gault archaeological site tours

About the Gault School of ArchaeologicaL Research

Inspired by our founder, dr. michael b. collins, the gsar is a non-profit 501(c)3 center that conducts innovative, interdisciplinary research and education focusing on the earliest peoples in the western hemisphere., the gsar was organized to:.

• Hold, maintain, and protect properties in Bell and Williamson Counties, Texas, on which the Gault Archaeological Site is located. GSAR is the entity that helps preserve and promote Gault on behalf of the Archaeological Conservancy.
• Conduct scientific research at Gault and on materials recovered from the site.
• Conduct, promote, and enable research into the earliest peoples in the Western Hemisphere, and their origins and interconnections.
• Develop and promote outreach programs to educate the public about the Gault site and related sites; and encourage public awareness through archaeological outreach, outdoor education, and related themes about the peopling of the Americas.
• Foster collaboration among individuals, universities, and organizations who share these interests. 

About the Gault Site

Starting in 1991, research at the gault site helped shape how scientists understand clovis and earlier-than-clovis occupations in the human history of north america. work here directed by our founder, dr. michael collins has established a benchmark for how we recognize and make sense of the clovis period, which lasted from around 13,400 to 12,800 years ago. leading up to these investigations, scholars differed in their opinions about whether clovis peoples were the first inhabitants of the americas, or whether there was archaeological evidence for pre-clovis occupations. investigations at gault have helped establish that people were in the americas perhaps as early as about 20,000 years ago, far longer than many archaeologists had believed. working with a team of scientists representing different disciplines, dr. collins’ work has helped establish the antiquity of human presence in central texas specifically, and in the americas generally. while this advance in the archaeological understanding of the past is significant, gsar recognizes that one of the real contributions that the gault site can make is in helping students follow a similar learning journey every day., important publications & press:.

• Preceramic Mesoamerica (2021) edited by Jon C. Lohse, Aleksander Borejsza, and Arthur A.Joyce. <link>
• The Calf Creek Horizon: A Mid-Holocene Hunter-Gatherer Adaptation in the Central and Southern Plains of North America (2021) edited by Jon C. Lohse, Marjorie Duncan and Don Wyckoff; Chapters 6 & 10 by Dr. Sergio J. Ayala; <link>
• The Andice Cache of Denton Creek (2021) by Dr. Sergio J. Ayala; Journal for Texas Archaeology and History. <link>
• Williams, T.J., Collins, M.B., Rodrigues, K., Rink, W.J., Velchoff, N., Keen-Zebert, A., Gilmer, A., Frederick, C.D., Ayala, S.J. and Prewitt, E.R., 2018. Evidence of an early projectile point technology in North America at the Gault Site, Texas, USA.  Science Advances ,  4 (7), p.eaar5954. <link>
• Archaeologists Say Humans May Have Come To Texas Earlier Than Previously Thought | Texas Standard <link>
• The Gault Site in Central Texas Reveals New Details About the Oldest North Americans Archeologists have found artifacts thought to be from people who lived 18,000 years ago. The Gault Site in Central Texas Reveals New Details About the Oldest North Americans (texashighways.com) <link>
• Spotlighting the Holdings of Texas Historic Foundation Institution Members, Tales ‘N’ Trails Museum, Nocona; by Dr. Sergio Ayala. <link>
• Lemke, A.K., Wernecke, D.C. and Collins, M.B., 2015. Early art in North America: Clovis and Later Paleoindian incised artifacts from the Gault site, Texas (41BL323).  American Antiquity ,  80 (1), pp.113-133.  
• Calf Creek Horizon Evidence at the Gault Site. Ayala, Sergio J., “Calf Creek Horizon Evidence at the Gault Site (41BL323); a description of the imagery found in the Volume 5 cover border design”, (2019), Journal of Texas Archeology and History Volume 5 (2018/2019), pp. xi - xviii.
• Wernecke, D.C. and Collins, M.B., 2010. Patterns and process: some thoughts on the incised stones from the Gault Site, Central Texas, United States.  L’art Pléistocène dans le Monde , pp.2010-2011. <link> 
• Rodrigues, K., Rink, W.J., Collins, M.B., Williams, T.J., Keen-Zebert, A. and Lόpez, G.I., 2016. OSL ages of the Clovis, Late Paleoindian, and Archaic components at Area 15 of the Gault site, Central Texas, USA.  Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports ,  7 , pp.94-103. <link>
• Collins, M.B. and Kay, M., 2002.  Clovis blade technology: a comparative study of the Keven Davis cache, Texas . University of Texas Press. <link>
• Wernecke, D.C., Collins, M.B., Adovasio, J.M. and Gardner, S., 2006. A Tradition Set in Stone: Engraved Stone Objects From the Gault Site, Bell County, TX. In  Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, San Juan, Puerto Rico . 
• Collins, M.B., 2002. The Gault Site, Texas, and Clovis research.  Athena Review ,  3 (2), pp.31-42.
• Collins, M.B., Lohse, J.C. and Shoberg, M., 2007. The de Graffenried Collection: a Clovis biface cache from the Gault site, central Texas.  Bulletin of the Texas Archeological Society ,  78 , pp.101-123.
• Collins, M.B., Hester, T.R. and Headrick, P.J., 1992. Engraved cobbles from the Gault Site, central Texas.  Current Research in the Pleistocene ,  9 (3).
• Collins, M.B. and Bradley, B.A., 2008. Evidence for pre-Clovis occupation at the Gault site (41BL323), central Texas.  Current Research in the Pleistocene ,  25 , pp.70-72.
• Wernecke, D.C. and Collins, M.B., 2013. Patterns and Process: Some Thoughts on the Incised Stones from the Gault Site (Central Texas, USA).  Palethnologie. Archéologie et sciences humaines , (5). <link>

