The Scythians, nomadic warriors originating in Southern Siberia, flourished between 900 and 200 BC. At their peak their culture spread over central Asia from Western China to the Black Sea.
Militarily they were superlative horse-archers and at the heart of that supremacy was the design, not only of the Scythian bow, but also of other key items of inter-connected equipment.
Parts of the wood and horn core laid out before assembly and the application of sinew. This layout, produced by Jason Beever, gives an idea of the complexity of these bows. (Image: Jason Beever).
A Scythian bow was a composite bow, made from wood, horn, sinew and glue. Although it was one of the earliest composite bow designs, it was by far the most complex, both in terms of cross-section and profile.
Its representations in art, such as the fourth century BC gold plaque showing two Scythian archers back-to-back (now in the British Museum and visible in the image below), have frequently portrayed it as especially small.
