Tuesday, Mar 19 2024
All Cities
Choose Your City
'A quarter of the world's timber grows within Siberia’s boundaries'
0

‘Amazon woman warrior’ from 14th century found by Siberian archeologists in Mongolia

By 0 and 0 and 0
30 August 2019

0

Gold plaque, decorated with filigree and granulation and gems. . Picture here and below: Artur Kharinsky

The Mongol 'woman fighter’ was around 30 to 40 years old and was tall for her time - some 180 centimetres in height, say archeologists from Irkutsk National Research Technical University who took part in excavations at two sites in the Khövsgöl (Khubsugul) area in northern Mongolia, close to the Russian border. 

The suspected female fighter capable of battling men was buried entirely with ‘male items’ in a wooden coffin made of a whole log at Urd Khyar 1 site.   

Professor Artur Kharinsky, leader of the expedition, told The Siberian Times: 'The buried person we discovered is a kind of 'Mongolian Amazon', a strong enough lady who can overcome some men. 

Wooden coffin where Amazon woman was buried


Mongolian Amazon

The suspected female fighter capable of battling men was buried entirely with ‘male items’ in a wooden coffin made of a whole log at Urd Khyar 1 site.   

‘It can be assumed that she was a warrior, since she was buried with a long iron knife, hatchet, saddle with stirrups and a bronze bowl, an extremely rare attribute for female burials. 

‘She has large limb bones, which indicates her physical strength.’

Despite her physical prowess, she was - by her death - 'seriously ill', said the professor. 

'She had lost most of her teeth during her lifetime,’ he explained. The holes in the roots of the teeth were overgrown, and growths appeared on the bones of the jaws. 

‘This was definitely not was not some (battle) injury. 

‘We do not see any traces of combat injuries on her bones, but we presume that she would have taken part in fights along with men.’

Iron hatchet


Iron knife

Iron harchet and long iron knife found in the Amazon's grave.

The shape of her pelvic bones and jaw is the tell tale sign for her sex but DNA analysis is due to take place to check there is no error in the conclusion.

A slightly earlier find in the neighbouring Urd Khyar 2 burial shows a ‘wealthy’ female from the late 13th century buried with ‘expensive gifts from Europe’.

On her chest were found two gold plaques, decorated with filigree and granulation and gems. 

Also there was found a fragment of an amber disk with carved floral ornaments. 

Burial of wealthy Mongolian woman


Proessor Artur Kharinsky and the team excavating the grave


Bronze mirror


Fragment of amber disk

A slightly earlier find in the neighbouring Urd Khyar 2 burial shows a ‘wealthy’ female from the late 13th century buried with ‘expensive gifts from Europe’.

Professor Kharinsky believes that these precious trophies were brought to this woman by her fiancee or husband, who took part in the conquests in Europe. 

He said: ‘These things are clearly of European origin and could be obtained by a Mongol warrior during a campaign in the West, and then presented to his beloved one. 

‘These items are not the result of trading, they did not preserve their integrity. 

‘They were clearly the result of a share of booty between the warriors.’

Of significance was not the object as a whole, but the precious material it was made of. 

'The woman was quite wealthy. In the area of her belt there was a bronze mirror, on the reverse side of which were images of dragons. 

Mongolian women wearing boghta

Chinese drawings show wealthy Mongolian women wearing boghta.

‘Near the bones of the right leg were found the remains of a birch bark base of the headdress called boghta. 

‘This headdress is a characteristic part of the costume of Mongolian women of the imperial period. 

'Most likely, women did not participate in the campaign to the West. 

‘It was attended by men - their relatives, who brought trophies home.' 

Excavations site


Excavations site

Excavations took place at two sites in the Khövsgöl (Khubsugul) area in northern Mongolia, close to the Russian border.

The Mongols surged through such lands as modern-day European Russia, Poland, Hungary, Croatia, the Czech Republic, and southern Germany.

All the finds will remain in Mongolia. 

Analysis will be conducted in the laboratories of Ulaanbaatar State University. The antiquities will be passed to local museums.  

The international team was headed by Professor Artur Kharinsky. Other experts taking part were Professor Dmitry Kichigin, laboratory assistant Matvey Portnyagin, along with students of Irkutsk State University. 

The curator of the Mongolian group, teacher Orgilbayar Samdantsoodol and undergraduates of Ulaanbaatar State University also participated in the excavations.

Comments (5)

Can DNA be used from skeletons of this age? Surely there must be some Mongolians related to these women? If I
were one I'd like to know about it.
Colleen Freidberg, USA
18/01/2020 05:05
1
0
It is interesting to get to read other things than what our media spoon feeds us. To quote out great writer "It don't count 'less it sells."
Packy McCann, Philadelphia, PA USA
08/09/2019 10:17
6
0
I hope this women's bodies will stay were it belongs. Because there are lots of rumors that Russians took all our historical findings and didn't even give those back. But it's written that all the finds will remain. Keep your promise. Please
No one, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
02/09/2019 13:38
10
2
"The Mongols surged through such lands as modern-day European Russia, Poland, Hungary, Croatia, the Czech Republic, and southern Germany"

Umm, how did you miss Ukraine? Kyiv was the number one target for invading Mongols.
Jesus Marquez, NYC
02/09/2019 03:15
6
1
Will this woman's body (remains), or other artifacts found with her be on display at the local museums? If so, when, & which museums. I am very interested in this find and the artifacts found with this woman & would love to see them in my lifetime.
Nikki Jacobs, Seattle, Washington, USA
31/08/2019 09:39
7
2
1

Add your comment

We welcome a healthy debate, but do not accept offensive or abusive comments. Please also read 'Siberian Times' Privacy Policy

Name

Town/Country

Add your comments

The views expressed in the comments above are those of our readers. 'Siberian Times' reserves the right to pre-moderate some comments.

Control code*

Type the code

* obligatory


News

Business

The Bank of Russia official exchange rates of foreign currencies
EUR100.24USD91.98GBP117.19Other...