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Archaeology is one of the fields with the greatest number of discoveries that are known and disseminated. Thanks to the professionals who dedicate themselves to it, the world discovers ancient civilizations, treasures that have remained intact for centuries and skeletons that are capable of shedding light on the history of human beings and their evolution.
In Chechnya, specifically west of Grozny, there is an incredible necropolis known as Alkhan-Kala. There, the inhabitants of the Alani people sent their dead for perpetual rest and did so, as was customary, surrounded by all kinds of treasures and ostentatious manifestations.
Over the centuries, many necropolises were looted and their treasures lost. In Alkhan-Kala this was no exception, as many of the resting places, especially the wealthier ones, were looted. Interestingly, as Popular Mechanics reports, a team from the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Chechnya led by Azamat Akhmarov has come across something surprising.
Who is the body buried in Alkhan-Kala?
Recently, these archaeologists managed to find green tourmalines after excavating a kurgan that, to their surprise, was intact. They found harnesses, several weapons, vessels and garnets; all of which are around 2,500 years old. It is believed that the person buried at this site belonged to a place of some importance in that society.
Some speculations suggest that he may well have been a military leader or, at least, a person of high social rank, judging by his clothing and all the treasures that accompanied him. What is known is that he was an Alan, that is, he belonged to a people originally nomadic and later sedentary, who was born in what is now Iran.
"This intact burial offers a unique insight into a period we know very little about (...) It allows us to better understand the social structure, funerary practices and cultural connections of the Alans," Akhmarov told The Archaeologist.