Herodotus mentions a “Royal Dahae” which was the ruling elite of the Scythian forces, and which might well have existed if the riches of the burial mounds are any indication. Local governance was carried out by elites with control over local armies, who were sometimes hired out as mercenaries – especially archers – to more sedentary groups. They were by all accounts a martial and fierce people, much associated with noble barbarism, where women fought alongside men (seemingly with similar status) and both sexes were regularly tattooed with zoomorphic designs that also appear in their artwork. As a mobile way of life was not conducive to metalworking or other craft/art pursuits, most Scythian masterworks – of which there are an inordinate number – were designed by the Scythians but actually made by the Greeks. These include jewellery, horse harnesses and weapons, and include a large proportion of works in gold, which they highly valued and viewed as a status symbol. It is from the imagery on these items that the Scythians gain their glamorous if sanguineous reputation, although later works demonstrate that they had started to adopt Greek clothing and customs. Zoomorphic and anthropomorphic imagery abounds, combined with more mundane themes (milking cattle) and some geometric motifs.