GSAR is a center for innovative, interdisciplinary research archaeology and education focusing on the earliest peoples in the western hemisphere and their cultural antecedents.

GSAR: P.O. Box 81563   |   Austin, Texas 78708   |   512.938.2522   |   [email protected]

GSAR: P.O. Box 81563 Austin, Texas 78708 512.938.2522 [email protected]

To schedule a tour of the Gault Site email [email protected]

volunteers needed

GSAR can always use volunteers to help us in the lab, in the field, survey work and many other opportunities. To learn more contact [email protected]

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Photography by Kenneth Garrett

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Gault Site 3433 FM 2843 Florence, TX 76527

CARVED IN STONE The Gault Site is a gem of Texas history! Investigations at the Gault site have helped establish that people were in the Americas as early as 20,000 years ago, far longer than many archaeologists had believed. Working with a team of scientists from many different disciplines, Dr. Michael B. Collins’ work has helped establish the antiquity of human presence in Central Texas specifically, and in the Americas generally. While this advance in the archaeological understanding of the past is highly significant, GSAR recognizes that one of the real contributions that the Gault Site can make is in helping students follow a similar journey of learning. Gault Site research continues today and includes efforts to minimize any future looting and damage. You can see the site yourself on specially-guided tours sponsored by the Gault School of Archaeological Research. Visit the School’s website at www.gaultschool.org for a schedule of events.

Visitor Instructions

Open to the public for guided tours only. Guided tours are organized by: GSAR (512-232-4912) Bell County Museum in Belton (254-933-5243) Williamson Museum in Georgetown (512-943-1670) Tour Pricing: Adults (13 and over): $20 Children (9-12 years old): $10 Children (8 and under): Free

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Life and Style in Central Texas

Gault Archaeological Site a valuable link to the past

By Amy Rognlie | Courtesy photos

Many area residents may not know Central Texas is home to an important, internationally known archaeological site. The Gault Archaeological Site, located just outside of Florence at the edge of the Hill Country, is a valuable piece of Texas history and culture.

Monthly tours are scheduled, giving visitors a glimpse of local history dating to 20,000 years ago. The tours are about two and a half hours long and cover technology, archaeological science, and the reasons people were continually living in this area.

“Studying who we are and where we came from is an exercise in looking to the future. We need to learn from the past so we know where we’re going,” says Dr. Clark Wernecke, executive director of the Gault School of Archaeological Research (GSAR). “Archaeologists are interested in human behavior—think of us as CSI Prehistoric. We look at clues (artifacts) in context to figure out what happened.”

