Scythian women were nevertheless often striking to behold, with shaved heads, wigs woven from their own tresses and strands of horsehair, and elaborate tattoos. Grafts of skin which have been preserved are inked with images of animals and animal fights. A grave uncovered in the Orenburg region of modern Russia contained the skeleton of a woman in her fifties who had been buried with a tattooing kit consisting of an iron knife, a bone needle and spoon, a bronze mirror and a palette. The jazzy, highly patterned sleeves and trousers worn by Amazons in Greek vase paintings were probably intended to represent the Scythian women’s body art.

— The Missing Thread by Daisy Dunn