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The Scythians offers a bold new take on the horse-riding peoples who once inhabited the vast steppe lands from the Black Sea to the Siberian Altai. Drawing on archaeological finds, ancient texts and comparative insights, Caspar Meyer shows how these communities forged dynamic networks rooted in art, mobility and interspecies relationships. He brings ancient and modern encounters with the Scythians into dialogue – from Herodotus’ ethnography to modernist art and contemporary national imaginations – revealing how their literary and visual afterlives continue to shape our understanding. Long reduced to barbarian stereotypes, the Scythians emerge as cultural innovators and co-creators of Eurasian history. Lively, accessible and thought-provoking, this book opens up a world in which people and things move together in unexpected and transformative ways.
The Scythians offers a bold new take on the horse-riding peoples who once inhabited the vast steppe lands from the Black Sea to the Siberian Altai. Drawing on archaeological finds, ancient texts and comparative insights, Caspar Meyer shows how these communities forged dynamic networks rooted in art, mobility and interspecies relationships. He brings ancient and modern encounters with the Scythians into dialogue – from Herodotus’ ethnography to modernist art and contemporary national imaginations – revealing how their literary and visual afterlives continue to shape our understanding. Long reduced to barbarian stereotypes, the Scythians emerge as cultural innovators and co-creators of Eurasian history. Lively, accessible and thought-provoking, this book opens up a world in which people and things move together in unexpected and transformative ways.