Characterisation of red pigments used for decorating objects of Scythian funerary material culture (Ukraine, 5th-4th century BCE)

The Scythians of the Iron Age (7th-4th centuries BC) inhabited the Pontic Steppe north of the Black Sea as a nomadic empire well-versed in warfare with their neighbors. For societies lacking a written history of their own, where knowledge of culture and communication is filtered through accounts of their contemporaries, material culture is vital to reconstruct their inner workings and external relations – such is the case when it comes to investigations concerning the Scythians. This thesis focuses on characterizing the mineral pigments that decorate various perishable funerary goods (arrow shafts, leather fragments, and bone distaffs) from different funerary mounds (kurgans/kurhans) scattered across the southern regions of modern-day Ukraine. A multi-analytical approach comprised of visual analysis with Optical and Confocal microscopy, Scanning Electron Microscopy coupled with Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), and micro-Raman spectroscopy allowed for identification of pigments present throughout samples from twenty different kurgan burial sites. Additional X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) was performed to further characterize samples from two sites after pigment identification was complete. The pigments identified include mercury sulfide (∝-HgS, cinnabar), hematite (∝-Fe2O3, red ochre), and cuprorivaite (CaCuSi4O10, Egyptian blue), with cinnabar present on objects from twelve various burials, while Egyptian blue was identified within two sites, applied in conjunction with cinnabar. Cinnabar was a popular pigment in antiquity, tracing its usage back to the Neolithic period, where it has been found within the ceramics of the Vinča culture in the Balkans and the complex of Çatalhöyük in Türkiye. The usage of cinnabar persisted to the times of the Scythians, as evidenced by numerous finds within their funerary goods, but the provenance of Scythian-used pigment remains unclear. Further research seeks to identify the origin of this cinnabar, using isotopic analysis to determine whether the pigment was obtained through long-distance exchange, or mined locally from yet-unevidenced sites.