A recent archaeological discovery in southern Siberia has been recognized as one of the ten most important archaeological finds of the year, according to the Tages-Anzeiger. A research team led by the University of Bern unearthed one of the earliest and largest royal burial mounds in the Eurasian Steppe, dating back to the late 9th century BCE.
A study detailing the findings was published in the journal Antiquity, and Archaeology Magazine has included the Bernese discovery among the "Top 10 Archaeological Discoveries 2024," reported Gazeta.ru.
The excavation, led by archaeologist Gino Caspari of the University of Bern, revealed a 2,800-year-old burial mound in southern Siberia. The site, known as Tunnug 1, contained the remains of an elite individual buried with at least one human and 18 sacrificed horses, indicating a unique burial ritual and extreme power disparity, according to The Independent.
"People created a tableau of dead humans and of the most valuable domestic animals—it is a display of extreme power," said Caspari, as reported by Newsweek. He added, "While we can't be sure about detailed meaning for the people involved, imagine riding across the steppes and stumbling upon such an arrangement of rotting corpses. Few things will tell you so clearly that the people of these lands are not to be messed with."
The Tunnug 1 burial mound, located in the floodplain of the Uyuk River in the Republic of Tuva, covers an area of 10,000 square meters and marks the transition between the Bronze Age and Iron Age, according to La Vanguardia. Radiocarbon and dendrochronological dating placed the kurgan in the late 9th century BCE, making it one of the earliest examples of Scythian funeral practices, reported La Razón.
Excavations revealed horseback riding equipment and animal-decorated artifacts, suggesting that the culture of the elite individual was similar to that of the Scythians, who lived thousands of miles to the west later, according to El Cronista. The findings linked the burial in Siberia to the funerary rituals of the later Scythians, described in historical texts as living thousands of kilometers to the west, The Independent reported.
The Scythians were exceptional horsemen and formidable nomadic warriors, feared adversaries of the ancient Greeks, Assyrians, and Persians between 900 and 200 BCE, noted Newsweek. They were known for their horse-focused culture and distinctive "animal-style" art, which depicted animals in specific poses.
"After years of hard fieldwork in Siberia, it is wonderful to have some of the oldest animal style Scythian objects in our hands," Caspari stated, according to La Vanguardia.
The horses were adorned with elements of harness made of bronze and boar tusks. Parts of harnesses and horse bits made of bronze, gold, boar tusk, and antler imitating these materials were discovered, reported Gazeta.ru. On some items in the tomb, images were found in the so-called Scytho-Siberian animal style, according to Gazeta.ru.
The sacrificial burial also features elements characteristic of Late Bronze Age examples in Mongolia, Newsweek stated. The similarities suggest that Scythian funerary rituals could originate even further east and south, along with the Bronze Age horse cultures of Mongolia, as reported by The Independent.
"Our findings highlight the importance of Inner Asia in the development of transcontinental cultural connections," Caspari said, according to The Independent. He added, "The findings also suggest that these funeral practices played a role in the broader process of cultural and political transformation across Eurasia, contributing to the emergence of later pastoral empires."
Scientists discovered that Tunnug 1 resembles the Scythian burials described by Herodotus, including the "phantom horsemen"—vertically installed figures of people and horses sacrificed at the top of the Scythian king's mound, according to Gazeta.ru.
Herodotus stated that one year after the death of the commemorated, fifty horses and fifty young servants were sacrificed on-site, as reported by La Razón. "Significantly, sometimes research confirms Herodotus's accounts," La Razón noted.
"It is yet another case that highlights the massive changes and the idea transfer happening during the early Iron Age across vast distances on the Eurasian steppes. This is a development that's a precursor to the Empires of the Huns and the Mongols that massively influenced European and East Asian histories," Caspari said, as reported by Newsweek.
"After years of hard fieldwork in Siberia, it is wonderful to have some of the oldest animal style Scythian objects in our hands," Caspari stated, as reported by La Vanguardia.