PAZYRYK

Scythian burial site in a dry valley opening on the Bolshoy Ulagan River valley in Kazakstan. The site, which consists of five large and nine smaller burial mounds and dates from about the 5th to the 3rd century BC, was excavated in 1929 and 194749. It is perhaps the richest source of information about the customs and artifacts of the Scythians before their westward migrations into western Asia and Europe. Among items found were an embalmed man covered with tattoos, some of the oldest textiles extant, and pieces of what appear to be a harp and drum. Additional reading The site and its significance are described in Sergei I. Rudenko, Frozen Tombs of Siberia: The Pazyryk Burials of Iron Age Horsemen (1970).