Sungir, Paleolithic archaeological site in Vladimir, Russia.
Sungir is an archaeological site near Vladimir that holds remains from the Old Stone Age. The artifacts lie in clay layers roughly 4 meters below the surface and include tools, weapons, jewelry, and human skeletons from this distant period.
The site was discovered in 1955 during clay quarrying and yielded about 70,000 archaeological objects through excavations until 1977. These digs rank among the largest Stone Age excavations in Russia and demonstrate human settlement of the central Russian plain thousands of years ago.
The burials reveal how these early people honored their dead and what they valued most. The grave goods made from mammoth ivory and carefully crafted weapons suggest a rich inner life and skilled craftsmanship.
Most of the finds are now displayed at the Vladimir-Suzdal Museum Reserve in a dedicated exhibition. The actual excavation site lies outside the city and is difficult to access, but the museum makes the discoveries available to visitors.
Scientists studied the bones and discovered through chemical analysis that these people hunted mainly reindeer. This insight helps us understand how early residents of the Russian plain obtained their food and what animals lived there at the time.
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