Scythian

Social organisation

Scythian society was stratified along class lines. By the 5th to 4th centuries BC, the Scythian population was stratified into five different class groups: the aristocracy, very wealthy commoners, moderately wealthy commoners, the peasantry, who were the producer class and formed the mass of the populace, and the poor. The Scythian aristocracy were an elite class dominating all aspects of Scythian life consisting of property owners who possessed landed estates large enough that it sometimes took a whole day to ride around them. These freeborn Scythian rulers used the whip as their symbol. Their burials were the largest ones, normally including between 3 and 11 human sacrifices, and showcasing luxury grave goods. The elite classes rewarded their dependants' loyalty through presents consisting of metal products whose manufacture was overseen by the elites themselves in the industrial centre located in the Scythian capital city at Kamianka.