http://www.jstor.orgAn Amazonian Custom in the CaucasusAuthor(s): John AbercrombySource: Folklore, Vol. 2, No. 2, (Jun., 1891), pp. 171-181Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of Folklore Enterprises, Ltd.Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1253523Accessed: 12/06/2008 08:45Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available athttp://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unlessyou have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and youmay use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use.Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained athttp://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=fel.Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printedpage of such transmission.JSTOR is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1995 to build trusted digital archives for scholarship. We enable thescholarly community to preserve their work and the materials they rely upon, and to build a common research platform thatpromotes the discovery and use of these resources. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.ANAMAZONIANCUSTOMINTHE CA UCASUS. ONE ofthebestknown legends ofclassicalauthors relatestoafablednationofwarlike women, deprived oftheuseofonebreast by a process ofcauterisa- tionandknownasAmazons. According toawell- authenticated custom, stillcurrent among theCherkesor Adighe, the Abkhas, and to someextent among the Osets,' the growth ofboth breasts'during maidenhoodis artificially repressedby meansofaleathercorset.The object ofthis paper istoofferan explanation forthe origin ofthe modern custom, andtoshowreasonfor believing ittobe lineally descendedfromanolderoneanteriortothetime of Herodotus, and having, therefore, a possibleancestry of twenty-five centuries. In Asia, whichatthat period was separated from Europeby theriver Don, theancientGreeksknewof Amazonsintwolocalities:onthebanksoftheTher- modonnear Sinope, andontheisthmusnorthofthe great chainoftheCaucasus. Itis probablethey firstbecame acquainted withthosethat lay nearest them, andaccounted for those they heardofafterwardsinthe neighbourhood of the Caucasus by an imaginarymigration, such as Herodotus relates.Someofthe reports that may havebeentrue of 1 According to Klaproth, thiscustomisconfinedtotheOsetan nobility, and it, together with thedressandother fashions, seemsto have been adopted from the dominant Adighe race.TheOsets are a comparatively small, not very important people, located in nearly equal numbersonbothsidesof the Great Chain. Nothing isknownfor certain whenthis Aryan-speaking population enteredtheCaucasus. To judge from various peculiarities intheir language, itis probable that they migrated from the south-east, andthattheirearliestsettle- ments were on the south side of the mountains. 172 AnAmazonian Custom in the Caucasus. theAmazonsoftheThermodonwere verylikely trans- ferredwithoutsufficient ground totheAmazonsofthe Caucasus.Whetherthereexisted any nearerconnection betweenthetwo groups thanthatboth performed some operationupon the right breast, andhadsomecustomsin common, doesnotconcernushere.We may, therefore, dismissthe legendsreferring tothe westerlyAmazons, and confineour attentiontothe easterlyvariety. First, wehavetoestablishas nearly as possible their actual geographicalposition.According to Herodotus, Amazonswerefound among the Sauromatai, wholived betweenfour andfive days' journey north-eastofthe upper endoftheSea of Azov. Hippocratesplaces theSauromatai in Europe, thatisto say, westoftheDonandofthe SeaofAzov.But Scylax, inhis Periplus ofthe Euxine, locatesthemmuchinthesame position as Herodotus, on the leftbankoftheDonand contiguous totheMaiotai. Scymnus ofChiosandthesecond anonymous authorof the Periplus,place themin Europe, and identify the Maiotaiwiththe Sauromatai, whowerethemselvesatribe oftheSarmatai.Strabo gives usthree versions, whichdo not greatly differ. According to one, theAmazonswere believedtolive among themountainsaboveAlbania (the lower valley ofthe Kur), but separated from the Albanians by the Scythian tribesofGelaiand Legai,l and by the Mermadalisriver2 (Terek?). Othersmaintainedthat theAmazonsbordered upon the Gargarenses, wholivedat thenorthernfootoftheCaucasian mountains, called Ceraunia, by whichStrabomeantthesouth-easternendof the range.According toathird report, the country ofthe AmazonsandoftheSiracene3 wastraversed by a rapid 1 Perhaps the Galgai, aChechentstribeonthenorthern slope of the main Chain and the Lesgians, in Georgian Leki. 2 A tributary of the Terek still bears the name of Mermedik. 