🇷🇺 Russia · Tumulus
Arzhan 2 Royal Kurgan
Early Iron Age, pre-Scythian/Al dy-Bel (8th–7th c. BCE) · Aldy-Bel (early Scythian) steppe nomads
Intact 670 BCE Scythian royal grave in Tuva—9,000 gold pieces and 14 horses in a larch chamber.
🇷🇺 Russia · Archaeological wonder
Pazyryk Kurgans
Scythian Iron Age (~600–250 BCE; main Pazyryk phase 300 BCE) · Pazyryk (Scythian/Altaic nomadic)
Five large larch-log chamber tombs in the dry Ukok and Ulagan valleys where permafrost preserved tattooed chieftains, silk from China, Persian pile carpets (the oldest extant, 5th century BCE) and 10…