Scientists have discovered the 1,500 year old corpses of a woman’s hands and feet about 10,000 feet high up in the Altai Mountains in Mongolia. The tomb is believed to be the first complete Turkik burial ever discovered in Mongolia, perhaps in Central Asia too.
Archaeologists Discover 1,500 Year Old Mongolian Mummy “Wearing Adidas Boots”
Researchers at Khovd Museum who discovered the mummy’s grave also excavated some articles such as a saddle, clay vase, a trough, a bridle, an iron kettle, wooden bowl, ancient Mongolian clothes and the remains of a whole horse.
However, one object created debate on social media, the ancient mummy was found buried wearing a pair of boots which were quite similar to the Adidas logo. The boots recovered were found in well preserved condition including other items. It is believed that the women was of Turkik origin.
Researcher from Khovd Museum, B.Sukhbaatar told Siberian Times, “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”.
Huh? Time-travelling Mummy? Corpse interfered with? https://t.co/PmLXi4yF2f via @newscomauHQ
— Kate Murdoch (@KateMurdoch3) April 13, 2016
“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.”
Moreover, other articles were also found with the corpses [believed that the dead person will use them in after life]. These include, pillows, goat bones, a sheep’s head and travel pack that contained a sheep’s entire back side and small leather bag [for cups].
Sukhbaatar further said “This is a very rare phenomenon. These finds show us the beliefs and rituals of Turkics. This person was not from elite, and we believe it was likely a woman, because there is no bow in the tomb… 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.”
Sukhbaatar claimed that the horse which that was discovered in the grave was “deliberately sacrificed”, he said that the mare was around 4 to 8 years old.
“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,” Sukhbaatar said. “Now we are carefully unwrapping the body and once this is complete the specialists will be able to say more precisely about the gender.”
