Editing Scythians (section)

=== Archaeology ===
{{Main|Scythian culture}}
[[File:Avarárok.JPG|thumb|upright=0.8|Scythian defence line 339 BC reconstruction in [[Polgár, Hungary]] ]]
Scythian archaeology can be divided into three stages:{{sfn|Melyukova|1995|p=34}}{{sfn|Ivantchik|2018}}
* Early Scythian – from the mid-8th or the late 7th century BC to {{c.|500 BC}}
* Classical Scythian or Mid-Scythian – from {{c.|500 BC}} to {{c.|300 BC}}
* Late Scythian – from {{c.|200 BC}} to the mid-3rd century AD, in the [[Crimea]] and the Lower [[Dnipro]], by which time the population was settled.

Archaeological remains of the Scythians include barrow grave tombs called "[[kurgans|kurgan]]s" (ranging from simple exemplars to elaborate "Royal kurgans" containing the "Scythian triad" of weapons, horse-harness, and Scythian-style wild-animal art), [[gold]], [[silk]], and animal sacrifices, in places also with suspected [[human sacrifice]]s.<ref>{{harvnb|Hughes|1991|pp=64–65, 118}}</ref>{{sfn|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=550}}

[[Mummification]] techniques and [[permafrost]] have aided in the relative preservation of some remains. Scythian archaeology also examines the remains of cities and fortifications.<ref>{{harvnb|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|pp=547–591}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Tsetskhladze|2002}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Tsetskhladze|2010|p=}}</ref>