Warriors Die Young

Increased Mortality in Early Adulthood of Scythians from Glinoe, Moldova, Fourth through Second Centuries bc

Bibliographic Data

ID2225879
AuthorsSylwia Łukasik (0000-0003-2210-7434), Jakub Bijak (0000-0002-2563-5040, University of Southampton, corresponding author), Marta Krenz‐niedbała (0000-0001-7420-5621, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, corresponding author), Marta Krenz-Niedbała, Grażyna Liczbińska (0000-0002-0922-4612, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, corresponding author), Vitaly Sinika (0000-0002-1621-9205, Shevchenko Transnistria State University, corresponding author), Janusz Piontek (0000-0001-8403-2752, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, corresponding author)
Year2017
Volume73
Issue4
Pages584-616
Publication date2017-12-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Anthropological Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0091-7710 • E-ISSN: 2153-3806
PublisherUniversity of Chicago Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1086/694576
OpenAlexW2763759977
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited53

Scythians were nomadic groups, playing a dominant role on the Eurasian steppes in the Early Iron Age according to many archaeological and historical sources. In this paper, we aim at assessing demographic features and dynamics of a Scythian population from the Black Sea region. We hypothesise that they differed from other societies not only in terms of culture, but also demography: their fertility was lower, and life expectancy higher than in other contemporaneous populations. We examined 220 skeletons from Glinoe (Moldova), dated to the 4th-2nd c. BC, to assess fertility and biological status from life table parameters and basic indicators of the reproductive potential. The main difference between Scythians and other Early Iron Age societies seems to be a higher probability of dying in early adulthood, which could partly result from their engagement in warfare. Scythian fertility was rather low: a finding in line with studies of modern nomads

Ancient history · Family planning · Fertility · Geography · Iron Age · Life expectancy · Population · Research methodology · Sociology · Total fertility rate · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Demography · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies · History · Paleopathology and ancient diseases

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