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Discovered: the Great Wall of Siberia dating to '1st millennium BC'

By 0 and 0 and 0
15 August 2017

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Discovered: the Great Wall of Siberia. Picture: Andrey Borodovsky

The wall complex - now almost hidden to the naked eye - is believed to date from a long era that also saw such constructions as the Great Wall of China and Hadrian's Wall. 

Concealed under thick layers of turf are huge stones put in place by ancient man, says the scientist.

Six rows of a parallel wall system limited access to the Altai Mountain complex from the north via the valley of the Katun River. 

It is not known who built the giant ramparts.

Their width is a substantial ten metres with an impressive height of up to eight metres. 

'To the east of these walls is a fairly wide passage, which is limited at the mountainside by another series of walls, oriented west-east across the Katun valley,' he said.

There are nine walls adjacent to the mountain slope. 

Discovered: the Great Wall of Siberia


Discovered: the Great Wall of Siberia


Discovered: the Great Wall of Siberia
Location of the Altai walls, and data from geophysical analysis. Pictures: Andrey Borodovsky


Professor Andrey Borodovsky said: 'These walls were clearly made to cut off crowds of people, and make them go through a narrow passage in the direction chosen by the creators of the (construction).'

In this way access from the steppes to the mountains - the home of ancient civilisations, for example of the Pazyryk people - could be controlled. 

Some of the walls were destroyed by the construction of the Chuya highway in tsarist times, modernised by Stalin using prisoner labour.  

The western section of the ramparts were substantially lost when the modern-day village Souzga was widened.

'It is not easy to photograph the walls so that they are visible,' Andrey Borodovsky said. Nor do satellite images help much. 

Discovered: the Great Wall of Siberia


Discovered: the Great Wall of Siberia


Discovered: the Great Wall of Siberia
Siberian scientists study the Altai walls, concealed under thick layers of turf. Pictures: Andrey Borodovsky


Yet Prof Borodovsky insists geophysical analysis using scans shows the structures here were manmade not natural. 

He has announced plans to conduct detailed research here next year which - while not long in total length, with more than 1 kilometre identified - are high in historical significance. 

So far archeological evidence of man from the areas around the walls points to a medieval presence yet the researcher from the 

Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography in Novosibirsk is convinced proof will be found of their construction much earlier.

'Geophysics has clearly confirmed that the Souzga walls were artificially created,' he told The Siberian Times. 

'It is not very easy to determine the age of such constructions, when exactly were they created, but I believe it was around the first millennium BC - the beginning of new era. 

'That is Iron Age or even Bronze Age, but more likely - Iron Age.

'I'm basing this on the fact that it was the time when such constructions are created all over the world, for example the famous Hadrian's Wall also fits into this trend. The problem is that the only archeological finds around these walls, as of now, are dated as medieval.

'But I still believe that in Middle Ages there was not a big enough community here which could afford to build such a formidable construction. 

'Besides, there also was no need for such a construction because in Middle Ages there were a lot of small, scattered communities here.'

Discovered: the Great Wall of Siberia


Discovered: the Great Wall of Siberia

Discovered: the Great Wall of Siberia


Discovered: the Great Wall of Siberia


Discovered: the Great Wall of Siberia
Views around Souzga village; the Great Wall of China and Hadrian Wall. Pictures: The Siberian Times


Andrey Borodovsky said: 'All the impressive defensive lines in Eurasia were built in the period from the beginning of the first millennium BC up to the opening half of the first millennium AD. 

'This is the era of late Bronze Age and early Iron Age, including the Hunnish time on the eve of the Great Migration of Nations. 

'Such a fortification process was due to a number of factors. 

'First, the appearance of significant human resources in this era, thanks to the potential of an integrated manufacturing economy. 

'Secondly, the aggravation of military conflicts and a significant increase in their scale. 

'Thirdly, the formation of large state and proto-state entities, which had economic, cultural and political boundaries and these boundaries ... to separate their world from aliens. 

'We remember the Great Wall of China, which was formed over several centuries and basically built by the third century BC, and Hadrian's Wall in Britain, at the decline of the late Roman Empire. 

'In the same series of mammoth defensive structures is the Serpent's Wall [an ancient system of earthen fortifications stretch across Ukraine, from the town of Zmiiv in the east to Podolia in the west], the beginning of the erection of which dates back to the late Bronze Age.'

Comments (11)

Thank you, prudence in reporting is almost a lost art. Report what you have learned from those who are best positioned to know what facts are available. Then people can make up their own minds and speculate if they want to.
Tom Slover, LaFollette, Tennessee, United State of America
21/12/2023 18:41
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Is it built by mix of iron and copper ? Quran 18:93-18:98 talking about walls built by Dhul Qarnayn to keep gog and magog away ...no one knows where he built it , but some scholars refer to Siberia
Ahmad Mahmoud, Jordan
13/11/2017 07:11
17
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i have but one lamp by which my feet are guided and that is the lamp of history.
I know no way of judging the future but by the past
..........Patrick Henry... 1775..
Perhaps these walls were built in the previous solar summer some 25 or 30,000 years ago??
Curiosity.. From whence comes all knowledge
norm matchett, cairns australia .
04/10/2017 11:19
5
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If it is permissible would they be able to use a bulldozer to carefully get rid of the trees,brush, and turf that has built up over the centuries? Scientists have always been trying to figure out how very large stones were moved and it would be interesting to see how large the stones.were in that wall. The first thought is that someone could walk around the walls, but the builders probably had some geographical obstacles near them.
Aarky, Ft Smith,USA
03/09/2017 05:43
3
1
look at the site in Google maps, use all views. The "Walls" point at a pass where there should be a gate, if true. Problem the pass is on a small hill the end of which enters into the modern town. I need a local to produce a big scale picture of how this obstacle would have worked
Dan, St. Kilda
29/08/2017 12:19
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I'm looking forward to further updates on the exploration of this developed wall. Perhaps, like Hadrians wall, We might find some small clues about the people who lived in the times of its active use ferreted away amongst those stones and earthen works.
I have read the Siberian Times for years. Another intriguing article. So much history unknown by the wider, western world. I am so sorry to you and your editors in regards to the disrespect being given by proxy of "Comments". Please don't let internet "Trolls" dim the lovely light you shine out to the rest of the world. You are appreciated. Word to the wise in the Comment board: Don't feed the trolls. They will proliferate with your attentions.
Anthropologists' Daughter, Past the Glacial Shelf, Circa 35,000 BCE, North America
27/08/2017 06:20
17
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Why is it fake? Makes sense. The Altai is the birthplace of THC rich cannabis. They were guarding their crops.
Michaela Clarke, London
26/08/2017 00:41
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Fake News. Shame
Don, DC
21/08/2017 12:32
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It is extraordinary that such a structure could exist, yet its history is still a mystery. One hopes Professor Borodovsky will succeed in shining light on it.
Phil Jones, Olympia, WA USA
21/08/2017 11:54
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There is something about the Altai that refuses to lie down and be described in any way. This is all to the good of the new heroic age. One must retain a lack of prejudice.
michaell, england
20/08/2017 07:06
12
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So it's an iron age wall because you think it is, not because of any evidence. Bad science but even worse reporting.
Mishka, Adelaide
18/08/2017 14:38
5
7
1

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