The archaeologists have found traces of sacrifices at the Scythian kurgan Tunnug in the Tuva Republic. This is reported by the Institute of History of Material Culture (IHMC) of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
The Tunnug kurgan is located in the floodplain of the Tunnug and Uyuk rivers, near the village of Chkalovka in the Piy-Khem region of the Tuva Republic. It is a part of the so-called Valley of the Kings, where there are many "royal" kurgans of the Scythian time. According to preliminary data, the burial of the Tunnug kurgan is the largest and earliest Scythian monument from the early to mid-9th century BC known to date. Due to the fact that the Tunnug kurgan is in permafrost, there is a high probability of finding preserved organic matter and various artifacts under the stone mound of the object.
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"The team of the Asian nomadic expedition cleared the stone from the sectors of the Tunnug kurgan planned for study and found numerous traces of sacrifices. And, probably, not only animal ones," the IHMC RAS report says.
Among the finds are numerous bone remains. Anthropologists have yet to study them.
Фото со страницы Института истории материальной культуры РАН в Вконтакте (vk.com/iimk_ran)
Let us remind you that the third season of the expedition at the Tunnug kurgan is currently underway. The season is organized by the IHMC RAS. In the first two seasons - in 2018 and 2019 - the Russian Geographical Society also participated in organizing and conducting an archaeological and geographical expedition, but in 2020, due to the threat of the spread of a new coronavirus infection, the Society canceled the competitive recruitment of volunteers for the project.
You can read about the results of the first and second field seasons here.