3 According to Strabo,they nomadised along the Akhardeus, which haditssourceintheCaucasus and emptied intotheSea of Azov. AnAmazonianCustom zn theCaucasus. 173 torrentcalledthe Mermodas, whichdescendedfromthe mountainsand discharged intotheSeaofAzov. Fromtheseaccountsit may beassumedthat certain cus- toms, summarised under the term Amazon,prevailed among tribesthat occupied anareaboundedonthesouth by the northern slopes ofthe Caucasus, though,perhaps,only as farsouthastheTerekfromthe point wherethisriver bends eastwards; ontheeast by the CaspianSea; onthe west by theBlack Sea, theSeaofAzovandthe Don, perhaps even by anundefinedlinetothewestofthat river; onthenorththelimitswereundetermined byany natural feature, butextendedforadistanceofthreeorof fifteen days' march-Herodotus gives bothdistancesin different passages-north ofthemouthoftheDon. Having localisedtheareawithinwhichAmazonian customswere disseminated, thenext step isto identify, if possible, the Sauromatai, a tribe, aswehave seen, ofthe Sarmatai, withsomeofthe existing nationsofthe Caucasus.Asethnic names, both oftheseare undoubtedly lost,though itis allegedby anativeCherkesauthorthat thewordSharmatisstill remembered, andthatsome Cherkesfamiliesclaimtobedescendedfromtheancient Sarmatians.1Herodotus distinguishes betweenthe Scythians westoftheDonandthe non-Scythians tothe eastofthe river, though atthesametimehe supposes the Sauromatai tobeamixedraceof Scythian menand Amazonwomenfrom thebanksoftheThermodon.His theory thatthe people werehalf-breedsseemstohave beenframed by himselforhisinformantstoaccountfor two facts, or supposed facts:the prevalence ofcertain customsknowntoexistinanother part of Asia, which could only be explained, sofarasheorhisinformant could see,by a migration-inreality fictitious-fromthere tothe Don region; the fact, probablyquiteerroneous, that theSauromatai spoke broken Scythian, asthewomen 1 SchoraBekmursin Nogmow, Sagen u.Lieder desTscherkessen Volks, p. 8. 174 AnAmazonzanCustomintheCaucasus. descendedfromtheAmazonsoftheThermodonhadnever learnt perfectly the language oftheirhusbands.HereI takeittheword Scythian isusedinawiderandlooser sensethaninthat generallyemployedbyHerodotus, for he gained theinformation throughhearsay, and may there- fore betakentoincludeaCaucasian language. Ifthereis a grain oftruthinthe statement, itisthatthemenand womendidnot alwaysspeak thesamedialect:thatthe Sauromatai were, in fact, likethe Cherkes,exogamous. Hippocrates, whowrotealittlelaterthan Herodotus, though he places theSauromataiwestofthe Don, is very positive inhisassertionthat they weredifferent from other nations, andthereforefromtheScyths. Strabo,writing shortly beforethe beginning oftheChristian era, says of seventy nations, all speaking different languages, thatused toassembleatthe Colchidianmart of Dioscurias, that they were chiefly Sarmatians, butallofthemCaucasiantribes. Talking ofthe Iberians, themodernImeretiansand Georgians, hementionsthatthoseofthem inhabiting the mountainslivedliketheSarmatiansand Scythians, on whose countrythey borderedandwithwhom they were connected by affinity ofrace.The Scythians herereferred toarenodoubttheGelaiand Legaitribes, belonging to theCaucasus. He places theAlbaniansinthelower valley ofthe Kur, eastofthe Alazan, andmakesthe Caucasus theirnorthern boundary,apparentlyconfining themtothe plain. Butas they were reported to speak twenty-sixlanguages, andcould bring a larger forceinto thefieldthanthe Iberians, itisevidentthat many hill tribes mustbeincludedintheir number, andthis people is nowdoubtless representedby the Lesgians. Ofthenation- alities occupying thenorthern slopes ofthemain Chain, the Lesgians, therefore, and perhaps the Chechents, if the Gelai are representedby the Galgai, aretobeexcluded from the Sarmatai, andthenweareleftwiththeCherkes andtheAbkhas.Afewcenturies ago, the Adighe occupied a greatpart ofthearea previously inhabited AnAmazonian Czistom zn theCaucasus. 