Korean archaeologists have unearthed a dragon-shaped roof tile measuring more than three feet tall and weighing more than 265 pounds from a beach in South Korea’s Taean County. The tile is believed to date to the early part of the Joseon Dynasty (1392–1910), and is of an ornamental type called a chidu that was typically placed at the corner of a roof and was intended to appear imposing. Beginning in the Unified Silla period (A.D. 676–935), artisans often made chidu in the form of dragons in the hope that they would fight off fires that regularly damaged wooden structures. The dragon in the newly discovered tile sports a fierce glare and a wide-open mouth, as if ready to consume flames.

Dragon chidu were reserved solely for royal structures. Researchers believe this tile was made by state artisans in the Joseon capital, Seoul, and was being transported to a royal residence in the southern part of the country on a ship that likely wrecked en route. According to historical documents, the waters in the area were notoriously rough.

In a valley in Siberia’s Tuva region, archaeologists have discovered a large wooden barrow containing the skeletons of a woman and a young child who were buried around 2,500 years ago with a set of intriguing artifacts. The deceased belonged to the Aldy-Bel culture, a nomadic Scythian people based in the mountainous area just north of the Mongolian border in present-day Russia. Alongside the woman’s skeleton, excavators unearthed an iron knife, a bronze mirror, a wooden comb, and several gold ornaments, including a pectoral in the shape of a sickle or crescent. This type of pectoral has previously been found exclusively in the graves of men and is believed to indicate membership in a selective group or caste, possibly of warriors. “This woman must have played a special role in the tribe,” says Łukasz Oleszczak, an archaeologist at Jagiellonian University. “Maybe she was a shaman or a member of the tribal aristocracy.” To see an additional image of this burial, click here.

A cache of 41 concave Celtic gold coins has been discovered in the state of Brandenburg in northeastern Germany. The coins have no markings, but numismatist Marjanko Pilekić of the Schloss Friedenstein Gotha Foundation estimates they were minted between 125 and 30 B.C. They are known as “rainbow cups.” According to Pilekić, the nickname dates to around the eighteenth century and derives from the fact that the coins were frequently found by farmers after being revealed by rainfall. Popular lore held that the coins appeared where a rainbow touched the earth—and some believed they were lucky tokens with healing properties. This is the largest hoard of Celtic gold objects to have been found in Brandenburg, which is several hundred miles from areas that are known to have been occupied by Celtic people. It’s unclear how the coins got that far, but Pilekić suggests they were likely transported as a group because they all appear the same. “It’s as if you were to look in your wallet and see only coins produced in a single year from the same mint,” he says.