Archaeology Magazine — March-April 2018

NOMADIC CHIC

FROM THE TRENCHES

22 ARCHAEOLOGY • January/February 2018

O

n the bank of a river in Siberia’s Tuva region,

archaeologists have unearthed an Iron Age

cemetery that held the remains of nobles of the

Xiongnu Empire, a confederation of nomads that domi-

nated much of Central Asia in the second century b.c.

Tuva would have been on the northernmost fringe of the

empire, but living on the frontier evidently didn’t keep

Xiongnu noblewomen from being fashionable. A team

led by St. Petersburg archaeologist Marina Kulinovskaya

discovered that many of the women in the cemetery were

buried with extravagant jewelry and other accessories.

Some graves contained buckles made from bronze or

stone that depicted fantastical creatures, as well as bulls,

camels, horses, and sheep. Others were studded with

turquoise, jade, and other semiprecious stones. Perhaps

the most fashion-forward woman was buried with flame-

shaped copper pendants. “The meaning of these isn’t

clear,” says Kulinovskaya. “We haven’t found anything

else like them.”

—eric a. PoweLL

Stone buckle

Burial ground, Tuva, Russia

Bronze buckle

Female burial