Room of the Culture and Art of the Nomadic Tribes of the Altai of the 6th to 4th century B.C.

This hall is situated in the part of the Winter Palace formerly occupied by the guard-room. The display in the hall includes a unique complex of artifacts unearthed by Sergei Rudenko in 1949-50 in the valleys of Pazyryk and Bashadar in the Altai region (Southern Siberia). The mounds of the 6th-4th centuries BC, in which the chiefs of Altaic nomads had been buried, contained the mummified bodies of the chiefs, their wives, serfs and horses, with a rich variety of objects put inside to accompany the dead in the other world. The unique articles of wood, hide, felt and fabrics were preserved thanks to the permafrost. One of the exceptional findings at Pazyryk is the world's most ancient carpet (5th-4th centuries BC) executed in knot technique (3600 knots per 1 square decimeter). Another remarkable exhibit is an enormous wooden four-wheeled chariot, the different parts of which were fastened together with leather straps and wooden nails. The chariot is characterized by a unique state of preservation.