An 'Extraordinary' Discovery

German and Russian experts have discovered a 2,300-year-old Scythian tomb in southern Siberia filled with treasures of "extraordinary" value, the German Archaeological Institute said Monday.

The experts made the discovery earlier this month in the Tuva region, near the Mongolian border, as part of a five-year-old project at a burial site.

"Leaving aside the material value of the find, the artistic quality of the gold jewelry, clothing and weapons as well as their scientific value are extraordinary," the institute said in a statement.

Russian archaeologists already made significant finds in Tuva, but "not of this splendor," it said. In contrast to apparently Greek-made treasures found in graves in Ukraine, those found at Tuva are believed to be the product of the Scythians' own craftsmanship.

The Scythians, Nomads of Iranian stock, migrated from Central Asia to southern Russia in about 700 B.C. They founded a powerful empire centered on what is now the Crimea that survived until as late as the 2nd century A.D.

Currently under Russian police guard, the latest finds are to be taken to the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg for restoration.

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