northern markets. This process put the Scythians into permanent contact with the Greeks, and the
relations between the latter and the Greek colonies remained peaceful, although the Scythians might
have destroyed Panticapaeum at some point in the middle of the 6th century BC.[19][89] The territory
around Pontic Olbia was under the direct rule of that city and was inhabited only by Greeks.[90]
Using the Pontic steppe as their base, the Scythians over the course of the 7th to 6th centuries BC often
raided into the adjacent regions, with Central Europe being a frequent target of their raids, and Scythian
incursions reaching Podolia, Transylvania, and the Hungarian Plain, due to which, beginning in this
period, and from the end of the 7th century onwards, new objects, including weapons and horse-
equipment, originating from the steppes and remains associated with the early Scythians started
appearing within Central Europe, especially in the Thracian and Hungarian plains, and in the regions
corresponding to present-day Bessarabia, Transylvania, Hungary, and Slovakia. Multiple fortified
settlements of the Lusatian culture were destroyed by Scythian attacks during this period, with the
Scythian onslaught causing the destruction of the Lusatian culture itself. Attacks by the Scythians were
directed at southern Germania, and, from there, until as far as Gaul, and possibly even the Iberian
Peninsula; these activities of the Scythians were not unlike those of the Huns and the Avars during
the Migration Period and of the Mongols in the mediaeval era, and they were recorded
in Etruscan bronze figurines depicting mounted Scythian archers as well as in Scythian influences
in Celtic art.[41][60][91] Among the sites in Central Europe attacked by the Scythians was that of Smolenice-
Molpír [sk], where Scythian-type arrows were found at this fortified hillfort's access points at the gate
and the south-west side of the acropolis[92]
The Scythians attacked, sacked and destroyed many of the wealthy and important Iron Age
settlements[93] located to the north and south of the Moravian Gate and belonging to the eastern group
of the Hallstatt culture, including that of Smolenice-Molpír [sk],[92] leading to the adoption of the
Scythian-type "Animal Style" art and mounted archery by the population of these regions in the
subsequent period.[93][94] It was also at this time that the Scythians introduced metalwork types which
followed Shang Chinese models into Western Eurasia, where they were adopted by the Hallstatt
culture.[83]
As part of the Scythians' expansion into Europe, one section of the Scythian Sindi tribe migrated during
the 7th to 6th centuries BC from the region of the Lake Maeotis towards the west, through Transylvania
into the eastern Pannonian basin, where they settled alongside the Sigynnae and soon lost contact with
the Scythians of the Pontic steppe.[41][91] Another section of the Sindi established themselves on
the Taman peninsula, where they formed a ruling class over the indigenous Maeotians, the latter of
whom were of native Caucasian origin.[42][89]