Farmer Unearths Elite Nomad Burials and ‘Laughing Man’ Elongated Skull

In Southern Russia, an elite nomad burial site has been unearthed. While working on his lands, a farmer stumbled across burials that appear to have belonged to a nomadic culture. Archaeologists have found several skeletons and many grave goods that are expected to transform our knowledge of nomadic society 2000 years ago.

The find was made near the village of  Nikolyskoye, in the Astrakhan region of southern Russia, to the north of the Caspian Sea. A local farmer, Rustam Mudayev, was digging when his shovel struck something metallic. He found a copper pot that was clearly very old, and he took it to the local Astrakhan Museum. The experts recognized that the farmer had possibly made an important archaeological discovery, and when the weather improved, they launched a mission to Mudayev’s farm. They suspected that the farmer had uncovered a burial mound known as a Kurgan.

“They often contain the burials of elite members of ancient groups,” reports Fox News.

The Bronze cauldron found by Rustam Mudayev in southern Russia. (Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Astrakhan Region)