History and culture: The Russian Geographical Society expedition will travel to Tuva to explore the mysteries of Scythians

In May 2012 the archaeological Expedition of the Russian Geographical Society (RGS) leaves to Tuva exploring the mysteries of the Scythians. Excavation will continue till September.

Scientists will focus on the excavation of graves of Scythian nobility in the "Valley of the Kings," said the head department of the security archaeology of the Institute of History of Material Culture Sciences, and the coordinator of archaeological and geographical expedition RGO "Kyzyl - Kuragino" Natalia Solovieva. "Tuva is home to some of the richest burial mounds throughout the distribution of the Scythian world" - she said.

Tuva is home to the Scythians. Due to the fact that the people in the region first learned horse riding and could "lightning speed" to move, he managed to take over a vast territory of Tuva to the Lower Danube. "There are many ancient monuments, tombs of the kings on the territory of Tuva that indicated that here there was a major political center," - said Soloviev.

Archaeological and geographical expedition "Kyzyl-Kuragino", which began in 2011, will run till 2014. Within the framework of the excavations there will be carried out dozens of archaeological sites, including 31in the Krasnoyarsk region and 21 in Tuva. About 180 human-beings worked in archaeological camps during last year. This year, the number of participants will increase up to 600 people from around the world.