3000-year-old charioteer's grave with belt still hooked to waist discovered

However, recent discoveries of Bronze Age charioteer burials in China and Mongolia, along with the remains of chariots and horses, indicated that "this object is an accessory for a chariot." Or, in other words, a " charioteers belt," as described in the literature. 

"This fact, along with direct analogies in burial mounds of China, allows us to determine [its] purpose a little more confidently," said Aleksey Timoshchenko, an archaeologist at the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Timoshchenko led the latest expedition to Siberia's Askizsky region in Khakassia, where Russian archaeologists have spent years excavating ahead of a railway expansion. 

It was only recently the team discovered the charioteer's burial site near the village of Kamyshta, which they believe is linked to the time of the Lugav culture — this dates back to approximately 3,000 years.

The Lugav culture's Bronze Age people were primarily cattle breeders, later replaced by the Scythian people of the Tagar culture during the Early Iron Age.

The grave also included an earthen mound over a square stone tomb, a bronze knife, and "bronze jewelry made of bronze plates with characteristic hemispherical plaque," according to a press statement.

Excavations in the region unveiled burials from three distinct Bronze Age phases, providing insights into the area's cultural and historical evolution. 

These phases include the transition from Karasuk to Lugav culture around the 11th century B.C., the Lugav culture with the charioteer's burial, and the early Bainov stage of the Tagar culture after the eighth century B.C.

This discovery opens new possibilities for understanding ancient civilizations' mobility and trade networks. 

As archaeologists continue to explore the region, more insights into the past may emerge, revealing untold stories of humans long gone before us and their unique ways of life.