The Scytho‐Siberian graves of the Altay Mountains (1995-1998)

In 1995 a multidisciplinary research project started in the Altay Mountains, funded by the Fund for Scientific Research (FWO). Partners included the department of prehistory of the RMAH (Brussels), the department of Archaeology and the department of Soil Research of Ghent University, and the department of Geography of the Free University of Brussels. From 1996 onwards, the Gorno-Altaisk State University joined the research team, which turned out to be a fruitful cooperation that is still going strong.

Several excavations and survey campaigns were carried out. In the summer of 1995, three Early Iron Age burial mounds were excavated in the source area of the Kizil river, on a small plateau at 2180 m altitude. One of these structures was excavated by the Belgian team.

The two following years allowed us to collect information about the archaeological heritage in valleys bordering the Chuya depression. 17 valleys were surveyed, and 49 sites were documented. Also in 1996, two Early Iron Age burial mounds were excavated in Sebystei, and a preliminary inventory of the monuments in Sebystei and Kalanegir was completed in 1997. In 1998, our department was involved in the excavation of a frozen tomb in Berel (Kazakhstan), preserved in the permafrost.