© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, ���6 | doi �0.��63/�5700577-� �34� �96 Ancient Civilizations from Scythia to Siberia �� (�0 �6) 96-�40 brill.com/acss Scythian Internecine Feuds Marina N. Daragan Institute of Archaeology, Ukraine’s National Academy of Sciences and the Deutsches Archäoligisches Institut darmar@ukr.net Abstract In the Scythian period burials have been identified, in which metal arrowheads have been found in or among the bones of the deceased which may have been the cause of death. In all such cases, without exception, the arrowheads, which had wounded or killed the deceased, were of specifically Scythian types, used precisely at that time for the weaponry of both Scythians and their contemporaries constituting the military contingents of various tribal alliances in the forest-steppe zone. Analysis of the sample has shown that in most cases those who perished were victims of armed conflicts within the ethno-political world of Scythia. In a number of further cases, arrow wounds had been caused as a result of a rite forming part of a funerary ritual. Some other archaeological data, such as the dismantling of and re-use of Scythian anthropomor- phic stelai and also the virtually total plundering of their kurgans by the Scythians themselves, can also indicate the conflict situation within Scythian society in the late-5th and 4th centuries BC. Certain data from written sources also tie in with * Institute of Archaeology, Ukraine’s National Academy of Sciences, 12 Prospekt Geroyev Stalingrada, Kiev 04210, Ukraine. ** This article was researched and written using a grant from the Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung on the following subject: “Assimilation and Transformation of the Space at the end of the Bronze Age – Early Iron Age on the Northern Black Sea Coast: geo-information analysis of the transformation of settlement and burial structures”. When large numbers of Scythian funerary sites were being investigated, a substantial series of burials was found, in which Scythian bronze arrowheads were found in the bones of the bodies of the deceased. It would seem that this series was of considerable significance for our understanding of the true nature of Scythian society and the way in which the Scythians settled the wide expanses of the steppes of the North Pontic region. We should also like to thank S. N. Demidenko, A. I. Ivantchik, V. A. Podobed, S. V. Polin, G. N. Toshchev and V. V. Shatunov for their support and assistance in the collection and prep- aration of this material for publication.