Throughout the 2000 years of history on the Eurasian steppes, the steppe nomads' outward appearance (physionomy, dress, and haircut) varied from tribe to tribe, century to century, region to region; and so have the sedentary civilizations' perception of them.
Starting from the Iranic Scythians and Samatians. They were most probably caucasoid in appearance, but physionomically they were alien enough to the Mediterranean civilizations for the Greeks and Romans for contemporary historians to describe them as "ugly". They were know to have worn their hair long and braided, and their clothes were made of animal skin, felt and leather.
The Xiongnu and the Huns were famous for artificially deforming their skulls to create and elongating effect. They generally shaved their heads bald mutilated their faces deliberatly with scars to scare off the enemy on the battlefield. Westen sources described the Huns as "hedious, 2-legged beasts" for their Mongoloid features, deformed skulls, and scarred faces.
I'd like to see a recronstruction of a bust of a typical "Hun". The elongated head must have looked very outlandish. Does anyone have any pictures?
Few comments have been made about the appearance of the Avars, Bulgars, Magyars, Khazars, Gokturks. The Gokturks were described to have worn their head full of hair long and braided. Many also had earrings. On the battlefield, they were mostly dressed in mail armour and some khans wore golden chain-mail.
The Kypchaks, or Cumans, were described by European chroniclers as a very "handsome" people, and especially regarding the beauty of their women; yet few detailed descriptions survive of their actual appearance. Would they have looked so different from the Huns for Europeans to have such a different perception of them?
The Mongol haircut had to be one of the most eccentric styles: shaving the top of the head while leaving a few locks by the side. Both western and Chinese chronicles described them as "smelly" and "filthy" for the fact that they seldom took any baths.
Most of the "Tatar" nationalities after the Mongol empire seemed to have adopted the same haircut: shaving the head while leaving one lock in the center which they tied into a braid. This fashion was also emulated by many Europeans who drifted to the steppes. Even Polish noblemen of the 16th and 17th century adopted this haircut, and so did most of th Ukrainians.
Where does this haircut actually come from? The Mongols, Kypchaks, Bulgars, or Pechenegs?
The "Manchu" haircut that was imposed in China was similar to the "Tatar haircut" less that the lock of hair was left to grow at the back rather than from the top of the head.
European travellers of the 19th century in Central Asia generally described the Kazakh (which they named Kirghiz) as a "handsome, good-looking people".
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Does anyone have anymore information regarding descriptions of the outer appearance of the steppe nomads?