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Ancient DNA Study Including Kazakhstan’s “Golden Man” Reveals Family Networks Behind Scythian Elite Power
Gold, horses, weapons, and monumental kurgans have long shaped the image of Scythian elite power. But a new study published in Science Advances suggests that power among some Scythian and Saka groups may also have depended on something less visible in the archaeological record: family ties. Based on ancient DNA from Iron Age burials across…
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Southern Urals Archaeologists Uncover a 4th-Century BC Ritual Complex with Bronze Mask Plaques
Archaeologists investigating the wide steppe plains of the Southern Urals have uncovered an unexpected ritual deposit dating to the 4th century BC—a discovery that sheds new light on the ceremonial life of early nomadic elites. The find comes from the inter-kurgan zone of the large necropolis known as “High Mound – Studenikin Mar,” a sprawling…