The entire Gault site covers an area of about 20 acres. The Gault Site has been known by archaeologists for at least 78 years. In 1929, the first anthropologist at the University of Texas, J.E. Pearce, had a crew excavating at the site for six weeks. Over the years the land changed hands several times but was the focus for a great deal of collecting and looting. One of Pearce’s colleagues looked at the site in 1930 and commented on the young men digging for artifacts there. Some of these collectors worked on a grand scale with large crews and even heavy machinery.

Eventually a commercial pay-to-dig operation allowed collectors the opportunity to dig at the now-famous Gault Site for a mere $2 a day (later $25).

The land changed ownership in 1998 and a group from the University of Texas at Austin, led by paleontologist Dr. Ernie Lundelius and archaeologist Dr. Michael Collins,

were asked by the new owners to look at something they’d exposed at the site. It turned out to be the lower jaw of a juvenile mammoth and some ancient horse bones surrounded by a large number of Clovis artifacts.

Between 1999 and 2002 more than 1.4 million artifacts were recovered — about half of them of Clovis age, which is approximately 13,000 years. A unique Clovis feature, a stone floor, was discovered as well as more than one hundred engraved or “incised” stones — among the earliest art in the Americas. To date, an estimated 2.6 million artifacts, including 130,000 artifacts from below the Clovis layer, have been recovered from approximately 3% of the site.

While the GSAR’s focus is on science that is international in nature, they also provide opportunities for people interested in archaeology to do volunteer work in the field or lab, which is located at Pickle Research Campus at UT. Over the years, more than 2,300 volunteers, ranging from schoolchildren to graduate students to retirees, have worked on GSAR projects. Though no digging is currently going on at the Gault Site, GSAR’s archaeologists continue to work on 12-15 different sites in Texas as well as other sites around the hemisphere. They currently have a list of 1500 volunteers who are on call to work in various capacities as needed.

In addition, GSAR offers speakers, demonstrations and other educational opportunities such as school field trips. They also work closely with the nearby communities to foster awareness of the cultural resources in the area, expand understanding of the earliest peoples in the western hemisphere, and help folks benefit from the presence of the Gault Site.

“The ground itself is a big book,” says Dr. Wernecke. “Archaeologists, paleontologists, and geologists can turn the pages back to help us learn from the past so we know how to do the future.”

IF YOU GO You can schedule a walking tour of the Gault Site through the Bell County Museum or the Williamson County Museum, or if scheduling a group of 10 or more, through the Gault School of Archaeological Research’s website.

The tours are walking and the round-trip distance is approximately 1.5 miles (a little bit at a time).

The tour is not wheelchair accessible but they do have a golf cart with two bench seats to ferry around anyone who can’t make the walk.

Website: https://www.gaultschool.org

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gaultschool/ Phone: 512-232-4912

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Texas history: We turn the clock back 20,000 years at the Gault Site in Central Texas

FLORENCE — We history buffs geek out when we visit important sites from history or prehistory for the first time.

Recently, I drove breathlessly to Florence on the border of Bell and Williamson counties to visit the Gault Site, a vast archaeological treasure trove that dates back some 20,000 years.

It’s a beautiful spot not far from the Lampasas River with all the basic needs of humanity — food, water, material for shelter — nearby. Additionally, chert, the flinty material used for projectile points, glints from every ledge and hummock.

D. Clark Wernecke, executive director of the Gault School of Archaeological Research , and Tom Williams, assistant executive director, met me there on a chilly Saturday morning. They told me countless fascinating stories, along with a few groan-worthy puns, and happily answered countless half-informed questions.

Previously, my former American-Statesman colleague Pam LeBlanc, now of Pam LeBlanc Adventures , had worked at the Gault Site when it was an active dig, then she revisited it once some of the interpretive work was done.

10 things we learned from Pam’s 2014 story about the Gault Site:

1. In 1909, Henry Gault turned up artifacts thousands of years old while cultivating his bottomlands on Buttermilk Creek.

2. In 1929, Professor J.P. Pearce, former principal of Austin High and founder of the UT department of anthropology , led the first formal dig on the site.

3. In the 1980s, the site became a pay-to-dig operation; visitors paid $25 to haul off what they found. They also left behind a lot of cigarette butts and beer cans.

4. Topsoil contained thousands of artifacts dating back 9,000 years. A little deeper were older artifacts, including “ Clovis ” era artifacts — named after a site in New Mexico — showing tool-making techniques that went back more than 13,000 years.

