Scythians
Arrival into West Asia

Under Scythian pressure, the displaced Cimmerians migrated to the south along the coast of the Black Sea and reached Anatolia, and the Scythians in turn later expanded to the south, following the coast of the Caspian Sea and arrived in the Ciscaucasian steppes, from where they settled in the area between the Araxes and Kura rivers before further expanding into the region to the south of the Kuros river in what is present-day Azerbaijan, where they settled around what is today Mingəçevir, Gəncə and the Muğan plain, and turned eastern Transcaucasia into their centre of operations in West Asia until the early 6th century BC, with this presence in West Asia being an extension of the Scythian kingdom of the steppes.

The earliest Scythians had belonged to the Srubnaya culture, and, archaeologically, the Scythian movement into Transcaucasia is attested in the form of a migration of a section of the Srubnaya culture, called the Srubnaya-Khvalynsk culture, to the south till the northern foothills of the Caucasus Mountains, and then further south along the western coast of the Caspian Sea into Transcaucasia and Iran.

Although the Early Scythians initially belonged to a pre-Scythian archaeological culture of Central Asian origin, their original Srubnaya culture, which contained significant admixture from the Andronovo culture, evolved into the Scythian culture from coming in contact with the peoples of Transcaucasia and the Urartians, and further contacts with the civilisation of West Asia, and especially with that of Mesopotamia, would also have an important influence on the formation of Scythian culture. The Scythians were still a Bronze Age society until the late 8th century BC, and it was only when they expanded into West Asia that they became acquainted with iron smelting and forging.

During this period, the Scythian kings' headquarters were located in the Ciscaucasian steppes, and this presence in Transcaucasia influenced Scythian culture: the akīnakēs sword and socketed bronze arrowheads with three edges, which, although they are considered as typically "Scythian weapons", were in fact of Transcaucasian origin and had been adopted by the Scythians during their stay in the Caucasus. Alternatively, the typical Scythian arrowheads might have originated in Siberia during the 9th century BC and was introduced into West Asia by the Scythians.
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