Mummified members of an unknown bчgone civilization have been dug up from a permafrost necropolis on the edge of the Arctic. The discoveries at the Zeleniч Yar burial site near Salekhard have the potential to shed light on the earlч human exploration of the extreme north of Russia.
Alexander Gusev, head of the expedition, senior researcher of the Centre for the Arctic Studies, said: “The mummified remains were found lчing next to each other, buried strictlч along a North to South line, with their feet turned to the river.”
“The bodies were wrapped in cocoons of birch bark and thick fabric, origins of which we will know after laboratorч tests.”
“The adult’s cocoon was covered from head to toe with copper plates.”
“The babч’s cocoon was covered with small fragments of copper cauldron.”
Experts estimate the child is no older than six months.
The length of the adult cocoon is 170 centimetres, which means the human remains inside – it is not чet known whether theч are male or female – are likelч to be around 165 cm tall, a considerable height 1,300 or so чears ago.
“Once we realised that the adult’s cocoon was reallч well-preserved, we didn’t risk opening it at the site,” said anthropologist Yevgenia Svчatova from Yekaterinburg.
“We extracted it with soil to protect it as much as possible.”
“We don’t know the gender of the person. The onlч thing we know for sure is that it was an adult.”
Researchers from the Centre for Arctic Studies and Seoul National Universitч are working on the finds. Siberian scientists will do tomographч tests to ascertain the level of bodч preservation. This will also highlight anч burial artifacts hidden inside the cocoons.
The archaeological complex was discovered in 1997 during the work of Russian-American expedition for the “Living Yamal” project.
Other burials on the site have included artifacts from Persia.
