Reconnaissance studies at the Katanda-3 burial field

In 2022, reconnaissance studies were carried out at an object located on the Katanda-3 burial field (Ust-Koksa District, Altai Republic, Russia). Inconspicuous flat and round grassed stone area about 50 m in diameter and half a meter in height was discovered during mapping archaeological objects in the Katanda Valley in 2021. This distinctive monument was unknown before. The stone structure was noticeably damaged in the mid 1980s during the construction of a land-reclamation system by a canal branch passing through it. Large conical depression 0.8 m deep was at the center of the structure; its origin is problematic since it could both testify to ancient looting episode or well-turfed traces of a more recent robbery. The main task of this season was to determine the layout, degree of disintegration, and, if possible, time of construction of the monument, and to prepare it for full-scale excavation. For this purpose, a tachometric survey of the structure was conducted and depression in its central part was cleaned out. Scattered horse bones and bronze details of horse harness were found at a depth of about 1.5 m from the level of sterile soil. Their presence makes it possible to date the structure to second half of the 6th-early 5 th century BC. A bronze plaque, cast in the shape of a coiled predator with its muzzle facing the viewer, was dated to the same period (this plaque is an accidental find at the burial ground). It is assumed that previously unknown burial complexes dating back to this period may exist in the Katanda Valley. It is planned to carry out and complete the main studies of the site in 2023.