How is it the scientists were able to proclaim the mummy to be Iranian? Isn’t that a premature statement without proper genetic analysis being done? Another article below says the Scythian warrior was a Turk, which is closer to the current consensus view of Turko-Mongol, ie Central Asian Turkic ethnogenesis.
An international group of archaeologists has shown photos of a well-preserved 2,500-year-old mummy of a Scythian warrior found in Mongolia.The mummy was hailed as a “fabulous find” at a news conference in Berlin. It was unearthed at a height of 2,600m (8,500ft) in an intact burial mound in the Altai Mountains this summer. Until now remains of the Scythians – who were Iranian nomadic peoples – had only been found on the Russian side of the Altai, the scientists said. The mummy was found in the snow-capped mountains by the team of scientists from Germany, Russia and Mongolia. Presenting the find, the president of the German Archaeological Institute, Hermann Parzinger, said the ice had helped to preserve the mummy. “We just had to sweep away some dust and could begin,” Mr Parzinger said. Skin on the warrior’s upper body was virtually intact, revealing tattoos. The man – who the archaeologists believe was a nobleman – was dressed in a fur coat and wrapped into sheep’s wool lining that was in remarkably good condition. Two horses with saddles and weapons and also vessels were also found in the burial mound, or kurgan. The archaeologists say they were placed in the tomb to accompany the warrior into the next life. The recovered items are currently in storage in Mongolia’s capital, Ulan Bator. |
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Throughout the grasslands of northern Mongolia and southern Siberia lay scattered hundreds of megaliths bearing mysterious carvings that seems to depict flying reindeer. These upright stone slabs measure 3 to 15 feet tall and occur in small groups, or concentrated in larger groupings, often in association with stone burial mounds, called Khirigsuur (kheregsüürs -small kurgans)
There are over 900 deer stones in Central Asia and South Siberia, of which 700 are in Mongolia alone. Erected by Bronze Age nomads Turks, 3000 years ago. Cimmerians-Scythians/Saka-Huns and other Turkish Tribes.
Deer stones are usually constructed from granite or greenstone, depending on which is the most abundant in the surrounding area. Reindeer feature prominently in nearly all of the deer stones. Early stones have very simple images of reindeer, and as time progresses, the designs increase in detail.
A gap of 500 years results in the appearance of the complicated flying reindeer depiction. Reindeer are depicted as flying through the air, rather than merely running on land. Sometimes the reindeer hold a sun disc or other sun-related image in their antlers, representing God. (Tengri)
Tattoos on buried warriors contain deer tattoos, featuring antlers embellished with small birds’ heads. This reindeer-sun-bird imagery perhaps symbolizes the shaman’s spiritual transformation from the earth to the sky: the passage from earthly life to heavenly life. As these deer images also appear in warrior tattoos, it is possible that reindeer were believed to offer protection from dangerous forces. Deer spirit served as a guide to assist the warrior soul to heaven.
And it can also be a noblewoman or a Kam woman (shaman), they were often reprensented by a reindeer. (Mothergoddess)
Mongolia
In the 2nd millennium B.C, during the bronze age, western Mongolia was under the influence of the Karasuk Turkish Culture. Deer stones and the omnipresent kheregsüürs (small kurgans) probably are from this era; other theories date the deer stones as 7th or 8th centuries BC.
The Scythian Turks community inhabited western Mongolia in the 5-6th century BC. A vast iron age burial complex from the 5th-3rd century, later also used by the Xiongnu (Huns/Turks), has been unearthed near Ulaangom Ulan Bator.
Gökturk Khaganate in 600 AD and Uyghur Turks in 745 AD, in 840 Yenisei Kirghiz Turks.
In 2006 the mummy of a Scythian warrior was found, 2,500 years old, was a 30/40 year-old man with blond hair, found in the Altai, Mongolia.
The mummy was found in a difficult to access part of the Altai mountain region at an altitude of 2,600 meters (8,500 feet) in an area bordering Mongolia, China and Russia. Scientists from Germany, Mongolia and Russia came across the intact burial mount of the Scythian warrior in permafrost ground at the end of July. The Scythians were a nomadic people who lived around 700 years BC in a region that spanned from southern Russia and the Ukraine to the Dnieper River.
The warrior, whose cause of death has not been determined, was buried in full dress. He wore a fur coat made of marmot fur with sheep’s wool lining and adorned with sable.
Beneath the fur coat, traces could be found of woven wool pants. The man’s feet were covered by knee-high felt boots. The man was buried together with two horses whose bridles was still in good condition. Parts of the animal carcasses were also still intact — including flesh, skin and hide. Researchers believe the decorations indicated he was a man of nobility.
And the Scythians spoke Turkish , they are the ancestors of todays Turks.
SB.