175 by the Sauromatai,Maiotai, andotherSarmatiantribes. When Georgio Interianovisitedtheminthemiddleofthe 15th century theCherkes extendedfrom the Don along the SeaofAzovasfarsouthas Abkhasia, whichthus gave them, according tohis estimation, acoastlineoffive hundredmiles.Beforehis time, tilldrivenout by the Tartars,they hadsettlementsintheCrimea.Until recentlytheypeopled the country betweenTamanandthe confinesoftheAbkhas country, aswellasthe great and littleKabarda.There is,therefore, considerable ground for assuming thatthe Sarmatai, including the Sauromatai, Maiotai, andthe many othertribesintowhich they were sub-divided, whomancientwritersavertohavebeen Caucasians, tohavehadracial affinity withthe Iberians, to havebeendifferentfrom Scythians, inHerodotus'narrow senseofthe word, andtohavehadAmazons amongthem, are now representedby the Cherkes and Abkhas, or Absne, who occupy, orhave occupied, muchofthesame geographical area, whoare Caucasians, whoare certainly more nearly relatedtothe Georgians thanto any non- Caucasian people, who are anaryan and allophyl as regards Tatars,Mongols, and Finno-ugrians, andwhoretainthe customof flattening thebreasts during maidenhood.l Itnowremainsto compare whatis reported ofthe Amazonswith existing customsoftheCherkesand 1 This proposed identificationof the Sarmataiwith Caucasianraces runs counter to the general opinion that they were an Aryan-speaking people now representedby someoftheSlavnationalities.For undoubtedly in later times Romanwriters apply thetermSarmatian to tribes dwelling as far westastheDniesterandthe Vistula; but this may be explained.They were dubbedSarmatians from possess- ing certain testcustomsandfrom living in Sarmatia, a geographical expression of elasticnature which gradually expanded fromasmall areanorthoftheCaucasustillitcoveredthewholeofEastern Europe;just as Siberia, which oncemeantasmall territory east of the Ural Mountains, now servesto designate thewhole ofNorthern Asia, and includes several distinct races, each of which may loosely be spoken of asSiberian. 176 AnAmazonianCustom inthe Caucasus. Abkhas. According to Herodotus, thewomenofthe Sauromataididnotform adistinctnation like the Amazons ofthe Thermodon, fromwhom they were imagined to descend. Thoughthey worethesamedressas men, and fought andhuntedon horseback, thiswasnot always or necessarilyby themselves, for they alsodidsoin company withtheirhusbands. Girls, however, couldnot marry till they hadkilledamanin battle, from whichcustom they receivedfromtheir Scythianneighbours the epithet of " manslayers".Hippocrates,discoursing onthe Sauromatai, mentionsthatthe women, armedwithbowand javelin, fought theirenemieson horseback, but only so long as they wereinanunmarriedstate. Theymight notenter matrimony till they hadslainthree enemies, anddidnot livewiththeirhusbandstill they hadofferedthesacrifice prescribedby law.After marriage womenceasedto ride, saveona specialemergency.Duringinfancy mothers cauterisedthe right breastoftheirfemale children, by applying aheatedmetalinstrumentmadeforthe purpose. Straboentersintoratherfuller particulars, butrefersto tribes dwelling southoftheSauromataionthecounter- fortsof themainChain.From infancy theAmazonshad the right breastcauterisedtoallowofthearm being used with greater ease, especially when throwing the javelin. Whenathome theyploughed, planted,pasturedcattle, and trainedhorses.The strongestspent muchtimein hunting on horseback, andin practising warlike exercises.In spring, theypassed twomonthson a neighbouringmountain, the boundary betweenthemandthe Gargarenses. The latteralsoascendedthe mountain, in conformity with ancient custom, to perform common sacrifices, andtohave intercoursewiththewomeninsecretand darkness, for the purpose of obtainingoffspring, eachman taking thefirst womanhe met.Whenthewomenbecame pregnant they weresent away. Thefemalechildrenwere retained by the Amazons, themalesweretaken by the Gargarenses tobe broughtup. Thechildren were distributed among families Az A7nazoaoian CZus/om in~ iheCazicasus. 