The Noin-Ula burial site was first discovered in the spring of 1913 by Andrei Ballod, a Russian geologist doing survey work for a new gold-mining company. After discovering a number of already dug mounds, Ballod assumed they were old goldworkings and excavated one, uncovering a number of artifacts. Realizing the importance of his find, he sent some of the artifacts to the Imperial Russian Geological Society. While the find was recognized as significant, nothing was done for eleven years due to the chaos of the First World War and subsequent revolutions in Russia and Mongolia.