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For more than 1,500 years, a cave in western Mongolia’s Urd Ulaan Uneet mountain held the burial of a nomad who was laid to rest with a sophisticated saddle that once had stirrups attached to it. Dating some 100 years earlier than similar saddles in eastern Asia, the find has the potential to change how scholars understand the evolution of equestrian technology. A team led by National Museum of Mongolia archaeologist Jamsranjav Bayarsaikhan also recovered the man’s remains in a wooden coffin, the partial burial of a horse, and a number of well-preserved artifacts that speak to the nomad’s way of life. These images of the site and the artifacts discovered in the cave are courtesy of Jamsranjav Bayarsaikhan.