17 7 inwhichthemastertreatedthem entirely ashisown. This evidentlyimplies a system of fosterage. Interweaving thesubstanceoftheabove reports, after making dueallowancefortheevidenttinctureofthe fabulous theycontain, withwhatisknownof existing cus- toms among theCherkesand Abkhas, a slightsummary may beconstructedofmannersandcustomsthat may, I think, withmoreorlessreasonbeattributedtotheSar- matiansaboutthesixth century B.C., though, of course, their origin mustbemucholder.It may notbeamissto mentionherethatrich tracesofa very considerable degree of civilisation, towhich archaeologists likeVirchowandE. Chantre assign adateofabout IoooB.C., but culminating ahout 700B.C., havebeenfoundinthe sepulchres of Koban, near the northern entranceofthePassofDariel. Though mostofthemetallic objects are of bronze, iron was known, and theybelong tothe early iron period. The Sarmatians, though withoutfixed habitations, were possessed ofacertainsocial organisation,being divided, at any rate, intonoblesand vassals, many ofwhomwere only slaves. They werealso separated into exogamous tribes, for marriage withinthetribewas regarded as incest, and punishable with death, perhapsbydrowning, aswasre- cently thecase.Childrenofbothsexeswerenot brought up at home, butweretransferredtothecareoffoster- parents, and only returned to the parental hearth when they had attainedthe age ofmanhoodor womanhood. Though the womenwereferocious enough towardstribalenemies their statusathomewas verylow, littlebetterthanthatof a slave, at any rate after marriage. Alloutdoor labour, such as ploughing and reaping, tendingsheep, cattle, and horses, was performedentirelybythem, andindefenceoftheir charge, when attacked, theyfought as savagely asthemen. Unmarriedwomen-forthecare of herding fell chiefly on them-dressedlike men, and by reason oftheir dutieswere armedwithbowsand javelins.Perhaps thebeliefthata womancouldnotbear courageous children, andwasun- VOL.II.N 178 AnAmazvonianCustomintheCcazcasz.s. worthy of becoming a mother, unlesssheherselfhad given proof ofherown couragebyslaying atleastonetribal enemy,gave risetothe usage thata girlmight not marry tillshehadkilled one,perhaps threeindividuals.Andre- ciprocally itisfar from improbable that among arace of warriorsaman might nottakeawifetillhehadshown his bravery inbattle bybringing homeatleastonehead. Thewhole duty ofman lay in fighting,robbing, avenging thedeathof relatives, man stealing, and, forthosethat livedonthe coast, in piracy. Still, the wild, untutored instinctthat glorified actslikethesewas temperedby a sentimentthatmadea virtueof generosity and hospitality onthe part ofthe nobles, anddemanded respect towards old age fromallranksof society.Largely onaccountof their vocations, but partly froma superstitious dislike ofthe men, withtheir manly instincts, tobeseenmuchin company with women, thesexeslivedonthewhole rather separate lives, andintercoursebetweenmarried couples wasofaclandestine nature.Atcertainannual festivalsinhonourofsome divinity celebratedinsacred groves, wheresacrificewas made,accompaniedbygames andathletic sports, promiscuous intercoursewascarried on after dark.It may bethe worship in spring ofcertain deitiesdemandeditasa necessary rite.Toobtainawife amanhadto pay a price forherin sheep, cattle,horses, or othervaluables.Butconcurrent withthis usage women weresometimescarried off, andsometimes theysimply consentedtolivewitha man, withoutfurther ceremony, though unionsofthisnature were chieflyprevalent inthe lowestclass.After marriage awdmanlostmuchofher maidenly freedom, no longer rovedafterherflocksand herdsin society withother girls, buthadtofollowher husbandforthe purpose of performing the necessary menial duties he wouldhavedisdainedto do for himself.At an earlyage, perhaps betweenthe ages ofsevenandtenas nowadays, mothers began to flatten thebreasts of their female children bycomlpressing themwithabroadleatherbelt An Amazonioan CustomintheCaucasus. I79 or corset, whichwassewnroundthe chest, andwas only cut openby the bridegroom onthe weddingday by means ofa dagger. Suchatleastisthemodern practice. Intheabovereconstructionoffactsstatedorhinted by GreekwritersIhave suggested howit happened thatthe Amazonswere thought tobealmostarace by themselves. Itaroseina