The Real Amazons: Warrior women of Scythia

Most people are at least subtly aware of the story of the Amazons, the giant female warriors who thirsted for the blood of men.

Anything beyond the stories is another matter though. Despite all the fictional accounts of these warriors, there is tangible evidence that points to their actual existence at one point in time.

Scythia: Home to the Amazons

As early as 9th century B.C., Scythia was a sprawling Eurasian territory spanning from the Black Sea to the borders of China. While little is known about the Scythians, at least in comparison to other ancient cultures, archeological evidence indicates that at least some of them were warrior women.

‘Scythian’ was the term used by ancient Greeks for the nomadic tribes who lived across the Eurasian steppe. These tribes consisted of horseback warriors who traveled across the plains and lived in tents year-round, in stark contrast to the civilization built by the Greeks.

Scythians are often depicted with pointy hats and ornate armor designs, and are indelibly linked to their prowess on horseback. This connection is so embedded in the Greek conception of Scythians that some historians think the tale of the Minotaur may even be based upon them.

Not only were they refined on horseback, the Scythians also developed an early composite bow that made them deadly from up to 500-meters away. They were known for this combination of bow and horseback skills, in a similar way to the nomadic Mongols.

Barry Cunliffe, an emeritus professor of archaeology at Oxford University, describes the plains of the steppe as if they incite continuous movement due to the expanse they offer. Environments such as this lead to the development of nomadic cultures since the inhabitants are forced to move along with prey, as well as shifts in the climate.

Herodotus, the ‘Father of History,’ characterized the Scythians by invoking the notion of these warrior women. Only, in Herodotus’s retelling of Scythian history, the ‘Amazons’ were foreign invaders who eventually blended into Scythia by pairing to mate with the Scythian men.

For Herodotus, after the Amazons were introduced to the Scythian population, “the two sides joined forces and lived together, forming couples consisting of a Scythian man and the Amazon with whom he first had sex.”

Remnants of a female warrior culture

The Sarmatians, or ‘Sauromatae,’ were one of many other nomadic groups involved in broader Scythian culture. According to Herodotus, one of the Sarmatian’s marriage customs were that “no young woman may marry until she has killed a male enemy. Inability to fulfill this condition means that some of them die of old age without ever being married.”

Once Herodotus’s depiction of Scythia and the Amazons therein is combined with the most recent archaeological developments in that area, an entirely different picture emerges.

The Don Archaeological Expedition from the Institute of Archeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences excavated the remains of the four warrior women in one Scythian tumulus last year.

The head of the expedition, Valerii Guliaev, told CNN after the find that “The Amazons are common Scythian phenomenon and during the last decade our expedition has discovered approximately 11 burials of young armed women.”

These women are usually found buried with their weapons and jewelry strewn about them, a burial rite that was usually doled out strictly to men.

Besides their weapons and jewelry, any given body of a Scythian warrior woman will typically be covered in tattoos. These, like their weapons and other goods, generally depict animals and other natural subjects.

While this side of Scythian culture needs more time and evidence in order for a proper understanding to be developed, the evidence that has been found so far is striking. One can only hope to be as badass as these Scythian women appear, even thousands of years after they died.