Well-preserved Turkic grave discovered in a cave in Mongolia

[H. İhsan Erkoç]

According to some Mongolian archaeology news, recently a well-preserved grave dating to the Turkic (Gokturk) period has been found in a cave in the western Mongolian province of Khövd Aimag. Photographs in Facebook show that among the remains found in the grave are a mummified corpse of a man, a very well-preserved horse, well-preserved textiles including clothing, a wooden belt, horsewhips, horse harness gear including stirrups and a saddle, plus some pottery.

You can see the photographs from this Facebook link:

And this is an explanatory note written in Mongolian:

Мөнххайрхан сум, Борт баг, Үзүүр Гялангийн хадны оршуулга
Монгол улсын нутагт археологийн хайгуул малтлага судалгаа явуулах зөвшөөрөл олгох, хяналт тавих мэргэжлийн зөвлөлийн чиглэл, зөвшөөрөлийн дагуу Төв Азийн хэмжээнд анхны иж бүрэн олдвор бүхий Түрэгийн үеийн хадны оршуулгыг Ховд аймаг өөрийн санхүүжилтээр Ховд аймгийн судлаачдын нэгдсэн багаар анх удаагаа археологийн авран хамгаалах малтлагыг хийлгэлээ. Уг оршуулгыг Ховд аймгийн музейн хээрийн судалгааны баг 2015 оны 10-р сард орон нутгийн ирэгдийн мэдээллийн дагуу бүртгэн баримжуулан ажилласан. Уг хээрийн багийн хээрийн судалгааны үр дүнд уг хадны оршуулга устаж үгүй болхоос өмнө археологийн авран хамгаалалтыг малтлагыг хийлээ. Уг хадны оршуулгаас эмээл, хазаар, шавар ваар, модон аяга, 4-н янзын дээл, эсгийнд боосон хатмал шарил, олбог, өөр дээрээс нь хөл сийлэн гаргасан модон аяга, тэвш, төмөр тогоо, бүтэн морь, зүлдлэн авсан 4-н шийр, хонины улаан хоолой багалзуур бүхий толгойтой бүтэн арьс, эсгий богцонд хонины ууц, ямааны годонгийн яс, аяганы ширэн уут, эсгий богц олдлоо. Уг археологийн авран хамгаалах малтлагын багт ХИС -н Түүх, Эрх зүйн тэнхимийн эрхлэгч доктор Г.Пүрэвдорж, доктор Ч.Мөнхбаяр, Ховд аймгийн Музейн эрдэм шинжилгээний ажилтан Х.Бямбасүрэн, БМС Б.Сүхбаатар, Жолооч Б.Батжин, Мөнххайрхан сумын Соёлын төвийн ажилтан н.Сэмбэдорж нар багтан ажилласан байна. Уг археологийн авран хамгаалах малтлагыг санхүүжүүлэн дэмжсэн Ховд аймгийн засаг дарга Д.Цэвээнравдан, түүний орлогч Ч.Чинбат, бидний ажилд гүн туслалцаа үзүүлсэн н.Цэрэндорж, бидний ажилд хяналт тавин ажилласан Мөнххайрхан сумын Борт багийн засаг дарга, тус сумын байгаль орчны байцаагч нарт гүн талархал илэрхийлье.

[H. İhsan Erkoç]

The Siberian Times has published news about these new finds:

Archeologists find ancient mummy approximately 1,500 years old in Mongolia

By Anna Liesowska09 April 2016

Remains of suspected female of Turkik origin found in at an altitude of 2,803 metres in the Altai Mountains.



The ancient human remains are wrapped in felt but the excavation is being hailed as the first complete Turkik burial found in Central Asia. B.Sukhbaatar, researcher at Khovd Museum, said: 'The person was not from elite, and we believe it was likely a woman, because there is no bow in the tomb.

'Now we are carefully unwrapping the body and the specialists could say more precisely about the gender.'

In the mummy's grave archeologists found - alongside the human remains - a saddle, bridle, clay vase, wooden bowl, trough, iron kettle, the remains of entire horse, and four different 'Dool' (Mongolian clothes).





There were also pillows, a sheep's head and felt travel bag in which were placed the whole back of a sheep, goat bones and small leather bag for the cup.

He said: 'It is the first complete Turkik burial at least in Mongolia - and probably in all Central Asia. This is a very rare phenomenon. These finds show us the beliefs and rituals of Turkiks.

'We can see clearly that the horse was deliberately sacrificed. It was a mare, between four and eight years old. Four coats we found were made of cotton.





'An interesting thing we found is that not only sheep wool was used, but also camel wool. We can date the burial by the things we have found there, also the type of hat. It gives us a preliminary date of around the 6th century AD.'

Archeologists from the city museum in Khovd were alerted to the burial site by local herdsmen. The finds will help form a deeper understanding of the native Turks in ancient Mongolia.