Deer Stones
Throughout the grasslands of northern Mongolia and southern Siberia lay scattered hundreds of megaliths bearing mysterious carvings that seems to depict flying reindeer. These upright stone slabs measure 3 to 15 feet tall and occur in small groups, or concentrated in larger groupings, often in association with stone burial mounds, called Khirigsuur (kheregsüürs -small kurgans)
There are over 900 deer stones in Central Asia and South Siberia, of which 700 are in Mongolia alone. Erected by Bronze Age nomads Turks, 3000 years ago. Cimmerians-Scythians/Saka-Huns and other Turkish Tribes.
Deer stones are usually constructed from granite or greenstone, depending on which is the most abundant in the surrounding area. Reindeer feature prominently in nearly all of the deer stones. Early stones have very simple images of reindeer, and as time progresses, the designs increase in detail.
A gap of 500 years results in the appearance of the complicated flying reindeer depiction. Reindeer are depicted as flying through the air, rather than merely running on land. Sometimes the reindeer hold a sun disc or other sun-related image in their antlers, representing God. (Tengri)
Tattoos on buried warriors contain deer tattoos, featuring antlers embellished with small birds’ heads. This reindeer-sun-bird imagery perhaps symbolizes the shaman’s spiritual transformation from the earth to the sky: the passage from earthly life to heavenly life. As these deer images also appear in warrior tattoos, it is possible that reindeer were believed to offer protection from dangerous forces. Deer spirit served as a guide to assist the warrior soul to heaven.
And it can also be a noblewoman or a Kam woman (shaman), they were often reprensented by a reindeer. (Mothergoddess)
Mongolia
In the 2nd millennium B.C, during the bronze age, western Mongolia was under the influence of the Karasuk Turkish Culture. Deer stones and the omnipresent kheregsüürs (small kurgans) probably are from this era; other theories date the deer stones as 7th or 8th centuries BC.
The Scythian Turks community inhabited western Mongolia in the 5-6th century BC. A vast iron age burial complex from the 5th-3rd century, later also used by the Xiongnu (Huns/Turks), has been unearthed near Ulaangom Ulan Bator.
Gökturk Khaganate in 600 AD and Uyghur Turks in 745 AD, in 840 Yenisei Kirghiz Turks.
In 2006 the mummy of a Scythian warrior was found, 2,500 years old, was a 30/40 year-old man with blond hair, found in the Altai, Mongolia.
The mummy was found in a difficult to access part of the Altai mountain region at an altitude of 2,600 meters (8,500 feet) in an area bordering Mongolia, China and Russia. Scientists from Germany, Mongolia and Russia came across the intact burial mount of the Scythian warrior in permafrost ground at the end of July. The Scythians were a nomadic people who lived around 700 years BC in a region that spanned from southern Russia and the Ukraine to the Dnieper River.
The warrior, whose cause of death has not been determined, was buried in full dress. He wore a fur coat made of marmot fur with sheep’s wool lining and adorned with sable.
Beneath the fur coat, traces could be found of woven wool pants. The man’s feet were covered by knee-high felt boots. The man was buried together with two horses whose bridles was still in good condition. Parts of the animal carcasses were also still intact — including flesh, skin and hide. Researchers believe the decorations indicated he was a man of nobility.
And the Scythians spoke Turkish , they are the ancestors of todays Turks.
SB.
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Archeological Sensation: Ancient Mummy Found in Mongolia
The spectacular find of the frozen remains of a Scythian warrior in Mongolia by an international team of archeologists could shed new light on ancient life. Some of those findings will be the subject of a major exhibition in Berlin next year.
Scientists in Berlin this week gave their first major press conference about the spectacular discovery of a frozen mummy in Mongolia’s Altai mountains. The frozen corpse, embedded in permafrost, is considered one of the greatest archeological finds since climbers came across the mummified remains of Ötzi, the ice man, in an alpine glacier. The corpse of the Scythian warrior could help provide clues about how people lived 2,500 years ago and about what illnesses they suffered.
The mummy, which is believed to be about 2,500 years old was a 30-to-40 year-old man with blond hair, and was found in very good condition, Patzinger said. It’s too delicate for exhibition, but new techniques developed following other recent discoveries of frozen mummies will enable scientists to study the remains in detail. The newly discovered Altai mummy has been compared to the discovery of Ötzi in southern Tyrol in 1991 and a tattooed Siberian ice princess in 1993.
The mummy was found in a difficult to access part of the Altai mountain region at an altitude of 2,600 meters (8,500 feet) in an area bordering Mongolia, China and Russia. Scientists from Germany, Mongolia and Russia came across the intact burial mount of the Scythian warrior in permafrost ground at the end of July. The Scythians were a nomadic people who lived around 700 years BC in a region that spanned from southern Russia and the Ukraine to the Dnieper River.
The scientist also said there would likely by a major exhibition in Berlin next year about the Scythian warrior discovery that would, he hopes, include some of the artifacts found at the site. The man was buried together with two horses whose bridles are still in good condition. Parts of the animal carcasses were also still intact — including flesh, skin and hide.
The finds are currently being studied in the Mongolian capital city of Ulan Bator. “But we’re still not certain what will be restored,” DAI President Patzinger said.
dsl/ddp/ap