Editing Androphagi (section)

==Society and culture==
The ancient Greek author [[Herodotus|Herodotus of Halicarnassus]] described the Androphagi as wearing Scythian-type clothing, and speaking a "peculiar language."{{sfn|Sulimirski|1985|p=185}}

===Lifestyle===
The Androphagi were largely engaged in agriculture and farming, and hunting was of lesser importance among them.{{sfn|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=587}}

===Language===
The "peculiar language" of the Androphagi might have been a dialect of [[Scythian languages|Iranic language]] different from that of the Pontic Scythians. The Sula group of the Scythian culture which corresponded to the Androphagi was part of an area of Iranic toponymy and hydronymy.{{sfn|Sulimirski|1985|p=185}}

===Ritual cannibalism===
Herodotus of Halicarnassus claimed that the Androphagi were the only ones who practised cannibalism among the peoples living near Scythia, which seems to be confirmed by the intact and unbroken human bones of seventeen individuals which were found along with cut and broken animal bones in the kitchen refuse of seven Androphagi earthworks. However, traces of similar ritual cannibalism are recorded from seven earthworks of the Melanchlaeni and Budini, as well as in the Smiela kurgan 15, which was one of the earliest burials of the Tiasmyn group of the Scythian culture.{{sfn|Sulimirski|1985|p=186}}{{sfn|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=587}}

The [[Sauromatians]] who lived in the Urals and the lower Volga, and [[Massagetae]] and [[Issedones]] to the east of the Urals, practised similar ritual cannibalism, suggesting that the early Scythic peoples of the Central Asian steppe had customs and beliefs connected to ritual cannibalism.{{sfn|Sulimirski|1985|p=186}}

===Trade===
Trade relations between the Androphagi and the [[Ancient Greece|ancient Greek]] [[Greek colonisation|colonies]] on the northern shores of the [[Black Sea]] had been established in the 6th century BC.{{sfn|Sulimirski|Taylor|1991|p=587}}