great measurefrom their occupation. Itwas women'sworkto pasture theflocksand herds, andthere- foretodefendthemifattacked.Todothis they mustbe armed.Itneednotbe supposed thatthemennever pro- tectedtheherdsthemselves. Theyprobably didsowhen actual danger was anticipated, butunder ordinary circum- stancesitwaslefttotheunmarried womentoshieldthe sheep andcattlefromtheassaultsofcasualmarauders. Thatcauterisationofthe right breastwasever practised intheCaucasusseemstome highlyimprobable,though it may havebeendoneelsewhere.Some writers, Professor Sayceamongthem, maintainthattheAmazonsthat overranAsia Minor, andlefttracesofthemselvesat Ephesus,Smyrna,Cyme, and other places were priestesses ofthe Great Goddess.Andit is conceivablethese may have sacrificedtheir right breaststoher bysearing themwith ahotironinsucha way asto destroy their development. EvenGreekandLatinwriters were sceptical onthis point, andthereason alleged forthe custom, toallow greater freedomin casting a javelin or drawing a bow, seems unnecessary froma physiologicalpoint ofview. Yet, undoubtedly, some operation was performed, ortheGreek legend wouldhavehadnofoundation.Ifthereasonfor flattening thebreastsabouttobe proposed isthetrue one, thereis nothingimprobable in believing thatthe existing customhasa long row ofcenturiesbehind it,quiteenough tothrowitbackintime beyond thesixth century B.C. The great desireof women, more especiallyduring a period ofwarlike barbarism, istobearmalechildren. Turning ourattentiontotheresultof flattening a girl's breastsand letting herwearmale attire, itisobviousthat N2 i 8oAnAmazonian Custom iznIteCaucasus. asexdistinctionhasbeen obliterated, andshehasbecome externally assimilatedtoamale youth. Moreover, the object has evidently beenintentional.Itwouldbeno outrage tothe reasoningpowers oftheSarmatiansto suppose that they believedawoman'schancesof bearing malechildren were vastly enhanced by her wearing aman's dress, and bybeing conformedinsome degree tothe male typeby forcible compression ofthebreasts during maidenhood. They would argue thus:awomanwantsto bearmale children, thereforeshe ought tobemadeas muchlikeamanas possible. Aconvictionofthiskind is gainedby a process identicalwiththeimmaturerea- soning thatunderlieswhatiscalled sympatheticmagic. Herea postulantby a symbolical act expresses the long- ings ofhisheartinthemute language of signs, under the vaguehope thathiswishwillbe granted either by the spirit or deity inwhose power itliestobestowsucha desire, or by virtueofanirresistible necessity, theexact natureofwhichhecannot fathom, butinwhichhe has, nevertheless, the profoundest belief.In applying this state- menttothe reasoning oftheSarmatiansthereseemstobe ahiatus.Forhowisa spirit or an all-compelling neces- sity tounderstandwhata girl means bydressing likea manand repressing the growth ofthebreasts?That every Amazonwas expected to marry andbear children, andhadherselfthewishtodo so, was regarded asso naturalastobe implicit, andtobeunderstood byany- body. Allshehadto do,therefore, tobe fullycompre- hended by the powers that grant suchdesireswasto hoist, asit were, a signal toindicatethesexofthechildshe desiredto conceive, andthisshedid naturallyenoughby donning maleattireand exhibiting herflattenedbosom. It may beasked why thiswasdone only in maidenhood, andnot during themarried state, whenitwouldseem more appropriate ?Itisobvious repression ofthebreasts couldnotbemaintainedwhenawomanbecamea mother, andforallweknowshe may havecontinuedtowear AntAmazonianCustom intheCaucasus.181 men's clothing allher life; buttheactwas performed before marriage toensurethefirst child being, if possible, a boy. Asimilar explanation wouldaccountfor thefalse beardsworn byArgive brideswhen theyslept withtheir husbands,l andforthe widespread custom, alludedto by Mr. J. G. Frazer,2 ofmen dressing aswomenandwomen asmenat marriage, ifitcouldbe assumed thattheolder customwasforwomenalonetodressinthat way, and whenthe meaning ofthe ceremony was forgotten that bridegrooms alsodressedlike women; a change which might arisefrom a growingspirit of buffoonery andfrolic suchasisneverabsentfromrustic weddings. 1 J. G. Frazer, Totemism,p. 79. 2 Totemism,p. 79. JOHN ABERCROMBY.