which provide detailed descriptions of the society of the Xiongnu. According to them, the population was divided into clan-like groups, which gathered together in large clan alliances. Their leaders stood in a strict hierarchy and were all under the authority of the Chanyu, the commander of the entire Xiongnu confederacy. Economy The horse nomads of Inner Asia were nomadic pastoralists and probably travelled about in rather small groups. They particularly focussed on sheep, goats and horses, and in some regions other animals, such as the camel. Agriculture was undertaken by parallel settled populations, but probably did not play an important role. Ore mining and metal working which are known for some nomadic cultures, was probably undertaken by very elusive settled groups as well. Religion and funerary practices All horse nomad cultures shared the burial of the dead in barrow graves which are known as kurgans. Their size is very variable, with a radius of between 2 and 50 metres and a height of less than one or more than 18 metres, evidently reflecting differences in social hierarchy. In some regions, kurgans are surrounded by various kinds of stone enclosure. The more or less rectangular tombs of the later Tagar culture were sometimes surrounded by a row of stones at the edge of the kurgan mound, which was broken up by higher stones at regular intervals - later these were usually just at the corners. In the Iron Age culture of Tuva, some but not all kurgans were surrounded by a rectangular or round stone wall. The kurgans themselves were partially built of earth and partially of stone, with regional variation. In the ground beneath the kurgan was buried one or (very often) more tombs. The corpse lay either in a wooden chamber or a stone cist. The grave goods found along with them indicate that wooden chambers were reserved for people of higher status. While in burials from the Bronze Age the corpses were usually in a crouching position, in the Iron Age they were usually laid on their backs. Evidence for the handling of the dead are only known from Altai and Tuva, were some bodies are preserved as ice mummies by the permafrost, making detailed analysis possible. In these locations, the guts and muscles were removed before burial and the resulting holes were stitched closed with tendons and horse hair. It is uncertain whether damage to the skull