'It is a fair assumption to say, as this fact proves, that the burial mounds emerged much earlier than the Bronze Age, in Neolithic times.' Picture: KemSU

In a first for Siberia, a burial mound dating to the 'New Stone Age' has been unearthed in Novosibirsk region. In the mound were nine people, including women and children, discovered by archeologists and students from Kemerovo State University.

'In the lower layer, they discovered a man with a stone axe and a horn tipped arrow,' said the university's press service. 'It is a fair assumption to say, as this fact proves, that the burial mounds emerged much earlier than the Bronze Age, in Neolithic times.'

In the mound were nine people, including women and children. Pictures: KemSU

Dwellings of ancient people were also found close to the mound which may have contained a family grouping. At least in Siberia, it was thought until now that such burial mounds - signaling a new stage of development for early man - came later.

Professor Vladimir Bobrov told TASS news agency: 'It means there had been major changes in the socio-economic structure of the society. It is safe to assume that the process of destruction of collectivism, on which early tribal societies were based, began in Neolithic times.

'For the most part, the events that took place in the area that we now call Western Siberia were much more interesting and thought-provoking than previously thought.'

The find is in the Vengerovsky District of Novosibirsk region. Picture: The Siberian Times

It was the first of its kind, and previous efforts to find Stone Age mounds had 'failed'. He stated: 'The burial mound that we have found most probably dates back to the Late Stone Age, 5-4 millennia BC. It was previously thought that burial mounds appear at the end of the fourth to the beginning of the third millennium.'

The find is in the Vengerovsky District of Novosibirsk region. Work is now underway to accurately date the human remains.