KESHIKCHIDAGH, AZERBAIJAN—Aze.Media reports that a team of researchers from several Azerbaijani institutions unearthed a remarkable 1,800-year-old tomb belonging to a high-status Bronze Age warrior. The archaeologists were investigating an area of Keshikchidagh State Historical and Cultural Reserve when they located the kurgan, or burial mound, which measured 90 feet in diameter and stood 6 feet high. When the archaeologists began excavating this feature, they revealed a large central interior chamber that was covered with 14 large stone blocks, each weighing approximately one ton. The tomb within this passage was divided into three sections: one containing the body and personal equipment, another filled with ceramic vessels, and a third that was left empty, possibly as a symbolic gesture reflecting beliefs of the afterlife. The imposing deceased male, who would have been well over six feet tall, held a rare four-pronged bronze spear in his hand, signaling his status as an elite warrior. Other grave goods included a bronze bracelet, a circular limestone seal, elaborately decorated and inlaid vases, obsidian tools, and cooked animal bones, which were intended to provide the warrior sustenance for his journey to the afterworld. To read about kurgan burials uncovered in Russia, go to "Ancient DNA Revolution: A Bronze Age Family Tree."
