BEFORE THE NAMES SCYTHIAN AND SAKA · 1200–700 BCE

Before the Scythians and Sakas

The steppe before the Scythians

Communities in Mongolia and neighbouring regions already raised tombs and stelae decorated with deer before references to Scythians and Sakas.

Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.

Granite deer stone covered with stylised figures in Uushigiin Övör, Mongolia — **DECLARED VISUAL RECONSTRUCTION · EXISTING EDITORIAL RESOURCE · TRACEKEEPERS**
Generated reconstruction · Declared visual hypothesis
Declared visual reconstruction for museographic context; it is not a photograph of the original nor documentary evidence.

History and context

Before Greek sources spoke of Scythians and Persian sources of Saka, the communities of the Eurasian steppe transformed their relationship with the horse, herding and funerary landscapes. In Mongolia and neighbouring regions they raised deer stones and khirigsuurs: monuments associated with ceremonies, sacrifices and collective memory.

During the 9th and 8th centuries BCE, large barrows such as Arzhan show elites, horses and connections over enormous distances. Some animal images anticipate traits of later steppe art, but there is no simple ethnic genealogy. Historical names arrived later to a mobile world that already possessed its own monumental traditions.

Evidence and interpretation

Documented fact: Deer stones are concentrated especially in Mongolia and neighbouring areas. Interpretation and caution: The chronological interval of the assemblage is broad and the exact function of each stone continues to be debated; avoid calling it the gravestone of a specific warrior. Historical transition: From these equestrian and funerary networks emerged the horizons that historical sources would call Scythian and Saka, connected from the Black Sea to Central Asia. Limit of the transition: Deer stones are not automatically Scythian: they belong to earlier and diverse communities. Their visual resemblance to later art indicates possible connections, not a demonstrated identity.

Catalogue facts

Previous period: ca. 1200–700 BCE
Sphere of influence: Eurasian steppes, from Mongolia and the Altai to Kazakhstan and the western corridors
Threshold element: Deer stone of Uushigiin Övör
Element date: Final Bronze–Initial Iron, ca. 1200–600 BCE
Location: Uushigiin Övör, Khövsgöl province, Mongolia
Material or support: Carved granite
Documented fact 01: Deer stones are concentrated especially in Mongolia and neighbouring areas.
Documented fact 02: They are often integrated into complexes with khirigsuurs and horse deposits.
Documented fact 03: The carved motifs include deer, weapons, belts and solar signs.
Documented fact 04: Arzhan 1 precedes much of the historical record of Scythians and Sakas.
Documented fact 05: Scythian and Saka are broad historical names, not a uniform archaeological culture.
Visual credit: Bernard Gagnon · CC0 1.0

A SHARED TOPIC, DIFFERENT MOMENTS

Objects connected through time

Follow a topic across the collections. A shared tag is a way to compare objects, not proof that one culture influenced another.

The order uses the midpoint of each approximate date range; ranges can overlap. Spacing does not represent elapsed time. Swipe, scroll or use the arrows. With the sequence focused, use ← / →, Home or End.

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Final Bronze–Initial Iron, ca. 1200–600 BCE

Before the Scythians and Sakas

Scythians and Saka

Framework of the representative monument, not of the entire preceding period.

