Dozens of gold jewelry were discovered back in 2019, during one of the most promising expeditions, but until today information about the artifacts was kept secret, according to the official website of the Russian Geographical Society, whose representatives took part in the study. Its results are published in the prestigious scientific journal "PLOS One".
The work of archaeologists is dedicated to the nomadic Kokel culture and is based on the excavations of the Tunnug-1 mound in the Valley of the Kings - the burial place of noble people of the Scythian era.
Among the many significant finds is the grave of a woman aged 25-30 years. She was buried between the 1st and 4th centuries AD, presumably in a wooden coffin (traces of a tree are preserved in the grave). Among the grave goods, the researchers found 65 gold objects, and one - a spiral made of gold foil - allowed scientists to draw a sensational conclusion.
The decoration was located between the lower and upper jaws of the woman. Previously, archaeologists considered such items to be a breast ornament, but its current location indicates rather a certain function in the funeral ritual. However, it is possible that this spiral is just a gold chin strap.
Earrings, a pendant, fragments of supposedly Chinese bronze mirrors and many other intriguing objects were also found.
The Kokel culture includes three types of monuments, said the head of the expedition Timur Sadykov. These are burial complexes, ritual structures and settlements. Archaeological sites of this kind make it possible to fill in the "blank spot" - the chronological gap between the early Iron Age and the Middle Ages.