Moscow. July 15. INTERFAX.RU – The International Integrated Archaeological and Geographical Expedition of the Russian Geographical Society (RGO), studying the Tunnug mound in the floodplain of the Uyuk River, Piy-Khem region of Tuva, discovered two burial monuments made of stone in the form of elongated steles with a human image traced on them, reports republican government with reference to the Russian Geographical Society.
The report of the Russian Geographical Society says that the finds are directly related to the ritual complex and are a logical continuation of the previously discovered traces of human and animal sacrifices. The steles of an unprecedented texture date back to the end of the 9th century BC.
The tumbled down monuments were discovered near the center of the mound. “Apparently, once there were a lot of them here: similar stones are analogs of modern tombstones and were traditionally installed in honor of the victims. One stele has survived entirely, the other consists of two fragments. Both monuments are crowned with a symbolic image of a person, one of them can be traced conditional facial features, “the message says.
“In general, the installation of similar steles was characteristic of that time, but with such iconography – so far not met. This is a very interesting fact, still requiring some explanation,” – the press service quotes the words of the scientific leader of the expedition Timur Sadykov.
According to him, the deer stones are monuments of approximately the same time, so scientists expect to find several such massifs on the mound. But so far, the expedition has managed to find two unknown steles with a slightly different set of elements. They have not yet met analogues. According to scientists, the uniqueness of these findings suggests that such traditions came to Tuva from outside – perhaps from neighboring Mongolia or China.
