Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Ipatovo kurgan is kurgan 2 of the Ipatovo Barrow Cemetery 3, a burial mound located near the town of Ipatovo in Stavropol Krai, Russia, about 120 km northeast of Stavropol. It stands 7 meters tall and was one of the largest kurgans in the area.
The Ipatovo kurgan was fully investigated in 1998-1999. Archaeologists uncovered thirteen phases of construction and use, spanning from the 4th millennium BCE to the 18th century, including burials from the Maykop culture, Catacomb cultures, Sarmatians, and Nogai people.
The Sarmatian burial contained six solid golden necklets, two golden spiral bracelets, two finger rings made from Hellenistic coins, a gilded wooden cup with zoomorphic figures, a short sword with a gold-decorated pommel, a gold-covered scabbard, a sheet gold buckle, a gilded wooden cosmetics container, and clay vessels.
A Sarmatian woman was buried at the top of the kurgan, dating to the 3rd century BCE. She was interred in an extended position on her back and accompanied by an exceptionally rich collection of gold objects and a short sword.
The Ipatovo kurgan contains burials from the Maykop culture (4th millennium BCE), two young people in sitting positions from the late 4th millennium BCE, wagon burials of the Early and Late Catacomb cultures, a Sarmatian burial from the 3rd century BCE, and over one hundred simple graves attributed to the Nogai people from around the 18th century.
The sword was buried with a woman, which is noted as not an unusual feature in Sarmatian contexts. This detail reflects broader patterns in Sarmatian burial practice where women were sometimes interred with weapons, indicating the role some women held in Sarmatian society.