Current record

Granite4 dated objects

1 / 4In the centre: Before the Scythians and Sakas

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Sculpture

Lion-man · ≈40,000 years · Aurignacian · Prehistory
Lespugue · ≈28,000 years · Prehistory
Zaraysk Bison · ≈23,000–21,000 years · Prehistory
Shigir Idol · C. 10,000 BCE · approximation; debated dating · Prehistory
Warka Mask · End of the 4th millennium BCE · Sumer
Gebel el-Arak knife · 3600–3200 BCE · Naqada II C–D · Ancient Egypt
Uruk Vase · ca. 3300–3000 BCE · Sumer
Narmer Palette · ca. 3100 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Before Yayoi · Middle Jōmon, ca. 3000 BCE · Yayoi Japan
Ur-Nanshe relief · Mid-3rd millennium BCE · reign of Ur-Nanshe · Sumer
The goat from PG 1237 · ca. 2600–2400 BCE · Sumer
Stele of the Vultures · Towards 2450–2425 BCE · Sumer
Akkadian sovereign head · Akkadian period · 23rd century BCE · Sumer
Bassetki Statue · Akkadian period · 23rd century BCE · Sumer
Naram-Sin Stele · Reign of Naram-Sin, 2254–2218 BCE · Sumer
Before Pre-Inca Cultures · Kotosh-Mito Tradition, c. 2200–1500 BCE; the enclosure is usually situated around 1800 BCE. · Pre-Inca cultures
Queen of the Night · 19th–18th centuries BCE · Sumer
Bull-leaping · c. 1600–1450 BCE · Greek worlds
Wooden faces · c. 1600–1000 BCE, in several phases · Maya worlds
Head 2 · c. 1200–900 BCE · Maya worlds
The voice of Ahiram · c. 11th–10th century BCE · Phoenicians
Before the Scythians and Sakas · Final Bronze–Initial Iron, ca. 1200–600 BCE · Scythians and Saka — You are viewing
Black Obelisk · 825 BCE · Sumer
Ivory in Nimrud · 9th–8th centuries BCE · Phoenicians
Las Limas · c. 1000–600 BCE · Maya worlds
Astarte from El Carambolo · 8th century BCE · Phoenicians
Astarte from El Carambolo · 8th century BCE · Iberians
Lamassu of Khorsabad · Reign of Sargon II · 721–705 BCE · Sumer
The Lanzón · c. 900–500 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
Stele of Esarhaddon · 7th century BC C. · 671 campaign BCE · Sumer
The so-called ‘Priest of Cádiz’ · 7th century BCE · Phoenicians
The so-called ‘Priest of Cádiz’ · 7th century BCE · Iberians
The Tello Obelisk · c. 800–500 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
Ashurbanipal Hunt · 645–635 BCE · Sumer
Heads on the wall · c. 800–300 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
Two voices in an urn · 530–520 BCE · Etruscans and Rome
The god on the roof · Towards 510–500 BCE · Etruscans and Rome
Glazed brick guards · 522–486 BCE · Achaemenid Persia
Twenty-three delegations · 6th–5th centuries BCE, mainly under Darius and Xerxes · Achaemenid Persia
Sarcophagus of Eshmunazar · first quarter of the 5th century BCE · Phoenicians
The statue was the urn · First half of the 4th century BCE · Iberians
The Raimondi Stele · c. 400–200 BCE according to MNAAHP · Pre-Inca cultures
Torreáguila fountain spout · 101–125 CE · Etruscans and Rome
The date of 292 · 292 CE · Maya worlds
Articulated doll from Tarragona · Late 3rd–4th century CE · Etruscans and Rome
Seven heads · c. 500–700 CE · Bantu-speaking worlds
Seated figure · 13th century, date attributed by the museum · Mande Worlds
Gold rhinoceros · ca. 1220–1290; found in 1933 · Bantu-speaking worlds
Zimbabwe birds · main period of Great Zimbabwe, c. 12th–15th centuries · Bantu-speaking worlds
Kongo crucifix · 16th–17th centuries · Bantu-speaking worlds
Kuba ndop · ca. 1760 · Bantu-speaking worlds

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

Before Persia · Central core c. seventeenth century BCE; Neo-Elamite additions between the ninth and sixth centuries BCE · Achaemenid Persia
Lararium of Vilauba · Roman period · Etruscans and Rome
The Thracian Horseman · Roman era · diffusion especially in the 2nd–3rd centuries CE · Thracians