5. In 1998, the former landowners found a mammoth jawbone and notified UT archaeologists, who uncovered “more Clovis artifacts than I’d seen in my life,” archaeologist and Clovis expert Mike Collins said.

6. In excavations between 1999 and 2002, and just before the UT lease ended, archaeologists found the stone floor of what might be the oldest excavated building in North America.

7. In 2007, after Collins bought the property and donated it to the Archaeological Conservancy , the Gault School excavated test units to show visiting archaeologists the geology of the site and found artifacts that predated the Clovis culture. What lay below are among the oldest human artifacts in the Americas, dating from 16,000 to 20,000 years ago.

8. If so, the evidence indicates that first humans who came to the Americas came not by foot but by boat down the Atlantic, Pacific or both coastlines.

9 . Among the findings were etched stones that might be the oldest dated human art in the Americas.

10. The site, which includes a never-dry springs, limestone outcroppings and huge amounts of chert, was something of a semi-permanent settlement with what might be called a manufacturing center for chert objects. It also contains extinct mammoth, horse and bison remains.

10 new things learned before or during our 2019 tour

1. One of the oldest projectile points from the site is on display at a redesigned early Texas history exhibit, “ Becoming Texas ,” at the Bullock Texas State History Museum.

2. Scientists are now dating more artifacts at the site to as far back as 20,000 years ago, making it among a dozen pre-Clovis sites in the Americas.

3. Scientific excavation is done at the site, but tours are given monthly through the Bell and Williamson county history museums. The Gault School will also schedule a tour for any group of 10 or more. Times, dates and details to be found at the Gault School website: gaultschool.org.

4. Computers are helping to collate the millions of artifacts found at the site at different levels. Especially GIS — geographical information systems — which record the exact provenience of each artifact excavated.

5. A new research technique: optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating. Soil samples are taken horizontally from different strata top to bottom. Then, in a darkroom, small particles of quartz and feldspar are separated from this sample and exposed to a special light, the optical stimulation, and they “luminesce,” or give off energy that tells us when they last saw the sun.

6. Another new research technique: Archaeology uses scientific methods and instrumentation borrowed from many fields. When studying the incised stones, there was difficulty in seeing worn lines thousands of years old on soft limestone, so researchers used polynomial texture mapping (PTM), which is also known as reflectance transformation imaging (RTI), a computational photographic method of recording the texture and color of an object by combining 64 different images. The resulting image can be manipulated to make things like faint lines clearly visible.

7. A reconfirmed discovery: “People were in Central Texas much earlier than we previously thought, 20,000 years ago vs. 13,500,” Wernecke says, “which means that people arrived in the Americas even earlier than that. The old story we have been told about the peopling of the Americas is now dead, and we do not yet have enough information to form a new one.”

8. A new discovery: “We have a stone tool technology that, in part, resembles the Clovis tool technology that follows it,” Wernecke says. “We also have some parts of that lithic record, like the projectile points, that look nothing like later cultures in Texas. While this is to be expected of an older technology, we do not yet have enough data from other sites to look at a larger (pre-Clovis) culture.” The Gault School tests multiple sites here in Texas each year, utilizing volunteers to look for similar dates, geology and technology.

9. The diggers are coming to town! The Society for American Archaeology’s annual meeting, one of the largest gatherings of archaeologists worldwide, will be in Austin from April 22 to 26. Find more information at saa.org .

10. You can donate to the Gault School on its website ( gaultschool.org ) or by mail. “We always have several larger projects that need large donations,” Wernecke says. “Some even having naming opportunities. You can join the Gault School as a member, and information is on our website. You also can volunteer in the lab or field to help us find data on the oldest Texans.”

Sign up for Think, Texas, delivered every Tuesday at statesman.com/newsletters . Each free newsletter contains two dozen Texas History stories and links. Follow Michael Barnes on Twitter: @outandabout Miss a column? Check out the Think, Texas archive at statesman.com/think-texas . Have a question? Email Michael and the Think, Texas team at [email protected].

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AUSTIN GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY

Guided tour of gault archeological site, near florence texas.

• Saturday, November 19, 2016
• 8:00 AM 12:30 PM 08:00 12:30
• Florence, TX 76527 3439 Farm to Market Road 2843 Florence, TX, 76527 United States (map)
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Leave Pickle in car pool at 8am. Return about 12:30pm. Cost is $10 for the tour.

