A team of Russian researchers performed genetic analysis on a mummy buried 2,600 years ago and found in 1988 at an archaeological site in the Republic of Tuva, Russia.
According to the researchers, the remains belong to a 13-year-old warrior from Scythia, as stated in the research published in the scientific journal Archeology and Cultural Anthropology.
The body was so well preserved that archaeologists were able to identify a mark on the left side of the girl's face, while there were stitches on the abdomen, indicating an attempt to mummify the body. "Recently we had the opportunity to conduct tests to determine the sex, age and genetic relationship of the buried warrior ... So we are happy to report that we achieved an impressive result," said Marina Kilunovskaya, who took part in the archaeological mission, according to with The Siberian Times.
In particular, the warrior was buried at the end of the 7th or the beginning of the 6th century BC. century, along with a range of weapons including an axe, a birch bow and a quiver with 10 arrows of around 70m – one bone-tipped, two wooden and the rest bronze.
“The burial of the girl with weapons shows a new element in the structure of the primitive nomadic community[…]. This opens up a new perspective in the study of the social history of the Scythians and spontaneously returns us to the myth of the Amazons, which survived for so many centuries thanks to Herodotus" explains the scientist. It is worth noting that according to Herodotus and other ancient Greeks such as Hippocrates, the Scythians were regarded as a set of nomadic tribes in frequent contact with the Greeks, originating from Central Asia and the northern shores of the Black Sea and believed to be the people from from whom the legendary Amazons came.
SOURCE:SPUTNIK