A genomic analysis of 85 individuals from the Iron Age shows that elite status was passed down from generation to generation and that women held prominent positions in the nomadic society The discovery of the Golden Man in the Issyk kurgans in Kazakhstan had become a national symbol and one of the most significant archaeological finds of the Eurasian steppe. But until now, researchers did not know its genetic makeup or its relationship to other high-status individuals found in the region. An international study combining archaeology, anthropology, and genomics has managed to sequence the complete genome of this emblematic figure, placing it within the genetic variation of Saka individuals from the Iron Age and resolving a decades-old question: it was a male, not a female. The Issyk kurgans, located about 50 kilometers east of Almaty, are part of a royal burial complex linked to the Saka culture dating to the period 400–300 BCE. The wooden chamber where the Golden Man rested contained more than 4,000 gold ornaments, weapons, a headdress embroidered with golden threads, zoomorphic artifacts, and a silver bowl with an inscription that has not yet been deciphered. The richness of the funerary goods contrasts with the simplicity of other contemporary burials, where grave goods are almost nonexistent. These stark differences have traditionally been interpreted as an indicator of the growing social inequality characteristic of Iron Age nomadic societies. [...] The results obtained by the researchers show that elite individuals were more closely related to each other than to lower-status people found in the same sites. This pattern persisted even when elite burials were located in different cemeteries separated by more than 100 kilometers.  [...] A particularly significant aspect of the study is the confirmation that access to elite status was not restricted to males. Almost half of the high-ranking individuals in the sample are women, contradicting the idea that power in these nomadic societies was exclusively male. The significant presence of women in richly adorned tombs, along with the genomic evidence linking elite individuals across different burial sites, indicates that women held high-status positions within Scythian society, explains Ayshin Ghalichi, a researcher at Max Planck and the University of Texas at Austin. https://www.labrujulaverde.com/en/2026/07/dna-analysis-of-the-golden-man-reveals-that-a-few-elite-families-ruled-scythian-nomadic-society-2500-years-ago/ https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aef0108  

There is a concept in the Middle East. sacred cosmology or sacred space/land. In the Greek world, the earth reserved exclusively for one god was called temenos. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temenos Disputes over sacred spaces occur because these places are not considered simple earth, but cosmic nodes of identity, historical memory and divine sovereignty. When two or more religions claim the same physical point as their axis mundi, geopolitics transforms into a mystical zero-sum conflict, where ceding territory is tantamount to betraying the deity.The most representative cases of battles for the ownership of the holy land, both historical and of extreme current relevance, include.   In 20th-century comparative mythology, the term axis mundi – also called the cosmic axis, world axis, world pillar, center of the world, or world tree – has been greatly extended to refer to any mythological concept representing "the connection between Heaven and Earth" or the "higher and lower realms".[3] Mircea Eliade introduced the concept in the 1950s.   In Mircea Eliade's opinion: "Every Microcosm, every inhabited region, has a Centre; that is to say, a place that is sacred above all. In other interpretations, an axis mundi is more broadly defined as a place of connection between heavenly and the earthly realms – often a mountain or other elevated site. Tall mountains are often regarded as sacred and some have shrines erected at the summit or base.[20] Mount Kunlun fills a similar role in China [...]Likewise, the ancient Greeks regarded several sites as places of Earth's omphalos (navel) stone, notably the oracle at Delphi, while still maintaining a belief in a cosmic world tree and in Mount Olympus as the abode of the gods. Judaism has the Temple Mount; Christianity has the Mount of Olives and Calvary; and Islam has the Ka'aba (said to be the first building on Earth), as well as the Temple Mount (Dome of the Rock). In Hinduism, Mount Kailash is identified with the mythical Mount Meru and regarded as the home of Shiva; in Vajrayana Buddhism, Mount Kailash is recognized as a similarly sacred place. In Shinto, the Ise Shrine is the omphalos. Sacred places can constitute world centers (omphaloi), with an altar or place of prayer as the axis. Altars, incense sticks, candles, and torches form the axis by sending a column of smoke, and prayer, toward heaven.[citation needed] It has been suggested by Romanian religious historian Mircea Eliade that architecture of sacred places often reflects this role: "Every temple or palace – and by extension, every sacred city or royal residence – is a Sacred Mountain, thus becoming a Centre."   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axis_mundi  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Omphalos  

Nice concept.    

Feathers always look like small bumps. The breast and some wings.