proxy of local isotopic baseline. Studies on mobility are increasingly using this approach when trying to detect isotopic outliers (Lightfoot & O'Connell, 2016; Milella et al, 2019; Ventresca Miller et al, 2021). The advantage of 3MAD over alternative criteria (e.g., two standard deviations from the mean) is that it offers a more rigorous threshold for the detection of outliers (Leys et al, 2013).…”

“…Made in QGIS3.12 using ESRI physical as basemap and natural earth (1:10) for rivers and borders H1. Assuming a mixed subsistence economy for the population under study (see Murphy et al, 2013;Spengler et al, 2021;Ventresca Miller et al, 2021;, we expect the diet of this community to be represented by a heavy reliance on animal proteins coupled with other resources (C 4 plant products and/or freshwater fish).…”

“…Isotopic studies of Eurasian steppe populations have been focused, to a large extent, on the reconstruction of diet and, to a lesser extent, on mobility of Bronze and Iron Age populations from the Pontic region, through Kazakhstan to Southern Siberia and Mongolia. Despite their geographical heterogeneity, these studies have repeatedly reached similar conclusions: (1) diets of these communities often incorporated resources like freshwater foodstuffs (e.g., freshwater fish) and domesticated grains (e.g., millet) (Hollund et al, 2010; Lightfoot et al, 2015; Motuzaite Matuzeviciute et al, 2015; Murphy et al, 2013; Svyatko et al, 2013; Ventresca Miller & Makarewicz, 2019; Zhang et al, 2015); (2) mobility was mostly related to seasonal transhumance, while long‐distance movements were much rarer (Machicek et al, 2019; Ventresca Miller et al, 2021).…”

“…Current archeological research on Eurasian societies has repeatedly highlighted such ecological flexibility during prehistory (e.g., Frachetti, 2009; Frachetti et al, 2010; Spengler, 2015; Spengler, Cerasetti, et al, 2014; Spengler, Frachetti, et al, 2014; Wright et al, 2009). Besides archeological, archaeozoological and palaeobotanical investigations, isotopic analyses of ancient human biological tissues (bones, teeth, and hairs) are continuously providing new data about past dietary and mobility patterns in these populations (Hanks et al, 2018; Lightfoot et al, 2015; Murphy et al, 2013; Svyatko et al, 2007, 2013; Svyatko, Polyakov, et al, 2017; Svyatko, Reimer, & Schulting, 2017; Ventresca Miller et al, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021; Ventresca Miller & Makarewicz, 2019). Isotopic studies of Eurasian steppe populations have been focused, to a large extent, on the reconstruction of diet and, to a lesser extent, on mobility of Bronze and Iron Age populations from the Pontic region, through Kazakhstan to Southern Siberia and Mongolia.…”