The oldest carpet in existence was discovered during and expedition in 1949 in the Pazyryk valley, in the Altai mountains of Southern Siberia, dating to the 5th Century BCE.. This piece currently at the Hermitage museum in St. Petersburg, is in a remarkable state of preservation. The piece is 6'.6" X 6'.0" and of fairly fine knotting (240 knots to a square inch), and by virtue of its design has been attributed to Persia.