A joint entry by Ares96 and Gryphon; I came up with the idea, and he did the hard work and made the map.
Surprisingly often, the records of the world's great empires disappear, to be found only in scattered fragments and references for thousands of years, until modern archaeologists, deciphering unknown texts, unearthing new artifacts, and rediscovering objects deep in the archives of the world's museums, piece together enough information to find something they didn't expect.
Such was the case several years ago, when a small number of prominent figures in the archaeological, historical, sociological, and linguistic communities, led by Dr. Daniel Evans of Dartmouth College, presented a new hypothesis that took the academic world by storm.
They announced that, in the course of their studies, they had discovered a previously-overlooked civilisation, and in doing so tied up a number of archaeological inconsistencies, and completely redrew the timeline of Eurasian history.
For years, the study of the premodern people of Eastern Europe and the Steppes was marred by biased and incomplete studies, with results often chosen specifically to reinforce the racial or religious predilections of their patrons. Dr. Evans and his associates, in addition to new field studies made possible by the opening of Russia, went back over the archived records with a critical eye, often revisiting the locations of the original studies and comparing the records with the physical artifacts wherever possible.
The new record showed the existence of a nomadic empire stretching across Eastern Europe and deep into Asia, between three and four millenia old. Unlike more traditional nomadic empires, that typically merged with their conquered territories as a new ruling class, this empire continued its nomadic ways even after it conquered a territory.
The parallels with the contemporary situation several hundred miles south of the research teams did not go unnoticed by political scientists who, citing everything from Tacitus to Mancur Olson to Robert Fisk, developed a theory sitting just under the edge of their previous studies. The theory of the raider state was the second major innovative theory of the post-bipolar era after Mead's sea control, and helped spark some of the most original thoughts in the field in decades.
The historians, taking a cue from the sociologists and lacking a better option, took to calling their newfound empire the Raiders, and much to the chagrin of some, the name has stuck.
The most unique fact of Raider society appears to be the way in which the whole society was kept together, even over extreme distances. There did not appear to be individual, separable tribes; instead, Raiders seem to have traded members amongst neighbouring tribes. Local leadership appears to have been held by some form of elected chiefdom, and the existing records show a perhaps surprising level of egalitarianism amongst those elected, especially as regards women. Additionally, there appears to have been a permanent office of lawkeeper.
The tribes themselves were extremely diverse, often containing members from across whole regions. They tended to split into two sections- the raiding parties and the non-raiders. The raiding parties maintained a rough chain of command separate from the elected chiefdoms, and it appears there was some sort of taboo regarding making the leader of the martial forces the chief of the tribe. Raiding forces often included new recruits and old, and may have included women. Nonraiders who stayed behind appear to have made up a logistics tail and secure avenue for retreat for the raiding parties, and usually consisted of wives, children, and those who for various reasons- often injury- were unable to be part of the raiding party.
The whole society, from Baltic to Baikal, appears to have maintained some level of continuity, through the use of a highly mobile and very small administrative corps- divided into small sections of five or so people, who moved amongst tribes across huge areas, providing judicial and arbitrative services.
The Raiders maintained dominance over many regions and competed for power in many more, attacking towns and villages with useful resources or that posed a threat. The highly mobile nature of their society meant often several tribes could band together to attack a particularly tough target, collect the spoils of war, then disperse.
Not much is directly known about the language spoken by the Raiders. Inscriptions found in likely Raider tombs dating to the period might bear some relation to the recently-translated Linear A script, but since very few such inscriptions are known, translation is difficult.
However, given their location and era, it seems likely they spoke some form of Indo-European; Doctor Jerry Miller, of the University of Northern Washington's Department of Archaeology, has speculated based on migration patterns that they may have spoken some form of pre-Germanic or a language ancestor to Germanic and Balto-Slavic. Some earlier scholars suggested the possibility of a Turko-Urgic language, but subsequent study has ruled out this possibility.
The Raiders were a highly advanced society for their time. Charles Berlitz suggests a possible connection with the advanced central Atlantic diaspora of approximately 3500 BC, but this early date combined with the Raider's probable origins deep inland does not lend credence to the theory. Archaeological evidence does suggest the Raiders were early adopters of chariots for warfare, and used significant combined-arms tactics in a highly mobile military force; infantry, archers, and cavalry were all mounted. Furthermore, the weapons found buried with warriors show an early adoption of iron for swords, spear points, stave caps, helmets, axes and- interestingly also found buried with some warriors- shovels, indicating what may be amongst the earliest known dedicated combat engineers.
Evidence from various sources both internal and external to the Raider society has suggested the presence of a surprisingly simple religious system. The number four appears to have been sacred, and there appear to have been four main gods- a chief, sky god who may have also been a god of fire; a weather and war god; a goddess of knowledge and fertility; and a goddess of death, who also had domain over the oceans and possibly the hearth. They appear to be opposed by evil creatures, most notably serpents, and aided by dogs, eagles, ravens, and horses, respectively.
How do we know what we know about the Raiders?
Our first and foremost selection of evidence comes from graves unearthed across the Steppes, especially at the sites near Astrakhan and Novosibirsk. Many of them had been assigned to other cultures or unexplored prior to the Raider hypothesis, but with the new understanding, they provide considerable evidence for the lifestyle of these people. Many of the graves found so far have been low tumuli, often containing grave goods as noted above. It seems they were familial grave sites, as many appear to have been reused, with multiple sets of bones contained within them. From these bones we understand that Raider family units tended to be large and possibly polygamous, and likely patrilocal.
The grave goods contain many indications about the important aspects of Raider life, including as noted above weapons and tools, but many of the Raider graves have also contained the bones of animals- typically dogs and horses- as well; some, nearer to the coastal regions, also contain bark or, rarely, dugout canoes, indicating the presence of seafaring in the Raider history. How far they traveled is a matter of speculation, but some possible references to invading forces from the east occur in surviving runic inscriptions in Scandinavia, and some authors have put forward theories that some artifacts found on the coasts of England and the Low Countries may have been the result of Raider contact.
The civilization of the Raiders remains relatively unknown compared to some of its contemporaries, but the records we have suggest a complex and vibrant society that managed to remain surprisingly well coordinated over a vast geographical region. Further study may eventually disprove some of the claims made above, or it may add to their weight, but the effect of the Raiders on our understanding of history is pronounced, and its study will become a model for future archaeologists.
