EUGENE–Near where the borders of Kazakhstan, Russia, Mongolia and China meet, an archaeological expedition in the summer of 1998 unearthed the frozen burial site of a Bronze Age Scythian prince.

The significance of the discovery of the burial chamber will be discussed by Henri-Paul Francfort, director of the French Archaeological Mission in Central Asia and a member of the discovery team, at a Nov. 13 free public lecture at the University of Oregon.

The discovery in the ancient cemetery casts new light on the culture of these nomadic people who inhabited the steppes of Eastern Europe and Asia during the late Bronze and early Iron Age, says Francfort who collaborated with colleagues from Kazakhstan and Russia on the project.

The Monday, Nov. 13, slide-illustrated lecture will be held at 7:30 p.m. in Room 115 of Lawrence Hall, 1190 Franklin Blvd. The UO art history and anthropology departments are sponsors of Francfort’s talk, "Excavation of the Frozen Burial of a Scythian Prince in the Kazakh Altay."

The expedition unearthed a burial chamber containing a wooden coffin, two skeletons and fragments of elaborate clothing, including an embroidered fur and two engraved belt plaques. Nearby, excavators found 13 intact horses and the remnants of saddles and other trappings encased in permafrost.

In order to preserve the frozen conditions of the tomb, the restorers immediately cut and packed the remains in frozen blocks, transported in a special refrigerated truck and stored in a cold room in Almaty, the former capital of Kazakhstan. Team members were able to begin laboratory studies of the artifacts early this year.

"Because the remains were frozen shortly after burial, this discovery provides us with an unusually well-preserved example of nomadic tradition on the steppes from the Third Century bc," says Esther Jacobson-Tepfer, the Kerns Professor of Asian Art at the UO Department of Art History. The discoveries, she says, will provide new insights into the origins of the art of this ancient culture.

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