Editing Scythians (section)

===Pastoralism and agriculture===
The Scythians practised [[animal husbandry]],{{sfn|Harmatta|1996|p=182}} and their society was highly based on nomadic [[pastoralism]],{{sfn|Sulimirski|1985|p=153}}{{sfn|Jacobson|1995|p=30}}{{sfn|West|2002|p=440}} which was practised by both the sedendary and nomadic Scythian tribes, with their herds being made up of about 40% horses, 40% cattle, and 18% sheep, but no pigs, which the Scythians refused to keep in their lands.{{sfn|Parzinger|2004|p=83}}{{sfn|Jacobson|1995|p=32}}{{sfn|Sulimirski|1985|p=153}} Horse rearing was especially an important part of Scythian life, not only because the Scythians rode them, but also because horses were a source of food.{{sfn|Jacobson|1995|p=30}} During the 1st millennium BC, the wet and damp climate prevailing in the Pontic Steppe constituted a propitious environment which caused grass to grow in abundance, in turn allowing the Scythians to rear large herds of horse and cattle.{{sfn|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=577-578}}

Scythian pastoralism followed seasonal rhythm, moving closer to the shores of the Maeotian Sea in winter and back to the steppe in summer. The Scythians appear to have not stored food for their animals, who therefore likely foraged under the snow during winter.{{sfn|Parzinger|2004|p=83}} The strong reliance on pastoralism itself ensured self-sufficiency,{{sfn|Jacobson|1995|p=30-31}} the importance of which is visible in Scythian petroglyphic art.{{sfn|Jacobson|1995|p=31}} Hunting among the Scythians was primarily done for sport and entartainment rather than for procuring meat,{{sfn|Sulimirski|1985|p=153}} although it was occasionally also carried out for food.{{sfn|Jacobson|1995|p=30}}

The settlements in the valley of the Borysthenēs river especially grew wheat, millet, and barley, which grew abundantly thanks to the fertile black soil of the steppe.{{sfn|Jacobson|1995|p=41}}{{sfn|Cunliffe|2019|p=119}} This allowed the Scythians to, in addition of being principally reliant on domesticated animals, also complement their source of food with agriculture,{{sfn|Jacobson|1995|p=30}} and the Scythian upper classes owned large estates in which large numbers of slaves and members of the tribes subordinate to the Royal Scythians were used to till the land and rear cattle.{{sfn|Parzinger|2004|p=93}}