Archaeologists Just Discovered the Bones, Weapons, and Headdresses of Four Real-Life Amazon Warriors in Russia

An archaeological dig in the Eastern region of Voronezh, Russia,
has unearthed an incredible discovery: a group of ancient burial
pits with four women entombed with spears, headdresses, and
other objects pointing to the existence of real-life Amazon
warriors.

The story was first reported by the Art Newspaper.

The women were likely nomadic Scythian warriors who populated
the steppes of southern Russia and formed a matriarchal society
that has inspired everything from from Xena: Warrior
Princess to Gal Godot’s Wonder Woman.

Valerii Guliaev, who led the expedition, shared the group’s findings in December at the
Institute of Archaeology at the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Although fragments of similar ceremonial headdresses have
been found before, the one found in Voronezh is in superb condition
and is the first to be located in this precise location near the
Don River. It was discovered on the head of one of the women.

The bodies were found in a group of burial mounds that
scientists noted had been, at some point, ravaged by robbers. In
the first mound, the skeletal remains of two women—one was aged
between 20 and 25, while the other was between 12 and 13—were
surrounded by more than 30 iron arrowheads, pieces of a horse
harness, iron hooks, knives, and animal bones likely belonging to a
horse.

In addition, molded clay vessels and an incense burner dating to
the second half of the 4th century BC were found scattered around
various levels of the pit.

In another plot, two untouched skeletons were discovered inside
wooden graves cushioned by grass, where scientists found a roughly
50-year-old woman wearing a heavily engraved gold-stamped
headpiece (known as a kalaf) adorned with floral
ornaments and pendants.

A final woman, aged between 30 and 35, was found in “the
pose of a rider,” as if she were mounted on a horse, according to
the archaeologists.

The woman also had a large bronze mirror, two spears, and wore a
glass bead bracelet—one perhaps not dissimilar from
the indestructible “Bracelets of Submission” worn by Wonder
Woman as cautionary reminders that women should never submit to the
charms of men.

See more images from the discovery below.

The post Archaeologists Just Discovered the Bones, Weapons,
and Headdresses of Four Real-Life Amazon Warriors in Russia
appeared first on artnet News.