Russia Creates a Digital Map of Ancient Scythian Cities
Using modern GIS technology, researchers have reconstructed the landscape and settlement patterns of an entire Scythian-era region, offering new insights into how people lived there more than 2,000 years ago.
Researchers in Crimea have created the region’s first digital geospatial map of Scythian hillforts, fortresses, and settlements. The project focuses on the Kubalach mountain range in the central part of the peninsula and provides a new perspective on the development of this archaeologically significant area.
The study was conducted by specialists from the Neapolis Scythian Museum-Reserve. According to Deputy Director Irina Shkriblyak, the map was developed in collaboration with experts working with the QGIS platform and covers a distinct archaeological microregion that has been actively studied in recent years.
Reconstructing an Entire Region, Digitally
Scientists reconstructed a unified natural and human-made landscape of Kubalach to understand why the Taurians and later Scythian populations chose this territory during the Early Iron Age. Researchers examined natural resources, terrain features, and how geography influenced settlement patterns.
The GIS database includes the boundaries of settlements, fortresses, and burial sites, as well as water sources and locations of incidental archaeological finds. This made it possible to study signaling systems between fortifications, water supply methods, and other aspects of how Scythian communities organized daily life.
The collected data will also be used for practical purposes. Identified sites can now be placed under state protection, which will prohibit large-scale construction within their boundaries while allowing limited traditional land use.
According to archaeologists, the Kubalach area once contained around ten fully developed fortresses with towers and defensive walls. Numerous Late Scythian settlements were also located there, dating from the 2nd century BCE to the 4th century CE—a period considered the region’s peak.
Researchers recorded clear signs of demographic growth during that era, including active construction, high population density, and developed infrastructure. Estimates suggest that between 20,000 and 25,000 people may have lived in the mountain range at its height.
Settlement in the area ended during the Great Migration Period, around the 4th century CE, when populations were displaced and the region was gradually abandoned.
