Credit: Svetlana Andrukh (CC-BY 4.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Scythian people of ancient Ukraine led more complex lives than commonly assumed, according to a study published March 10, 2021 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Alicia R. Ventresca Miller of the University of Michigan and colleagues. The Scythian people, who lived across the Pontic steppe around 700-200 BCE, are often portrayed as a culture of nomadic warriors. But this idea is challenged by archaeological evidence that indicates a more complex and varied culture at this place and time. In this study, researchers employed isotopic analyses to investigate patterns of diet and mobility in Scythian populations.