Scythians
The Scythians were a race of ancient nomads, who although of Iranian decent, lived in what is now Southern Siberia.
They lived from around 900 bc to 200 bc and were formidable warriors.
For many years what little was know about the Scythians was patched together from accounts from other civilizations which interacted with them. These included the Greeks, Assyrians and Persians. Sadly the Scythians didn’t develop a writing of their own.
Nomads
Being Nomads meant that they lived in small horse drawn carriages made of wood, with felt roofs. Being constantly on the move meant they had little opportunity to farm crops, and because of this they ate very few vegetables. They did however farm cattle, and ate a diet consisting mainly of meat.
Horses
The Scythians were also incredible horse riders. They were feared as mounted archers and accomplished riders. There is plenty of evidence of how important the horses were to the Scythians buried in the many burial mounds discovered.
The Scythian horse gear (Saddles, Bridals, Halters, etc.) were also highly developed. It was very durable and extremely light weight as well.
Work hard, Play hard
The Scythians liked to party. They had a reputation for drinking excessively and getting high from Cannabis and Opium.
Feasting was also an important part of Scythian society, and was used for social bonding as well as rituals such as funerals.
The most common method of getting high was with a portable tent made of hide and sticks, with a brazier in the middle. Cannabis was thrown onto the brazier which would then fill the tent with rich pungent smoke.
The Greek historian Herodotus wrote that the Scythians howled with delight whilst sitting in these weed saunas.
Worlds oldest bong
Archaeologists discovered a stash of Scythian gold artifacts in Russia, including two solid gold bowls which contained burned traces of cannabis and opium, indicating that they were used to smoke the drugs with.
These “Golden Bongs” have been dated at 2400 years old, which makes them the oldest bongs in history!