The one-armed warrior of Siberia

A burial site in western Siberia was found and archaeologists started working on it. It appears they unearthed a preserved burial from a legendary warrior who was slain in battle. The body was discovered in a mound in the Omsk region dating back to the 11th or 12th century. The warrior died when he was more or less 40 years old and he was about 1.80 meters tall. According to the studies held by the archaeologists and anthropologist, his right shoulder was smashed and his left arm severed, evidently in battle. The arm was preserved and buried alongside him.

The warrior was buried with a mask on his face, complete with a bear claw above the nose, as well as bronze tools and 25 war arrows; many of which were still sharp when discovered by the archaeologists. He was probably a warlord trained since childhood for a life of combat.

Siberia was mostly colonized by the Russian Empire between the 16th and 18th centuries, its indigenous tribes offered more resistance than is commonly known. The Chukchi people in the far-eastern tundra on the shores of the Arctic and the northern Pacific defied conquest for 150 years and were ultimately subdued through negotiations, not military effort. The Khanty people, along with the neighboring Nenets, led one of the few ethnic uprisings against the Bolsheviks between 1931 and 1934, protesting the destruction of their traditional way of life. With shamans encouraging their fight against the Bolsheviks, the rebels ( no more than 150) resisted submission for three years in the harsh conditions of the tundra.

It is still unclear who killed this warrior unearthed from his burial mound, but he may have been a recent victim (historically speaking) from the period of the russian empire, between the 16th and the 18th centuries.