Cycles of historical inquiry: evaluating the historical paradigm of nomadism in Iron Age north central Eurasia

Abstract

ABSTRACT Ancient historians, such as Herodotus and Sima Qian, believed the mobile peoples of Iron Age (c.1000–100 BCE) north central Eurasia (i.e. Scythian, Saka, Xiongnu) were nomadic, warlike barbarians. Accounts by ancient historians are paradigm setting, linked with behaviours observed in ethnographic contexts. Most research operates within this paradigm, prioritizing information from historic and ethnographic sources to archaeological evidence. This paper focuses on the cycle of historical inquiry and the way early descriptions have affected archaeological investigations into north central Eurasia, during the Iron Age. The degree of implied nomadism in this region is tested against archaeological evidence, presenting a more nuanced view of widespread material culture attributes and current limits to our understanding of mobility in six subregions of north central Eurasia, throughout the Iron Age.