Animal imagery

Lion-man · ≈40,000 years · Aurignacian · Prehistory
Before the San · ≈25.500–23.500 BCE · San histories
Before the name San · ≈25.500–23.500 BCE · San histories
Altamira · Assemblage ≈36,000–13,000 BP · bison ≈18,400–15,300 cal BP · Prehistory
Lascaux · ≈23,500–21,000 cal BP · debated contextual estimate · Prehistory
Zaraysk Bison · ≈23,000–21,000 years · Prehistory
Rondelle de Mas-d'Azil · ≈18,000–16,000 years · Prehistory
Lamp from La Mouthe · ≈20,500–13,000 years · Magdalenian framework · Prehistory
Engraved stone from Çakmaktepe · PPNA · site proposal: ≈9600–8800 BCE, provisional · Prehistory
Cueva de las Manos · Sequence ≈9300–1300 BP · Prehistory
Cylinder seal · c. 3500–3100 BCE · Sumer
Queen's Lyre · ca. 2600–2500 BCE · Sumer
The goat from PG 1237 · ca. 2600–2400 BCE · Sumer
Indus seals · ca. 2600–1900 BCE · Indus civilisation
Queen of the Night · 19th–18th centuries BCE · Sumer
Bull-leaping · c. 1600–1450 BCE · Greek worlds
Stag Vessel · 14th–13th centuries BCE · Hittites
Before the Scythians and Sakas · Final Bronze–Initial Iron, ca. 1200–600 BCE · Scythians and Saka — You are viewing
Ivory in Nimrud · 9th–8th centuries BCE · Phoenicians
Lamassu of Khorsabad · Reign of Sargon II · 721–705 BCE · Sumer
The Tello Obelisk · c. 800–500 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
Ashurbanipal Hunt · 645–635 BCE · Sumer
Banquet under leopards · Around 480–470 BCE · Etruscans and Rome
The oldest knotted carpet · 5th–4th centuries BCE · Scythians and Saka
The silver amphora of Chertomlyk · 4th century BCE · Greek worlds
Thoth in the form of a baboon · 664–30 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Poroina Mare Rhyton · Second half of the 4th century BCE · Thracians
Borovo · 4th century BC C.; 350–300 BCE in the ISAW catalog. · Thracians
Leipzig Fish Plate · Last third 4th–early 3rd century BCE · Greek worlds
Dove of the Amarejo · 3rd century BCE · Iberians
Chão de Lamas pectoral · 3rd–2nd centuries BCE · concealed in the early 1st century BCE · Iberians
Fibula from Lancia · ≈300–100 BCE · Iberians
Horse fibula · 2nd century BCE · disputed chronology · Iberians
The dismantled cauldron · 2nd–1st centuries BCE · Celtic worlds
Kalathos of Alcorisa · 2nd–1st centuries BCE · Iberians
Egyptian oil lamp with a fish, held in Laon · 3rd–4th centuries CE · Ancient Egypt
Laon lamp with fish · 3rd–4th centuries CE · Etruscans and Rome
Gold rhinoceros · ca. 1220–1290; found in 1933 · Bantu-speaking worlds
Zimbabwe birds · main period of Great Zimbabwe, c. 12th–15th centuries · Bantu-speaking worlds

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

Bhimbetka · Mesolithic–historical and medieval period · Prehistory
Eland Cave · Regional tradition of ≈4,000 years · up to historical period · Prehistory
Fawn spear-thrower · Middle Magdalenian · Prehistory
Game Pass Shelter · Regional rock art chronology · panel not dated in isolation · San histories
Kakadu · Regional corpus ≈20,000 BP–contemporary era · Prehistory
Leang Karampuang · Minimum 51,200 years · dating published in 2024 · Prehistory
Sierra de San Francisco · Broad tradition with direct dates ≈5290–295 BP · Prehistory
Tassili n’Ajjer · Corpus ≈6000 BCE–first centuries CE · Prehistory
The Thracian Horseman · Roman era · diffusion especially in the 2nd–3rd centuries CE · Thracians
Trumpet from Numantia · No individual dating published on this record · Iberians

