THE EQUESTRIAN’S CAVE

IX YEARS AGO, POLICE in Mongolia’s western Khovd Province apprehended looters in possession of a set of unusual artifacts. The group had taken a birch saddle, an iron bit with antler cheekpieces, and wooden archery equipment from an ancient coffin tucked into a cave on a mountain known as Urd Ulaan Uneet in the Altai range. Suspecting the objects were historically significant, the police contacted archaeologist Jamsranjav Bayarsaikhan of the National Museum of Mongolia. Bayarsaikhan knew examples of ancient horse tack are very rare, so he and his team made the trip to far western Mongolia to collect the objects and study the site. He was immediately impressed by the saddle, which was painted deep red with black trim. “It looks like it could have been ridden yesterday,” Bayarsaikhan says. At Urd Ulaan Uneet, the team recovered the remains of a man and his clothing, including sheep- and badger-hide jackets and a pair of sheep-hide pants.