Siberian tomb gives up warrior's golden hoard

RUSSIAN archeologists working in a remote area of southern Siberia have discovered a golden treasure hoard in the tomb of a warrior prince from a civilisation that died out more than 2,000 years ago.

The tomb was found in Tuva, a republic within Russia and bordering Mongolia. Lying beneath thousands of huge rocks and buried in a deep pit covered with logs, it contains the remains of the Scythian prince and his consort, along with more than 45lb of golden treasure.

The team's leader, Konstantin Chugunov, 39, a professor from the Hermitage museum in St Petersburg, has described it as one of the most significant finds ever from the Scythian empire, which existed between the 8th and 2nd centuries BC.

"I could never have imagined we would find that sort of treasure," he said last week after returning to St Petersburg, where he is helping with restoration work. "There are many more such burial sites in the area. But never has a Scythian grave given us such treasures."

The Scythians were a fierce, nomadic Aryan people who ruled the vast Russian and Asian steppes. Their empire extended from the Danube and the Black Sea to the Mongolian plains. They disappeared, leaving no written records or even traces of buildings. Excavations have revealed beautiful golden objects, however, many of which exhibit the highest quality of workmanship.

The Tuvan treasure was found at Arzhan, about 50 miles northwest of the capital, Kyzyl. The burial mound, known as a kurgan, lies in an area already known as the Valley of the Tsars, which may become a world heritage site. Although there are many kurgans, local superstitions and the valley's remoteness have discouraged digging for treasure.

"I have known of the existence of the burial mound for years," Chugunov said. "But it was only after colleagues from Berlin University became involved financially that I chose to work on that site."

The site lies close to a partially looted kurgan that was excavated in 1974, revealing the bones of 160 horses but little gold. Chugunov said his find - which he named Arzhan II - was intact because it was 12ft below ground and difficult for grave robbers to reach.

The treasure included a solid gold quiver, goblet and necklaces. The remains of the two bodies in the grave have disintegrated, but the shapes were still visible because they had been dressed in garments covered in more than 9,000 pieces of gold.

"For the first time we have evidence of how wealthy these burial sites were," Chugunov said. "The man, for instance, wore a leather coat with a high collar, which weighed 8kg [17lb] and was completely covered with golden figures of two wild animals resembling a puma and a female lion.

"Next to the bodies were weapons, including something like a large axe. We also found mirror frames made of copper."

Chugunov is convinced there is more beneath the kurgan. The team has so far opened only a quarter of the site, which has a diameter of 250ft.

The site is remarkably similar to Scythian graves described by Herodotus, the 5th-century BC Greek historian. He told of how a king would be embalmed on his death and his body taken round the tribes on a wagon. It would then be conveyed to a remote burial place.

"There the body of the king is laid in the grave, stretched upon a mattress," Herodotus wrote. "Spears are fixed in the ground on either side of the corpse and beams stretched above it to form a roof.

"In the open space around the body of the king they bury one of his concubines, first killing her by strangling, and also his cup-bearer, his cook, his groom, his lackey, his messenger, some of his horses . . . and some golden cups, for they use neither silver nor brass."

Chugunov, who has worked on another smaller site in the Valley of the Tsars, plans to return to Tuva next spring to continue the excavation.

The contents of the tomb are the subject of a special agreement between the Russian and Tuvan governments. They will be restored at the Hermitage before being returned to the republic, where they will be displayed in a new museum.

The Horses of the Scythians

The Scythians, the first to domesticate the horse and possibly the first to make their living through the practice of archery on horseback, are one of the most mysterious of ancient peoples, and their stories are fascinating ones. It is among these enigmatic peoples that we find the first examples of our Turanian horse, both the Turkoman-type war horse and another horse nearly indistinguishable from the present day Yabou.

Where the Scythians come from, and which racial stock they were, are hotly debated--sometimes in the international courts--even to this day. They were most likely from the Altai region, or perhaps from an area slightly west of it. Buried and subsequently frozen Scythians found in places such as the Pazyryk kurgans show some people with strong Mongolian features, and others who were blond and had quite European-looking faces. "Genes from ancient tissue are compared with genes from modern-day groups. Research with tissue from a number of burials suggests that the Pazyryks were ethnically diverse" (Nova).

We do know, however, that in one important respect, they were very different from the mounted archers who came after them: many of their best and most celebrated warriors--or at least given the most elaborate funerals--were women. It was almost certainly these Scythian warrioresses who inspired the Greek depictions of the Amazons. Herodotus wrote that "No Scythian woman may marry until she has killed a man of the enemy." These reports, and the evidence of Scythian and Saurmatian (a Scythian subgroup) art and craft were routinely dismissed until the latter part of the 20th century, when Scythian women were found buried in their riding clothing--identical to that of men--together with their bows, swords, and horses.

The thoroughbred horse of the Scythians is detailed in the section below on the Pazyryk burials. Their Yabou-type horse is also represented, and in far greater numbers. Presumably the smaller horse was more numerous. A Scythian bowl found in the Chertomlyk region, and dating from approximately the 4th century BCE, shows a Scythian applying hobbles to his saddled horse, very Yabou-ish in conformation.

The most elaborate Scythian mound-graves or kurgans contained many horses. There may be only one or two or up to over a dozen Yabou-type horses, but in every instance so far discovered, there was only one thoroughbred horse. The fact that there was, in fact, only one in the grave, and that so far all these horses have been either old or lame, whereas the more "common" horses have been of all ages and states of health, is taken to show the great value, and possibly the rarity, of the thoroughbred. Honor or not, in great numbers, this horse could not be spared. The horses were either strangled or killed with one--or in at least one case several--blows to the head.

The kurgans are typically found in the foothills of the Altai Mountains, evidently considered a holy place by the Scythians as they were said by Herodotis to travel "for several weeks" to hold funerals there.

The Pazyryk/Altai Mountain area is a sacred burial ground to the people living there even today. "It is a sacrilege to shout here, for it might offend the spirits of the dead. ... The people of the Altai identify themselves with the ancient Pazyryk. They are bound together by a homeland and a common culture." Because of the politics of the locality and the people's feeling that those who have been buried should stay that way, the Pazyryk and Altai burial grounds are now off limits to archeologists.

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