Stone carving

Nahal Hemar Knives · 8th millennium BCE · Pre-Pottery Neolithic B context · Prehistory
Nahal Hemar mask · Eighth millennium BCE · context dating, not direct dating of the stone · Prehistory
Warka Mask · End of the 4th millennium BCE · Sumer
Head 2 · c. 1200–900 BCE · Maya worlds
Before the Scythians and Sakas · Final Bronze–Initial Iron, ca. 1200–600 BCE · Scythians and Saka — You are viewing
The invisible mosaic · c. 900–600 BCE · Maya worlds
Motagua jade · c. 900–600 BCE · Maya worlds
The Lanzón · c. 900–500 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures

A closer look

About 1 min to read · 1 section. Further reading and sources · free access. Editorial review recorded: September 5, 2026.

Dating a stele by what surrounds it

The age of an engraved stone is not obtained directly from the granite. The Smithsonian Mongolian project used teeth of horses sacrificed alongside the stelae and associated burial mounds to establish dates by radiocarbon. At Bor Hujiriin Gol, teeth and charcoal pointed to approximately 1000 BCE. The same programme incorporated hundreds of three-dimensional scans and georeferenced records: they allow comparing reliefs, recognising displaced pieces and documenting damage. Thus, the excavated surroundings and the digitised surface offer complementary information on these monuments, preceding Scythian Iron Age art.

Research · Smithsonian · Preserving Mongolian Culture at the Edge of the ArcticAccess recorded: September 5, 2026.

The region before this culture

ca. 1200–700 BCE · Eurasian steppes, from Mongolia and the Altai to Kazakhstan and the western corridors

ca. 1200–900 BCE · Documented
Deer stones and khirigsuurs
Pastoral communities build ceremonial landscapes of megaliths, mounds and horse deposits.
end of the 9th–beginning of the 8th century BCE · Documented
Arzhan 1
A large barrow in Tuva brings together timber architecture, horse sacrifices and an early supralocal power.
second half of the 7th century BCE · Documented
Arzhan 2 and the animal language
A princely tomb documents fully developed goldwork and zoomorphic repertoires.

What changes and what we should not assume

From these equestrian and funerary networks emerged the horizons that historical sources would call Scythian and Saka, connected from the Black Sea to Central Asia.

Deer stones are not automatically Scythian: they belong to earlier and diverse communities. Their visual resemblance to later art indicates possible connections, not a demonstrated identity.

Deer stone of Uushigiin Övör

Final Bronze–Initial Iron, ca. 1200–600 BCE · Uushigiin Övör, Khövsgöl province, Mongolia

On the stone, stylised deer appear to ascend or fly around weapons, belts and solar motifs. The monument was part of a larger ritual landscape, not an isolated statue. Its graphic energy anticipates the animal taste of the steppe and raises the question of who were the people capable of mobilising communities to erect it.

Deer stones are concentrated especially in Mongolia and neighbouring areas.

The chronological range of the group is broad and the exact function of each stone continues to be debated; avoid calling it the gravestone of a specific warrior.

Carved granite

Wikimedia Commons · record of Deer stone of Uushigiin Övör · Bernard Gagnon · CC0 1.0

Documented fact 01: Deer stones are concentrated especially in Mongolia and neighbouring areas.
Documented fact 02: They are often integrated into complexes with khirigsuurs and horse deposits.
Documented fact 03: The carved motifs include deer, weapons, belts and solar signs.
Documented fact 04: Arzhan 1 precedes much of the historical record of Scythians and Sakas.
Documented fact 05: Scythian and Saka are broad historical names, not a uniform archaeological culture.

Sources and references

Expand this antecedent and consult its sources

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History and context

Evidence and interpretation

Catalogue facts

Before the Scythians and Sakas

Before the Scythians and Sakas

The Lanzón

The Tello Obelisk

The Raimondi Stele

A closer look

Dating a stele by what surrounds it

The region before this culture

Deer stones and khirigsuurs

Arzhan 1

Arzhan 2 and the animal language

What changes and what we should not assume

Deer stone of Uushigiin Övör

Sources and references

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