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February 12, 2025 51 mins

Known as the barbarians of the north, the Scythians were expert horsemen that roamed the great steppe of Eurasia more than 2,000 years ago. But how much do we know about them?


In today's episode of The Ancients, Tristan Hughes is joined by Dr Owen Rees to explore this infamous nomadic culture who wore trousers, wielded bows and arrows and boasted Amazon-like warrior women who may even have fought in battle. Along the way Owen explains the fascinating story of the Scythian settlement of Bilsk - a great hulking Iron-Age mega-town fortified with miles and miles of winding walls on the edge of the Great Steppe in southern Ukraine.


Presented by Tristan Hughes. Audio editor is Aidan Lonergan, the producer is Joseph Knight. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.


All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds


The Ancients is a History Hit podcast.


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