If you are interested in joining this tour, and have not yet signed up, please contact John Berry at [email protected]. 

Tour led by Dr. D. Clark Wernecke, Executive Director, The Gault School of Archaeological Research (at Texas State)

The Gault site is very large (40 ac) and is one of the most important archeological sites in the United States, since several million artifacts of all cultures from Clovis to Late Prehistoric have been found. More than 600,000 Clovis artifacts alone have been recovered, and there are pre-Clovis artifacts dating back to about 15,500 years BP.  In all the long discussion of the pre-Clovis period in North America, this has been one of the very few sites with well-dated demonstrably pre-Clovis material.  Thus the site raises important questions about just how North America was originally peopled. Our guide will discuss, among other things: 

• hypotheses regarding the peopling of the Americas
• the geology and history of this area of Central Texas
• cultural history of central Texas
• primitive technologies
• important finds from the Gault site
• archaeological excavation

Links to more information:   

www.texasbeyondhistory.net/gault  

http://www.gaultschool.org/history/peopling-americas  

FIELD NOTE: Upcoming documentary features the Gault site

The Stones Are Speaking tells the story of archaeologist Michael Collins, pictured here with artifacts from the site, and his decades-long campaign to save the Gault Site. Photo credit: Kenneth Garrett

The Stones Are Speaking is a feature-length documentary about the Gault Archaeological Site, a Conservancy-owned preserve in Central Texas. It is the most prolific Clovis site in North American archaeology and helped push back the earliest date of human occupation in the Americas thousands of years earlier than previously thought. The film tells the story of archaeologist Michael Collins and “his determination and personal sacrifice to save this long-looted site that others had written off from years of plundering as a pay-to-dig site,” according to the film’s producer and director, Olive Talley. Collins’ team has unearthed more than 2.6 million artifacts at the Gault site and scientific evidence of human life dating to 18,000 B.C.

Talley is a lifelong Texan and award-winning journalist and she hopes the story will inspire others to protect important cultural sites. With funding from several major foundations and more than 200 individuals, as well as support from the Williamson Museum in Georgetown, Texas, Talley is concluding four years of work on the film. She hopes it will reach the public in fall 2024 via film festivals, PBS, and other distribution outlets. View a trailer and learn more about the film, including an interactive timeline about the Gault Site, at gaultfilm.com . 

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The gault site.

Gault Main Clovis Reconsidered TAS Photo Gallery Credits & Sources

The Gault site, midway between Georgetown and Ft. Hood in central Texas, has a long history of archeological investigation as well as uncontrolled artifact digging. Located in a small wooded valley with a spring-fed creek and an unlimited supply of excellent flint, the site was occupied intensively during all major periods of the prehistoric era. James E. Pearce, the first professional archeologist in Texas, learned of the Gault Farm site and excavated there in 1929-1930. Over the next 60 years, artifact collectors churned up the upper deposits over almost the entire site, but stopped digging when the dark rich midden soil played out. In 1990, an artifact collector dug deeper and found Clovis artifacts along with several unusual incised stones, something never before found with Clovis materials. Learning of the find, Drs. Thomas R. Hester and Michael B. Collins of the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory carried out testing at Gault in 1991, just enough to confirm the collector's story. But the property owner at the time continued to let pay-to-dig artifact collectors destroy the site.

Fortunately for archeology, the property changed hands and the new owners recognized the scientific importance of the site. Since 1998 a major excavation project has been underway at Gault, led by Collins. The work has been carried out by a cast of hundreds of individuals representing dozens of organizations. A relatively small core of professional staff works with university field schools from Texas A&M, UT Austin, and Brigham Young University as well as volunteers from near and far including many members of the Texas Archeological Society.

The Gault site is attracting national and international attention because of the wealth of new information on Clovis culture that is emerging from right here in the heart of Texas. In Clovis Reconsidered you will learn about the unfolding interpretations of what Clovis life was like 13,000 years ago at the Gault site and how these ideas are helping to mold a dramatically new view of the peopling of the Americas. You can also look through the TAS Field School Gallery for pictures of the 2001 Field School and TAS members taking part in the exciting investigations at Gault. Credits and Sources provides links to additional sources of information.

