ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA—Live Science reports that a tenth-century burial uncovered in southern Siberia's Sayan Mountains in 2014 contains the remains of a woman; a newborn; the spine of a sheep; and the skull, limbs, and skin of a horse. This grave and dozens of others were discovered during an investigation conducted ahead of railway construction through the region. “It is quite clear that this is far from an ordinary burial,” said Andrey Poliakov of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The woman had been buried with a pair of gilt-bronze earrings, a ritually broken mirror, an iron knife, and a stone spindle whorl. The motif of a winding vine and grape clusters on the mirror fragments suggest that the object may have been imported from China. Many of the items of horse paraphernalia in the grave were antiques when they were buried. A stirrup bore decorations influenced by Chinese, Indian, and Persian art. Oleg Mitko of Novosibirsk State University said that decorated stirrups was generally used by steppe nomads on the left side of the saddle for ceremonial purposes. Overall, he added, the combination of artifacts recovered from the grave was very rare for the region. To read more about medieval archaeology in Russia, go to "Palaces of the Golden Horde."
