A rich burial was discovered near Ulan-Ude by a couple digging a hole for a compost pile. The remains are dated back 1000 years and include a rare Chinese bronze mirror. The deposit was found on the depth of 60 centimetres. After finding first bones the couple called in the police, who in turn called in the experts from the Institute of Mongolian, Buddhist and Tibetan Studies in Ulan-Ude.

Further investigation revealed a skeleton and also a bronze mirror some 9.9 centimetres in diameter and 0.5cm thick. The remains turned out to be of a 30-year-old woman. She was lying in a wooden coffin made of log, covered with birch bark. The bronze mirror is believed to date to the 10th to 13th centuries, which perhaps indicates the age of the burial.

The woman evidently had high status in her society. Experts say the mirror is from China. On one side it contains two dragons and an inscription which is hoped to be deciphered.  The exact date of the burial will be clarified after radiocarbon analysis of the birch bark of the coffin.

(after The Siberian Times)