Slab Grave Culture

The plate grave culture spread during the late 2nd and 1st millennium BC in Transbaikalia and northern Mongolia.

Characteristic are the eponymous plate graves. With them are stone boxes, a fence made ​​of stone slabs. The dead were buried in an extended supine position with the head to the east, partially with the addition of animal - especially horse skulls, a custom which was also common in the Xiongnu. The find material is characterized by comb footprint and notch afford decorated ceramics. In the ceramics also show Chinese influences; same time relations with the upper Yenisei area can be seen. Settlements have not yet been excavated; they are known only by reading finds. The economy was most likely dominated by the livestock. Due to the rich mineral resources and metallurgy was practiced. The ethnicity of the carrier plate graves culture is not secure lockable. The skeletons appear to have Mongolian features. In the 3rd century BC, the tombs plate culture was superseded by the Xiongnu.