The armor plate was found during the archaeological study of a single mound Bolsherechye-I. The mound is located next to the Bolsherechye work settlement on the bedrock terrace of the left bank of the Irtysh River on a burial field with 14 more mounds. They were left by representatives of the Sargat archaeological culture that existed in Western Siberia in the 5th century BCE — the 4th century CE. It was a culture of nomadic pastoralists.

The significant role of military affairs in the life of the tribes of the Sargat culture is evidenced by the rich military burials under large burial mounds, which contained several types of weapons, sometimes armor, as well as other categories of funeral equipment, including imported products. The Sargat warrior’s weapons can be divided into offensive and defensive. Armament items are widely represented in sets of grave goods, known from settlement materials and collections of incidental finds. Swords and daggers can be considered offensive melee weapons. Offensive weapons of remote combat include bows, spearheads, and darts. The Sargat warrior’s defensive armor included a shell decorated with plates and shield.

The manufacturing technology of plate armor from bone and later metal plates sewn together appeared in the Bronze Age and lasted until the Middle Ages and Modern Times. The item presented in the exhibition is one of the plates of such armor. Plate armor made of bone was typically used by ordinary warriors. It could protect against being hit by a bone arrow and from a glancing blow by an iron arrow or a sword. At the same time, the bone armor was light enough not to constrain the archer’s movements when shooting from the saddle. A separate armor could consist of several dozen such plates. They could also be part of a belt set or an element of horse protection.

The geography of finds of similar objects is quite extensive; they are found both in Siberia and the Urals, as well as in the European part of Russia.