Scythians or Scythic tribes?
The terms 'Scythian', 'Sauromatae', and 'Sarmatian', are frequently used as ethnic names, however they are also correlated with specific archaeological cultures, and specific time periods. 'Scythian' is used here to refer to the Middle and Late periods of the Scythic tribes of the Black Sea steppes during the sixth to third centuries BC. 'Sauromatae' refers to the Scythic culture of the Volga-Don steppes, during the sixth to fourth centuries, while Sarmatians is used to refer to their successor culture, the Early Sarmatian or Prokhorovo culture of the fourth to second centuries BC. The Sarmatian culture continues into the Middle and Late periods, however these periods are characterised by a change in material culture, including the appearance of Graeco-Roman goods such as fibulae, and the phasing out of 'animal style' on weaponry, which may indicate a lack of cultural continuity. 'Saka' refers to the eastern Scythic cultures, such as the Tasmola culture of the Altai region, during the seventh to third centuries BC. The collective term 'Scythic' will be used to refer to the cultures of the 'Scythian world' in general.

Scythic material culture
The characteristic material assemblage identifying a Scythic tomb consists of the 'Scythian triad' of weapon, horse harness, and animal art, however this may only be indicative of the mounted elite, leading to problems in identifying other members of the Scythic society. Other characteristic finds include looped bronze mirrors, bronze cauldrons, triangular three-lobed bronze arrowheads, iron-tipped spears, short swords and daggers of the 'Akkinades' type, whetstones, 'Kuban' helmets, scale armour, domestic tools and whetstones, personal adornment, and pottery vessels containing food offerings.

Scythic social organisation
The Scythians, Sauromatae, Sakas and Sarmatians all belonged to the Nomadic Cattle Breeding cultural-economic type. Moshkova states that Scythic social organisation was based on the clan-tribe. Clan- tribes were linked, possibly by shared descent, into "tribal unions" which were unstable but powerful and belligerent. This view seems to be confirmed by information given by Herodotus and contemporaries, although use of the term 'tribe' may imply a more egalitarian social system than was actually in place. Attempts to identify individual tribes and especially to equate these with tribal groupings identified with Herodotus seem fraught with difficulty, and is perhaps best avoided.