Analysis of 2,400-year-old Scythian leather revealed it was made from human skin, confirming that accounts once dismissed as exaggerations by Greek historian Herodotus may have been true after all.
For centuries, this sounded like one of Herodotus’ more extreme claims. The Greek historian wrote that Scythian warriors skinned the hands and arms of defeated enemies and used the leather to cover their quivers.
Modern researchers recently tested leather artifacts from Scythian burial sites in Ukraine using paleoproteomics, a technique that identifies species through surviving proteins. Most of the leather came from expected sources like sheep, goats, cattle, and horses.
But two samples were identified as human skin.
That discovery matters because the Scythians were not a single kingdom, but a network of mobile warrior societies spread across the Eurasian steppe, renowned for mounted archery, intricate goldwork, and massive burial mounds known as kurgans. Greek writers often portrayed them as savage outsiders, leading historians to debate for centuries how much of those accounts were exaggerated.
In this case, however, the science appears to support the ancient story.
Herodotus also described Scythians taking enemy scalps as trophies, and archaeological evidence has shown that scalp-taking was indeed practiced among steppe cultures.
Orion's main parachute has deployed. The spacecraft has a system of 11 chutes that will slow it down from around 300 mph to 20 mph for splashdown.
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So I wonder, we talk about American food, cars, firearms. Do the Japanese appreciate and know about some of our famous art pieces? Like my favorite American art piece is "Nighthawks" by Edward Hopper.
Classic American art like paintings, photography, etc.