An "elite grave" discovered in the remnants of an abandoned fortress in Mongolia contains the remains of a woman dressed in a yellow, silk cloak and offers insight into the inner workings of burial and trade practices in an empire that flourished 1,000 years ago.
Archaeologists found the burial accidentally while surveying a site in northeastern Mongolia. The fortress, known as Khar Nuur, was built sometime between the 10th and 12th centuries, during the Kitan-Liao (also spelled Khitan) Empire, which controlled large portions of central and eastern Mongolia at the time. The fortress was part of a "long wall" that stretched across the countryside, according to a study published in the September issue of the journal Archaeological Research in Asia.
