Continuation of works at the Katanda-3 burial ground

The results of excavations in burial mound 242 at the Katanda-3 burial ground (Ust-Koksa District ofthe Altai Republic) in 2023 are discussed. The southeastern part ofthe stone structure above the ground was unearthed. The central burial, which was seriously damaged by ancient robbers and agricultural works in the 1980s, was fully explored. The excavation revealed that the stone and wooden structures inside the central burial did not survive. Horse burial in situ with its head facing south was discovered near the western wall ofthe central grave pit. In total, the burial contained the bones of three adult, but not old male horses of medium height. The remains of a man approximately 30 years of age were also found in the grave pit. Bronze elements of horse harness, arrowheads and gold clothing decorations, which were a part of grave goods, make it possible to determine the time when this burial complex was constructed (second half of the 6th first half of the 5th century BC). Paired gold foil plaques of mountain goats which could have decorated the clothing ofthe buried person are ofparticular interest. Parallels to these items have been found among random finds from the Minusinsk Basin and in the evidence from burial complexes of the Western Rong (Xirong) in Northwestern China (Majiayuan, Liuping). The funeral rite and set of preserved objects from burial mound 242 do not have close parallels among the synchronous archaeological sites in the Altai Mountains. The population which left this burial complex belonged to a culture unknown to us. Continued excavation of the complex will make it possible to clarify its dating and cultural attribution.