Clothing and Personal Care

Clothing among the Scythians served people whose lives often depended on mobility, horse riding and pastoralism. The Pontic Scythians, who dominated the northern Black Sea steppe from the seventh to the third century BCE, belonged to a wider world of related steppe peoples. Eastern Saka communities and the Pazyryk culture of the Altai had their own regional histories, however, with clothing suited to those environments and traditions. Later Indo-Scythian kingdoms in South Asia, in the early centuries CE, were another distinct regional development.

Descriptions of Scythian dress emphasize close-fitting, warm garments made from wool, felt, leather and fur, suited to life on horseback and to the steppe climate. Archaeological evidence gives a more detailed picture for some communities than for others. In particular, frozen Altai burials preserve garments and personal adornments rarely found in ordinary archaeological conditions.

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Garments for movement and warmth

Greek images of Scythian archers show belted tunics, trousers and headwear with flaps. Trousers covered each leg separately, allowing movement in the saddle while keeping the legs protected. Boots and warm outer layers completed an outfit suited to riding and cold conditions. Belts secured clothing and carried equipment such as a bow case.

A woman excavated in 1993 at Ak-Alakha 3 on the Ukok Plateau wore an elaborate outfit dated to the fifth century BCE. She wore a shirt, a long woollen skirt and high white felt stocking-boots decorated with red appliqué. Her skirt was made in horizontal bands of red wool and held in place by a plaited wool cord with tasselled ends, which allowed it to sit at different heights. These remains show how separate garments and ties could be combined, while the felt legwear provided a substantial covering for the feet and lower legs.

Materials, workmanship and display

Scythian garments could be elaborately decorated with bright embroidery, appliqué, pearl and gold ornament. Such work required careful cutting, sewing and the attachment of decorative pieces. The contrast between everyday utility and costly display is especially visible in elite burials, where finely made clothing and precious materials accompanied other objects of wealth. Dress could therefore meet practical needs while also expressing status.

Trade brought textiles and other goods into contact with steppe communities. In the Altai, the Pazyryk burials preserve felt hangings and woven textiles alongside silk. The fifth-century BCE woman’s yellow shirt was identified as made of wild silk; its precise origin is uncertain, though a source beyond China, possibly India, has been proposed. This exceptional garment reflects long-distance connections.

Headwear and hair

Headwear could be a striking part of a burial outfit. The Pazyryk woman was buried with an elaborate wig and tall felt headdress decorated with animal and bird forms. Her head had been shaved, and the wig was built over a close-fitting felt cap, with layers of hair arranged to give it shape. A lock of her own hair was also wrapped in felt and bound upright. These details reveal a carefully constructed appearance in this particular Altai burial, not a general rule for women across Scythian regions.

A male burial from Pazyryk provides a different example. The chief in barrow 2 had a carved wooden crest, thought to be headgear, depicting a bird of prey holding a deer’s head. A false beard made from hair, sinew thread and leather was found beside him. Its meaning is uncertain, and the Pazyryk mummies were described as clean-shaven. Another frozen man found in the region had two long braids reaching his waist. Together, these burials show varied ways of arranging hair and headwear, rather than a single male style.

Washing, cosmetics and mirrors

Herodotus describes women grinding cypress, cedar and frankincense with water into a scented paste, spreading it on the body and removing it later. He presents the treatment as leaving the skin clean and fragrant. The preparation joined abrasive plant material with scent in a process of applying and removing a coating.

Mirrors were another part of personal care. Bronze mirrors made at Pontic Olbia were used among the Scythians, and animal decoration was popular on mirrors in the early Scythian period. The Pazyryk woman’s burial contained a bronze mirror set into a wooden frame carved with a deer. Examination identified its metal plate as a fragment of a Chinese mirror reused in the frame, an example of an imported object adapted for a new purpose.

Tattoos and regional differences

Preserved bodies from the Pazyryk culture carry animal-style tattoos. The man in barrow 2 had designs on his arms, chest, back and legs, including deer, a mountain ram and fantastic creatures. Tattooing placed pigment beneath the skin, carrying the visual imagery also found on portable objects directly on the body.

The fifth-century BCE woman from the Ukok Plateau also had animal-style tattoos, including a deer design on her shoulder and marks on her wrist and thumb. The frozen Altai graves preserve the pigment and skin together, allowing designs and their placement to be studied in detail.

For the wider setting, see Scythian daily life.