Scientists from NSU have determined that the burial mound on the Salair Ridge, studied by archaeologists, is older than previously thought

During the excavation of the past field season, researchers from the Institute of Archeology and Ethnography (IAET) of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, studying the burial complex of the Bronze and Late Bronze Ages at Lake Krugloye in the north of the Salar Ridge in the Novosibirsk region, discovered an atypical burial of the Bronze Age. This find surprised archaeologists — such a burial was not characteristic for these places and clearly did not belong to the Kirghiz archaeological culture, in whose area the burial mound complex was located.Soon followed no less interesting and unusual finds — a burial mound-sacrificial complex consisting of two pits, under which older pits were discovered. The upper ones were filled with a dense layer of animal bones, while the lower ones contained burnt bones. Radiocarbon dating conducted at the TsKFP ‘Accelerated mass spectrometry NGU-NNC’ showed that these sacrificial pits could have been used during different periods of the Bronze Age, and the unusual burial for these places was older than previously assumed.

About the opening of the monument Pyatiletka-1, named after the nearest village, on Lake Krugloye, candidate of historical sciencesDmitry Selintold in his lecture “Antiquities of the Salair Ridge North: new discoveries and prospects”, which took place at NGU as part of the All-Russian RNLecture Series.

The Kurgan cemetery Pyatiletka-1 was opened in 2019 near a village with the same name. During the plowing of the field, one of the kurgans was disturbed and human bones and various artifacts were uncovered. This accidental discovery became known to scientists thanks to the attentive local resident Gennady, and later the archaeological site was named and fenced off so that scientists could subsequently conduct stationary academic excavations here.

—In the 2025 field season, a small mound No. 6 was chosen for excavation by our expedition team of IAET SO RAN. The height of this mound was only 40 centimeters. Its embankment was intact, untouched by plowing, but it was still subjected to active anthropogenic load — fire trenches were dug through it, which threatened the preservation of the site. Such a small mound we managed to study even with a shortage of time. Later it turned out that we made the right choice., — Dmitry Selin said.

Armenian culture— Archaeological culture of the Final Bronze Age (13th–8th centuries BC), widespread in the forest-steppe of Western Siberia (Ob-Irtysh region, Kuznetsk-Salaire region). Based on the Andronovo culture. Characterized by settled cattle breeding, developed bronze metallurgy, and typical round-bottomed pottery with geometric ornamentation.

Archaeologists assumed that this kurgan, as well as the entire kurgan complex, belongs to the Irmen culture, typical for this territory and already well studied. It was specifically assigned to it by fragments of ceramics found in another kurgan, previously destroyed by economic activity. The scientists expected nothing unusual, but the kurgan No. 6 they chose concealed unusual artifacts. Remains of an ancient burial construction were discovered, which is not characteristic for cultures of the Bronze Age and Late Bronze Age.

— After removing the burial mound structure, we discovered an unusual burial that was distinguished by its funerary ritual and accompanying inventory. Thanks to precise recording and modern research methods, including photogrammetry, we managed to fully document all the nuances of the funerary practice found in this kurgan,” said Dmitry Selin.

To establish the age of the object, the wooden elements of the tombstone structure were sent to the CCF for radiocarbon analysis using the “Accelerator Mass Spectrometry NGU-NNC”.

— Anatomical analysis of the wood showed that the wood used to cover the burial structure was obtained from birch. This was very important because this particular tree species, due to its short lifespan, helps to avoid the so-called “old wood effect” when conducting radiocarbon dating. A radiocarbon analysis was also performed on a tooth of the buried person and soot from one of the vessels, — Dmitry Selin told.

The results of radiocarbon dating of the atypical burial surprised scientists. It turned out that it was constructed at the end of the 15th century BC, which turned out to be older than even the earliest dates of the Irmen culture.

Another unusual find of the expedition is the burial mound-sacrificial complex Pyatiletka-2 on the shore of Lake Krugloe. Its uniqueness lies in the fact that it is not associated with burial sites but is located on a separate area on the lakeshore. Archaeologists studied two round objects about a meter in diameter each, located 2.5 meters apart. In them, densely packed animal bones were found. Beneath them were even older sacrificial pits with burnt animal bones.Radiocarbon analysis of this sample allowed to establish the dating of this object as the 17th century BC, which indicates its affiliation with the Andronovo archaeological culture.

Dmitry Selin noted that last field season on the shore of Lake Krugloe several more interesting finds were made. Among them are stone stelae and a cut bronze spearhead. The researcher expressed confidence that the north of the Salair Ridge still has many unique finds and invited students of NGU to participate in the archaeological excavation of the upcoming field season.

—In the field of accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS), Novosibirsk State University has been interacting with the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (SB RAS) for quite some time — since 2014. At that time, at the Budker Institute of Nuclear Physics, the first Russian accelerator mass spectrometer was launched, and we made a graphite maker for it. Actually, at the initiative of the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, notably academician A.P. Derevyanko, AMS was being developed. Several integration projects were then carried out at the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Within the framework of one of them, employees of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography and the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences worked together.After acquiring the Swiss UMS complex (MICADAS-28) in 2020, an agreement was concluded on the creation of a single UMS NGU-NNC Central Radiocarbon Laboratory (CRL), which included 4 organizations: the Institute of Nuclear Physics of the SB RAS named after G.I. Budker, the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the SB RAS, the G.K. Boreskov Institute of Catalysis of the SB RAS, and Novosibirsk State University. It was precisely within such an association that the international cross-test was successfully passed, reaching maximum productivity and beginning the expansion of research topics. Since then, the IAET SB RAS has been conducting ongoing joint work at the CRL.Every year we study several dozen samples, and sometimes up to 150 samples with the widest geography — this includes the Altai Mountains, Yakutia, Europe, the Himalayas and the deserts of the Aral Sea, and most importantly — the territory of the Novosibirsk region. We involved a specialist for the statistical processing of the results of a large number of sample batches. Modeling with mathematically substantiated conclusions is also carried out., — said the director of the CPC ‘Accelerator mass spectrometry NGU-NNC’Ekaterina Parlomchuk.Â