SUZDAL, RUSSIA—Live Science reports that a tenth-century wooden burial chamber containing the remains of a man estimated to have been between 25 and 35 years old at the time of death, a horse, and a dog have been uncovered at the medieval cemetery of Gnezdilovo, which is located in western Russia. A team of researchers from the Russian Academy of Sciences discovered a silver horseshoe-shaped brooch that fastened a garment at the man’s neck. An iron knife, stirrups and other horse-related gear, a bone comb, and a battle ax were also found in the burial. The roof of the wooden chamber, which measured about 10 feet long and nine feet wide, had collapsed. Beginning in the late ninth century, the region was ruled by the Kievan Rus, which included people from the Baltic, eastern Slavs, and Norse peoples from Scandinavia. This style of burial suggests that the settlement at Suzdal may have become a Rus administrative center, since it appears that a member of the Old Russian local nobility adopted a Scandinavian funerary practice. For more on the Rus, go to "Hoards of the Vikings."
