The ancient settlement dated to the 8th-7th centuries BC on the Picket Hill in Altai Territory served local tribes as the military outpost separating steppe Altai from the foothills.
      
      Archeologists have come to this conclusion on the basis of the carried-out excavation works.
      
      Picket Hill, where the Srostki Village is located now, has become famous far beyond the Altai Territory thanks to the outstanding writer, actor and film director Vasily Shukshin, who was born there.
      
      The ancient settlement of the Bronze Age consisted of 57 houses and was protected by the River Katun on three sides and by an artificial ditch on the fourth side. The foundation of this settlement was related to the pressure of Scythian tribes from the territory of modern Kazakhstan. The nomads were penetrating into Altai lands and forcing out the local population.
      
      Apart from the ancient site, Picket harbours some barrows and two burial grounds: one is of the Scythian and the other is of Turkic epochs. Once a real broadsword with gold metal plates was found here. Now it is kept in the Hermitage Museum. Archeologists have known about this site since long, but nobody was seriously engaged in it until last summer.
      
      Source: itar-tass.com
Author: Vera Ivanova