Intact 3,000-year-old grave discovered in Siberia
Archaeologists in Siberia have discovered an intact 3,000-year-old grave. The objects buried with the deceased show that horse-drawn chariots were used in the region more than 3,000 years ago.
The grave goods include a distinctive bronze piece with hooks, which was probably once fastened around the waist so the charioteer could tie the reins to it. (Photo: IAET SB RAS)
Aleksey Timoshchenko, an archaeologist at the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the Russian Academy of Sciences, led the expedition to the Askizsky district of Khakassia in Siberia, where Russian archaeologists have spent several years excavating burials.
The grave of the "charioteer" was found among burials dating to around 3,000 years ago, during the time of the Lugav culture. The burial was placed in an earthen mound heaped over a square stone tomb. A bronze knife, bronze jewelry and the distinctive belt piece were among the objects buried there.
“For a long time, Russian archaeologists referred to this object as PNN - an item of unknown purpose. But recent discoveries of Bronze Age charioteer burials in China, together with the remains of chariots, indicate that it is a chariot accessory".
The skeletons were buried with a special hooked metal fitting worn as a belt, which allowed the charioteer to tie the reins around the waist. Artifacts of this type have also been found in graves in China and Mongolia.
According to Timoshchenko, the Bronze Age people of the Lugav culture were mainly cattle herders, and they were replaced in the region by the Scythian-type people of the Tagar culture around the eighth century B.C., at the beginning of the Iron Age.
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