Texas Beyond History Site Map TBH WebTeam 1 October 2001

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Gault Site Tour

October 13, 2018.

Sponsored by: Bell County Museum

Join us for a tour of the Gault Site, located in southwestern Bell County.  The Gault Site is recognized as one of the most important archeological sites in America.  The 2.5-hour tour covers about one mile of gentle terrain.  Space is limited to 30 persons.  Hosted by the Bell County Museum.  Fee is $10 per person, payable to the Gault School. Pre-registration is required, please call 254-933-5243. 

Participants will meet at the museum, 201 N. Main Street, and will leave at 8:30 a.m. in our own vehicles.  Maps will be provided and a staff member will also guide drivers to the site.  The site is 30 minutes from Belton, between Salado and Florence.

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Inspiration from the Past

The story of our Village commences right alongside that of the Republic of Texas. From the millions of cattle trekking the Chisholm Trail to the emergence of creative craftpeople, Salado serves as a parallel to the robust and ever-changing story of Texas. Here, you can experience the history that makes Texas’ past so inspiring. Whether you walk the grounds and ruins of one of the nation’s first co-educational colleges or get in touch with possibly the first Americans at the Gault Site, your trip through Salado’s history will be one to remember.

SALADO MUSEUM & COLLEGE PARK

The Salado Museum and College Park was established to preserve and promote the pioneer history of Salado and the diverse nationalities that settled this area. College Park, just south of the museum, is the location of the ruins and grounds of historic Salado College.

HISTORIC CEMETERIES

Get in touch with the legendary figures of Salado’s past with visits to our historical cemeteries. There are three to choose from!

SALADO HISTORICAL TOUR

Originally designed by the Salado Historical Society, this self-guided tour leads you through some of our Village’s most prized landmarks and uncovers the histories of our storied village. The tour is available starting in Spring 2020 on the VisitSalado! app.

GAULT ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE

Step into the lives of some of the Americas’ first settlers at this world-renowned archaeological site. Only a 15 minute drive out from Salado, you will have the chance to explore this site with its archaeologists as they help you understand the lives of our predecessors. Tours can also be arranged through the Williamson County and Bell County Museums. Reservations required.

HISTORIC SALADO GHOSTWALK

Join local historian and storyteller Jonathan Hal Reynolds for a lantern-lit stroll down Salado‘s historic Main Street. Get lost in tales of cowboys, Indians, buried treasure, and ghosts! Held throughout the fall season, this is a “must-do” while you’re visiting our village.

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Yury Gagarin Cosmonauts Training Centre (Zvezdny Gorodok - Star Town) (7 hours)

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The Yuri A. Gagarin State Scientific Research-and-Testing Cosmonaut Training Center is a Russian training facility responsible for training cosmonauts for their space missions. It is in Star City of Moscow Oblast, a name which may refer to the facility itself or to its grounds. (Read more about Yury Gagarin Cosmonauts training center )

The secret Star City was built to train Soviet cosmonauts, including Yuri Gagarin, the 1st man in space. Many other famous Russian cosmonauts trained here with Gagarin: German Titov, Valentina Tereshkova, the first female cosmonaut, and Alexei Leonov, the first cosmonaut to exit the spaceship into space . The best facilities were built for them: the world’s largest centrifuge and hydro laboratory. Many cosmonauts from other countries (USA, Japan, Germany and many others) also have trained here together with Soviet Russian cosmonauts. On this Star (Space) City Tour you will see:

• Models of Soyuz Soviet spacecraft 
• World's largest centrifuge with an 18-meter radius 
• Hydro laboratory, with the model of the International Space Station in water, which allows to simulate the weightlessness and many more

Important info

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• Professional English-speaking guide assistance. Other languages upon request (additional charge may apply)
• Roundtrip transportation to and from your central hotel (Comfortable car/minivan with A/C)
• Fully private tour to ensure a personalized experience
• Entrance fee to Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre (territory)
• Entrance fee to Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre Museum
• All taxes, fees and handling charges
• Food  / Drinks
• Personal expenses
• Gratuities to guide/driver (optional)

The tour price already includes all the taxes & fees, you will not see any of them later during the checkout.

