Emily Chan
During excavations in the Tuva Republic of Russia in 1998, a team of researchers came across the partially mummified remains of an ancient warrior.
The well-preserved corpse was thought to be a teenage boy. But now, new technology has helped reveal that the young fighter was actually female, and she may be one of the renowned Amazon women warriors detailed in Greek literature.
The research team was led by Marina Kilunovskaya and Vladimir Semyonov. They estimated that the remains dated back roughly 2,600 years to the 6th century B.C.E.
Several objects were buried in the tomb with the body. These grave goods were usually reserved for honored warriors.
Among the burial items were an axe, a three-foot birch bow, and 10 arrows that were each approximately 27 inches long. One of the arrows was made with a bone tip, two were wooden, and the others were crafted from bronze.
The warrior was also buried wearing a shirt and bottoms that were light brown in color. A double-breasted fur coat made from the skin of a rodent covered the outfit. The coat reached below the knees. On top of the warrior’s skull, there was a leather cap.
No beads or mirrors were found in the grave, which were items that were typical of a female burial. That’s why the research team had originally believed the young warrior was male.
But when they re-examined the corpse through genetic testing, they found out that it had been misidentified as male.
The tests were conducted at Moscow’s Institute of Physics and Technology in the Laboratory of Historical Genetics, Radiocarbon Analysis, and Applied Physics. The age of the warrior was between 12 and 13-years-old.
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