Scythian Leather Quiver from Bulgakovo

Abstract

What were items of Scythian archer’s equipment? What materials were used, and how were they produced? These issues remain currently practically unknown. Objects made from organic materials (wood, leather, and textile) in Scythian burials are lost or provide little information. For this reason almost nothing about Scythian archery equipment (bow and quiver) has been known for a long time. This article describes and analyzes the only well preserved quiver found in the Scythian burial of the 4th century BC in the North Pontic Region. The details of a leather quiver bag, a wooden stiffening plate, wooden painted arrows with bronze arrowheads have survived.

Human and animal skin identified by palaeoproteomics in Scythian leather objects from Ukraine

“…The majority of the leather artefacts, however, constitute the remains of some of the most iconic Scythian objects: quivers, containers for arrow storage, or gorytoi , containers that provided a secure storage and transportation of both arrows and the bow ( Fig 3 ). Scythian archers are invariably depicted carrying a quiver/ gorytos in ancient iconography and almost every Scythian burial is accompanied by a quiver set, although usually only the metal arrowheads survive [ 27 ]. Quivers are often depicted in artistic and decorative objects of the time.…”

The Perishable Material Culture of the Pontic Steppe Scythians: Scientific Investigation of a Fourth‐century Bc Kurgan Burial at Bulhakovo, Ukraine

“…5a‐b). The quiver was recovered as a block, preserving its various components including arrows in situ and, to date, constitutes the most completely preserved leather quiver found in European Scythia (Daragan 2020). It is sewn of multiple leather pieces using animal sinew thread.…”

“…The leather quiver with its arrows, placed between the two skeletons, is likely associated with Individual 2 because it was laid to the body’s left. The left‐sided position of a quiver is common in many other Scythian burials (Daragan 2020). Scythian, as well as Greek and Lydian (specifically the paintings from the Tatarli tumulus) iconography also shows quivers and gorytoi (arrow and bow containers) usually worn on the left side by the Scythians, a position facilitating quick arrow retrieval for a right‐handed person (Daragan 2020, 153).…”

“…The left‐sided position of a quiver is common in many other Scythian burials (Daragan 2020). Scythian, as well as Greek and Lydian (specifically the paintings from the Tatarli tumulus) iconography also shows quivers and gorytoi (arrow and bow containers) usually worn on the left side by the Scythians, a position facilitating quick arrow retrieval for a right‐handed person (Daragan 2020, 153). The leather ankle boots preserved on the feet of Individual 2 are identical in shape to those worn by the male figures depicted on the objects of the Scythian toreutics found across the Pontic Steppe, for example on the famous gold beaker from Kul‐Oba (Alekseev 2012, 190–3).…”

“…As noted above, the leather ankle boots found on Individual 2 are well known from Scythian iconography and were a distinctive element of Scythian dress. The almost intact leather quiver from Bulhakovo provides important information about this most iconic Scythian item, allowing the reconstructing of the more fragmentary examples found in other burials (Daragan 2020). Various details of its design correspond not only to the archaeological material known from the territory of the Pontic Steppe but also an earlier find from Arzhan‐2 in Russia (Chugunov 2013, 439), indicating that its form and shape are indigenous to the steppe nomadic milieux.…”