This valuable archaeological site is located at the bottom of the so-called Sayan Sea, an artificial reservoir created upstream of the Sayano-Shushenskaya dam, the largest power plant in Russia.
The precious archaeological site is located at the bottom of the so-called Sayan Sea. Image: GERD
Under pressure
Scientists can only work here from mid-May to late June, as the water daily destroys seaside burials and threatens graves hidden in the reservoir bed.
Archaeologists are racing against time in the six-week window when the water level is low. (Institute for the History of Material Culture, RGO, The Siberian Times)
Scientists can only work here from mid-May to late June, as the water daily destroys seaside burials and threatens graves hidden in the reservoir bed. Images: Institute for the History of Material Culture, RGO, The Siberian Times
A multitude of tombs from different eras have been discovered on the site. (The Siberian Times)
Last year, a 2,000-year-old mummified silk-clad “sleeping beauty” emerged from one of the stone tombs.
In this case, the artificial sea, which will one day erase all traces of this ancient site, worked like a blessing, washing away several layers of earth and revealing a rectangle-shaped stone construction with the “Beau au Sleeping log “. inside.
Fortunately for the archaeologists, the burial had been sealed so well with a stone lid that it first allowed a process of natural mummification of the body, then protected the mummy when the tomb was submerged after the construction of the dam, work on which began in 1963.
Rectangle-shaped stone construction in tomb 21 with “Sleeping Beauty” inside. Image: Institute for the History of Material Culture
The young woman was buried wearing a silk skirt held by a jeweled belt with a jet stone buckle.
There was a rich funeral meal and a pocket of pine nuts prepared for his life after death, and inside his most intricately elegant wooden bag was his Chinese mirror.
Other treasures from the young fashionista included turquoise beads used to decorate the belt, a set of much smaller purple beads, fragments of copper alloy rings, and a beautifully engraved bone belt buckle.
There was also an iron knife with a ring handle.
“This site is a scientific sensation,” said Dr. Marina Kilunovskaya of St. Petersburg’s Institute of Material History Culture, who leads the Tuva archaeological expedition.
Wooden box-bag (with many pieces of leather inside) found in burial 21. Images: Institute for the History of Material Culture
Piece of leather with engraved pattern. (Institute for the History of Material Culture)
Broken wooden comb, found in burial 21. (Institute for the History of Material Culture)
“We are incredibly lucky to have found these tombs of wealthy Hun nomads who were not disturbed by robbers.
“We discovered 110 burials at the Ala-Tey burial site, which is typically 15 meters underwater.
“Another site that was created on what is now the coast of the Sayan Sea is rapidly being destroyed by crumbling ground.
“It’s called Terezin, and we found 32 graves there.
Purple beads found in burial 21. Images: Sankt-Peterburg TV
Treasures of a priestess or tools of the trade?
Russian archaeologists believed that the woman “Sleeping Beauty” must have been a priestess due to the wealth of her burial.
Further study of the finds led them to believe that she was, in fact, a former leather designer, buried with her implements of work: various pieces of leather and strings of sinew pinned inside a small bag.
Not far from this prehistoric “leather workshop,” scientists have found the mummy of a Hunnic weaver, complete with a wooden spindle wrapped in a leather bag.
Glowing glass beads, two stone pendants and two bone belt buckles, one with linear designs and one with circular designs, and a birch bark double lid with holes on the edges have been preserved for thousands of years from his burial. .
Engraved stone pendant. (Institute for the History of Material Culture)
Leather bag with wooden comb found in burial 27. Images: Institute for the History of Material Culture
Bone belt buckle, found in burial 27. Images: Sankt-Peterburg TV
“The two mummies found with fragments of leather, threads and a spindle may have played a special role in Hunnic society,” said Dr. Kilunovskaya.
“The Huns appreciated women.
“It was not a matriarchy, but women, mothers and skilled artisans, were treated with great respect”.
status symbols
The scientists also explain the great attention paid to the belts found inside the burials.
“For the nomads, a belt was an extremely important part of their clothing, as it indicated wealth and social rank.
“They did not wear pockets, so all the key items of daily life had to be hung from belts, which, in [the] case of Hunnic women, was richly decorated.
Bronze mirrors (before and after restoration) from tombs 21 and 27. Images: Institute for the History of Material Culture
Other finds included masterpieces of the infamous animal style with women’s belt buckles depicting scenes of tigers fighting dragons, and beautifully crafted bronze bulls, horses, camels and snakes.
imported goods
Other underwater necropolis treasures came from China.
These were silks, mirrors and coins made during the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), which is described as a golden age in Chinese history and culture. 
Charcoal and bronze belt buckles found in the Terezin (above) and Ala-Tei cemeteries. Images: Institute for the History of Material Culture
This summer, the work on this Siberian Atlantis will be completed by the end of June.
The Tuvan archaeological rescue expedition to the flooded areas is made possible by a grant from the Russian Geographical Society and assistance from the Society for EurAsian Exploration (Switzerland).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzvV1voFork
Top image: Skeleton discovered in the underwater necropolis at the site called Siberian Atlantis. Source: Institute for the History of Material Culture
The article ‘ Race against time and waves as Russian archaeologists save Siberia’s extraordinary Atlantis ‘ originally appeared in The Siberian Age and has been republished with permission.
