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BERLIN (AFP) - An international group of archaeologists has
unearthed a well-preserved, 2,500-year-old mummy frozen in the snowcapped
mountains of Mongolia complete with blond hair, tattoos and a felt hat.
The president of the German Archaeological Institute, Hermann Parzinger,
hailed the "fabulous find" at a press conference to present the 28-member
team's discovery in Berlin.
The Scythian warrior was found in June at a height of 2,600 meters (8,500
feet) in the Altay Mountains in an intact burial mound or kurgan.
Parzinger said the tomb was practically untouched when the team discovered
it.
"We just had to sweep away some dust and could begin," he said.
Researchers said the most striking feature about the man was his light blond
hair, which Parzinger acknowledged may have yellowed after his death.
The man, who was apparently well-off, was cloaked in a beaver-skin coat with
sable trim and sheep's wool lining that was in remarkably good condition,
and still intact skin on his upper body revealed tattoos.
Two horses with elaborately decorated saddles and bridles, weapons and
wooden, clay and animal horn vessels were placed in the tomb alongside the
corpse to accompany the warrior into the next life.
The recovered items are currently in storage in Ulan Bator. Parzinger said
even the contents of the horses' stomachs would be examined to offer
insights into the region's vegetation two centuries before Christ.
Parzinger said that until now remains of the Scythians, who were Iranian
nomadic peoples, had only been found on the Russian side of the Altays. He
said the new find showed that their territory was much broader than first
thought.
He said the ice had helped preserve the mummy and his belongings and noted
that global warming also posed a threat to such archaeological finds. He
said that if the trend continues, in 20 to 30 years there would be no more
ice kurgans.
Courtesy of Srirangan of History-Forum.com