Kyzyl-Uzuk Kurgan Field (Upper Yenisei, Tuva)
Kyzyl-Uzuk Valley Kurgans · Upper Ulug-Khem Iron Age Burials
Early Iron Age (Scythian / Uyuk-Sagly)·Uyuk / Sagly Scythian (Arzhan-derived)·🇷🇺 Tuva Republic, Kyzyl District, Upper Yenisei (Ulug-Khem) Valley, Russia
About
About Kyzyl-Uzuk Kurgan Field (Upper Yenisei, Tuva)
Mid-Uyuk-Seedling kurgan chain (850 m, 51°43′N 94°27′E) in Ulug-Khem (Upper Yenisei) floodplain north of Kyzyl, on terrace between Tuva's Uyuk Valley (Arzhan) and Sayan foothills. Eight visible mounds 12-35 m diameter, 0.8-2.4 m high, of Tung-Shayan (Tagar-affiliate) 7th-3rd c BCE, with stone cists and horse-head deposits, bridging Arzhan 1/2 royal architecture (60 km NW) to urban Kyzyl steppe. Locals Kyzyl-Uzuk (Red Gate) narrow valley 15 km west of Kyzyl. Published by Parzinger 2017 steppe atlas; one kurgan yielded Pazyryk-style tattooed arm fragment permafrost patch.
Why it mattersKyzyl-Uluk-Khem terrace bridging Arzhan Valley of Kings to Sayan periphery.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Tattoo tradition survival
Theories
- 01River-terrace status gradient
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.700-300 BCE (Scythian to Early Xiongnu)
- Period
- Early Iron Age (Scythian / Uyuk-Sagly)
- Culture
- Uyuk / Sagly Scythian (Arzhan-derived)
- Builders
- Upper Yenisei Scythian nomads
- Purpose
- Elite and family burial mounds on river terrace
- Abandoned
- c.200 BCE
- Rediscovered
- 2017 Parzinger survey
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
2017
Parzinger maps 8 Kyzyl-Uzuk mounds
2019
Tattooed arm rescue from thawing patch
On the ground
Structures & features
51.7200° N · 94.4500° E · 850 m · 2 mapped features
Kyzyl-Uzuk Kurgan 04 Royal Cist
burial35-m mound with tattooed arm permafrost patch
51.7220° N · 94.4520° EUlug-Khem Horse-Head Deposit
burial6-horse head alignment beside Kurgan 02
51.7180° N · 94.4480° E