'The grave was located 2803 meters above sea level,' said B.Sukhbaatar. 'This fact and the cool temperatures helped to preserve the grave. The grave was three metres deep.

'The finds show us that these people were very skilled craftsmen. Given that this was the grave of a simple person, we understand that craft skills were rather well developed.'

The Altai Mountains unite Siberia, in Russia, and Mongolia, China and Kazakhstan.

The grave was located 2803 meters above sea level, in Mongolian Altai. Pictures: The Siberian Times

siberiantimes.com/science/casestudy/news/n0638-archeologists-find-ancient-mummy-approximately-1500-years-old-in-mongolia/

[snafu]

Very cool. Would those have been Oguz people in that area at that time? That was right before or very early in the Gokturk era wasn't it?

[H. İhsan Erkoç]

It is equally possible that the finds might belong to the Gokturks as they are reported to have been living in the Altai Mountains before founding their empire, or to the Tägräk (Tiele) tribes who also inhabited nearby regions at that time.

[H. İhsan Erkoç]

New photographs of the recently discovered mummy of a Türk-era woman, from the webpage www.ikon.mn/n/uj1

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[H. İhsan Erkoç]

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[H. İhsan Erkoç]

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[H. İhsan Erkoç]

Photos of the mummified horse remains, from the webpage voices.nationalgeographic.com/2016/10/07/a-sherlock-worthy-look-at-an-ancient-horse-mummy/

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[H. İhsan Erkoç]

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[H. İhsan Erkoç]

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[H. İhsan Erkoç]

Text from the same webpage:

A Sherlock-Worthy Look at an Ancient Horse Mummy

Posted by Guest Blogger in Explorers Journal on October 7, 2016

By William Taylor

In the high subarctic steppes of Mongolia, extreme climate conditions sometimes produce strikingly well-preserved archaeological discoveries. These finds are responsible for much of our knowledge of early nomadic societies Central Asia. In particular, the mummified remains of horses and horse equipment—preserved over the centuries in a dry cave, or protected by permafrost by Mongolia’s cold, arid continental climate—yield a wealth of scientific data relating to the history of horse herding and riding in the region.



In 2015, a team of researchers from the National Museum of Mongolia were notified by local police of a looted cave burial near the town of Myangad, in western Mongolia’s Khovd province. From the looters, police seized a bow, arrows, horse equipment, and tools made of wood, leather, and horn. Based on the style of these artifacts, the burial may date to the time of the Turkic Khaganate (ca. 6th to 8th century CE)—a vast nomadic empire which once stretched from Mongolia in the east to Afghanistan and Turkmenistan in the west. However, similar artifacts have also been found as late as the 10th-11th centuries, so precise dating of the burial will require further scientific study.

Upon exploring the looted cave, a team of archaeologists (led by J. Bayarsaikhan) discovered the mummified remains of a horse and rider, buried together in the cliffside cave over a millennium ago.

The horse remains consist of a head (Figure 1), along with sections of the hide, spine, hooves, and tail (Fig. 1). Such “head and hoof” burials have a long history in Central Asian nomadic cultures, and were widespread in Mongolia beginning in the late Bronze Age (ca. 1300-700 BCE).







The hair and soft tissue still remaining on the Ulaan-Uneet horse tell an important story. The animal’s head was damaged over the years by both looters and natural processes, including a small mouse who had taken up residence inside the skull. Nonetheless, the mummy retains patches of beautiful chestnut-colored hair (Figure 2). Working with the museum’s conservator, D.Nyamsuren, we sampled hair, bone, and soft tissue for genetic sequencing. Results from this analysis will help clarify the evolutionary context of Mongolian horse breeding and use during the early Middle Ages.

During the conservation process, we discovered an intact margin of the left ear which appears to have been clipped (Figure 3C). Ear notches have been found on mummified horses dating back to the first millennium BCE, in the famous frozen tombs of Pazyryk in the Siberian Altai. Ear clipping is still practiced by some herders in contemporary Mongolia, used to indicate ownership for free-ranging livestock. The probable notch discovered on the Ulaan-Uneet specimen suggests that this practice has been important for several millennia in eastern Central Asia.



Based on the presence of large canines and sequential changes in the horse’s teeth, we were able to determine that the horse was a young male—around four years old at the time of death. A large bone exposure on the left side of the skull revealed important skeletal traits that may help researchers understand the history of horseback riding in Central Asia. For example, the horse’s first premolar, also known as a “wolf tooth,” shows wear and striations caused by a metal bit (Figure 3A). Additionally, the exposed surface of the horse’s nasal bones have been badly deformed on one side by a bridle noseband (Figure 3B).

By identifying cranial features such as these on ridden horses from different historical periods, we hope to develop new techniques for identifying horseback riding in more ancient archaeological bone assemblages (Figure 4).

[H. İhsan Erkoç]

Updated news and more photos: www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4405232/Mongolian-mummy-buried-Adidas-boots-1-100-years-ago.html?ito=social-facebook