Keting V

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Keting V (Shinasthana: 五且丁, menga-ktsa-keting; r. c. 92 – 80 BCE) was a ruler of the city of Tsinh in the Middle Archaic Period. His ordinal name indicates he was the fifth to bear the ordinal "keting", the fourth member of the sequence.

Keting V is a notable figure in archaeology because his burial lay undiscovered and undisturbed until the modern era, an extremely uncommon occurrence where an most graves were robbed by the time they were scientifically documented, and royal burials in a complete state are rarer still. His burial led to the recovery of over 4,000 artifacts (weighing 2.8 tonnes), amongst a much-improved knowledge of early Themiclesian funerary practices. On the other hand, a total of 122 subsidiary burials of varying sizes were found adjoining his royal burial, and some if not all were the results of funerary human sacrifice.

156 Armoured Man

Amongst his subsidiary burials is the 156 Armoured Man or 156AM, who was buried with a full suit of armour, weapons, and clothes. Owing to the fact that the water table rose soon after his burial, his burial chamber was submerged in water, preventing its decay. 156AM's skeleton remains complete as well as his armour and funerary garb. From these remains, it is known that 156AM was an exceptionally large person, measuring at least 196 cm standing upright, when average height was around 168 cm. 156AM was buried with a bronze charger with the inscription "Baron Ker made this for the Revered and Generous Prince, Middle Brother Keting. May this be presented to him" (矦堇乍中拀文王兄丁 克厥賓).

Given this bronze, it is thought that 156AM is likely to have been a funerary sacrifice presented by the same Baron Ker that the charger mentions, and indeed the charge asks to be presented to the Prince. So 156AM was intended to present the charger to the Prince in the underworld. However, this still leaves the relationship between Baron Ker and 156AM unsolved. Some have made the argument that 156AM, based on his full suit of armour and weapon in hand, should be deemed a retainer-warrior in the service of the Baron Ker. But recently it has been noted that 156AM would be exceptionally well-equipped if he was the owner of the suit of armour he was buried with, since retainer armour (even in the greatest households) was basic in comparison.