Adult pricing applies to all travelers

IMPORTANT! To book the tours please provide us with the copy of your passport (scan of page with photo) and the following information (for all the travellers):

1. Surname / Names (as in passport) 2. Passport number 3. Passport expiry date 4. Date of birth 5. Place of birth (country, city, state) 6. Place of current residence (country, city, state) 7. Citizenship 8. Place of work 9. Position held 

This information is required to get access to the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre, as per their security policy.

If it took Gagarin 1 year to get prepared, now it takes 7 years to become a cosmonaut, and 50 days to pass  security  check for foreign visitors.

Due to the security policy of the Centre, the guided tours are to be arranged in 50 days before the tour date. Last-minute arrangements are not available. 

Departure: from your Moscow hotel

Return: to your Moscow hotel (or any other place in Moscow that you choose)

Sights included in program

SPECIAL OFFER US$ 366 Now 5% off

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Our flexible payment options allow you to pay 20% of a deposit first and the remaining 80% in 14 days prior to your tour date - payment can be done both online or over the phone. This gives you the peace of mind knowing your spaces are booked on the tours and that you do not miss out on making the most of your time in Russia.

Also you get 5% discount and get the best, top-rated and most experienced and knowledgeable hand-picked tour guide appointed on a priority basis. In our experience, exceptional travel experiences are almost always delivered by exceptional people. With that in mind, we utilize a comprehensive approach to select and employ the best tour guides only. Multilingual and well travelled, each possesses deep insight into the diverse attractions and cultural patterns throughout the region. With us guides undergo a rigorous selection process, achieving outstanding knowledge of local culture and language. Rest assured that the best tour guides only will be working on the tours to give you excellent opportunity to explore the best of the sights during both short and long-term stay in Russia.

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The Unique Burial of a Child of Early Scythian Time at the Cemetery of Saryg-Bulun (Tuva)

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Pages:  379-406

In 1988, the Tuvan Archaeological Expedition (led by M. E. Kilunovskaya and V. A. Semenov) discovered a unique burial of the early Iron Age at Saryg-Bulun in Central Tuva. There are two burial mounds of the Aldy-Bel culture dated by 7th century BC. Within the barrows, which adjoined one another, forming a figure-of-eight, there were discovered 7 burials, from which a representative collection of artifacts was recovered. Burial 5 was the most unique, it was found in a coffin made of a larch trunk, with a tightly closed lid. Due to the preservative properties of larch and lack of air access, the coffin contained a well-preserved mummy of a child with an accompanying set of grave goods. The interred individual retained the skin on his face and had a leather headdress painted with red pigment and a coat, sewn from jerboa fur. The coat was belted with a leather belt with bronze ornaments and buckles. Besides that, a leather quiver with arrows with the shafts decorated with painted ornaments, fully preserved battle pick and a bow were buried in the coffin. Unexpectedly, the full-genomic analysis, showed that the individual was female. This fact opens a new aspect in the study of the social history of the Scythian society and perhaps brings us back to the myth of the Amazons, discussed by Herodotus. Of course, this discovery is unique in its preservation for the Scythian culture of Tuva and requires careful study and conservation.

Keywords: Tuva, Early Iron Age, early Scythian period, Aldy-Bel culture, barrow, burial in the coffin, mummy, full genome sequencing, aDNA

Information about authors: Marina Kilunovskaya (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dvortsovaya Emb., 18, Saint Petersburg, 191186, Russian Federation E-mail: [email protected] Vladimir Semenov (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dvortsovaya Emb., 18, Saint Petersburg, 191186, Russian Federation E-mail: [email protected] Varvara Busova  (Moscow, Russian Federation).  (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation). Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences.  Dvortsovaya Emb., 18, Saint Petersburg, 191186, Russian Federation E-mail:  [email protected] Kharis Mustafin  (Moscow, Russian Federation). Candidate of Technical Sciences. Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.  Institutsky Lane, 9, Dolgoprudny, 141701, Moscow Oblast, Russian Federation E-mail:  [email protected] Irina Alborova  (Moscow, Russian Federation). Candidate of Biological Sciences. Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.  Institutsky Lane, 9, Dolgoprudny, 141701, Moscow Oblast, Russian Federation E-mail:  [email protected] Alina Matzvai  (Moscow, Russian Federation). Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.  Institutsky Lane, 9, Dolgoprudny, 141701, Moscow Oblast, Russian Federation E-mail:  [email protected]

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