AFAIK the Cimmerians disappear from history in the
late 7th c. BC, and the last mention of this people is
made in connection with Lydian politics. I only know
three "royal" names associated with them, two of which
have clear Iranic affinities (SANDANKSHATRU (but
SANDAN also has Thracian possibilities) and TSUSHPA)
while another (LYGDAMIS, -DUGDAM in Assyrian
sources-)is uncertain to me (Herodotus mentions two
Greek personages called LYGDAMIS). The leading
theories are that the Cimmerians were either Iranic
speakers or Thracian speakers. Ukrainian and Russian
sources I have read suggest that (pace Herodotus)most
Cimmerians stayed behind and were assimilated by the
incoming Scythians, or blended in with the
pre-Scythian (and pre-Cimmerian) ethna. I am exploring
the possibility that the famous Scythian Foundation
Legend may have had an earlier variant in which
Cimmerians played the same role as the subsequent
Royal Scythians (a late and dominant "younger
brother"). This has some support in the archaeology
but is as yet not ready for comprehensive
presentation.== Frankly I don't see how the Cimmerians
can be viewed as Celts or Germans. There is nothing to
substantiate this in the eastern materials. I know of
nothing in the Hallstatt culture which would prove
that the Cimmerians of the East were a leading
component or indeed any kind of component here.
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