- Death and Burial (Archaeology), Archaeological Surveying, Theoretical Archaeology, Archaeological GIS, GIS and Landscape Archaeology, Archaeology of Central Asia, and 17 moreUbaid Period, Ubaid culture, Ubaid, Neolithic & Chalcolithic Archaeology, zoomorphic Figurines, Near Eastern Archaeology, Neolithic and Chalcolithic Art, Chalcolithic Anatolia, Palmyra, Chalcolithic Archaeology, Religion and ritual in prehistory, Göbekli Tepe, Archaeology of Ritual and Magic, Pre-Pottery Neolithic, Ancient Near East (Archaeology), Central Asia, and Middle East Studiesedit
The burial mound Tunnug 1 (Arzhan 0) lies in a swamp of the Uyuk River Valley, Tuva Republic, Russia. The construction of this princely Scythian tomb is similar to the earliest identified Scythian kurgan Arzhan 1. Preserved wood from the... more
The burial mound Tunnug 1 (Arzhan 0) lies in a swamp of the Uyuk River Valley, Tuva Republic, Russia. The construction of this princely Scythian tomb is similar to the earliest identified Scythian kurgan Arzhan 1.
Preserved wood from the burial mound was dated through AMS to the 9th century BCE. This confirms that Tunnug 1 (Arzhan 0) belongs to the oldest Scythian cultural horizon and potentially predates Arzhan 1. Due to its peculiar topographic location Tunnug 1 (Arzhan 0) appears to be a frozen tomb.
Preserved wood from the burial mound was dated through AMS to the 9th century BCE. This confirms that Tunnug 1 (Arzhan 0) belongs to the oldest Scythian cultural horizon and potentially predates Arzhan 1. Due to its peculiar topographic location Tunnug 1 (Arzhan 0) appears to be a frozen tomb.
Research Interests: Landscape Archaeology, Eurasian Nomads, Late Bronze Age archaeology, Scythian archaeology, Iron Age, and 9 moreCentral Asian Steppe, Archaeology of the Eurasian steppe belt, Tuva Central Asia, Early Steppe Nomadic peoples migrations and social life, Cimmerians, Herodotus, Scythians, Pontic area, Black Sea area, Caucaaus, Near East, Anatolia, nomads, steppe peoples, History of Eurasian Steppe, Archaeology of Siberia, Eurasian Steppe In the Bronze and Iron Ages и South Russian Steppes
The site Tunnug 1 is located in the Republic of Tuva, in the area of the Uyuk Valley, the so-called “Valley of the Kings”. The burial mound is located not on a high river terrace but in the flood plain (fig. 1), which seems to have led to... more
The site Tunnug 1 is located in the Republic of Tuva, in the area of the Uyuk Valley, the so-called “Valley of the Kings”. The burial mound is located not on a high river terrace but in the flood plain (fig. 1), which seems to have led to permafrost conditions underneath the mound. These circumstances might have led to an excellent preservation of archaeological material. Preliminarily, the burial mound can be associated with the Arzhan horizon of the early Scythian material culture. Tunnug 1 slightly predates Arzhan 1. In the 2018 campaign, the early date of the mound was confirmed. The excavation on the southern periphery of the site revealed a dense cluster of structures postdating the construction of the main burial mound. This article presents the data gathered on several structures (fig. 2) of the first centuries AD (fig. 3, 4) and the Middle Ages (fig. 5, 6.-1). The location of the funeral and ritual stone structures in the low flood plain is uncharacteristic for all archaeological cultures presented in the recorded materials. Through reconstructing the paleolandscape and the paleoclimatic situation for all activity periods on the site we are further clarifying these circumstances. The excavation of the joint Russian-Swiss expedition will be continued in 2019.
Key words: Tuva, Tunnug, Arzhan, early Scythian time, burial types, Kokel, ritual objects, archaeology of the flood plain
Key words: Tuva, Tunnug, Arzhan, early Scythian time, burial types, Kokel, ritual objects, archaeology of the flood plain