Qazaqstan Tarihy Portal

The employees of the Research Institute of the National Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan “Halyk kazynasy” and the branch of the Institute of Archeology named after A. Margulan since 2012 study burial mounds of the valley of the river Kegen, where 60 large “royal” burial mounds from the Saka period. — VI-V centuries B. C. The remarkable thing is that the outstanding archeologist Kemal Akishev, after studying the location, came to the conclusion that it is one of the 6 centers in Kazakhstan, where the Saka rulers were buried. In addition, not far from this place the Issyk “golden man” was found. This year scientists undertook to explore one of the valley burial mounds, the southernmost and found 44 Hun burials. The 41 graves were studied out of 44 ones, as scientists note, the ritual of the burial is the Hun’s: head north , stretched on the back, in a shallow pit. In the graves the headwear gold jewelry, gold plaques and so on. By the way, the found jewelry were made in the Saka style.

The sensational artifact was founded in Urzhar Area of Eastern Kazakhstan oblast during excavations one of the barrows by the Kazakhstan archeologists, appeared in a zone of reconstruction of Taskesken-Bakta Highway. Research works were carried out by the Institute of Archaeology named by A.Kh. Margulan.

Remains of the young woman of a notable origin under a barrow embankment in a stone sarcophagus under massive granite plates, depth level on - 1,70 m were researched. In the chamber with the buried ceramic and wooden vessels and bones of a sacrificial animal – remains of a sheep were found. Remains of fabric of clothes of blue and green color remained on bones of a human skeleton. Old earrings and a stone altar - indispensable attribute of female burials of that time were found at the head of buried woman.

The greatest value is represented by the peaked gold headdress ornamented with vegetable patterns and a zoomorphism ornament. The top part, decorated with a spiral from a gold wire has a headdress also arrow-shaped. The lower part of a product was decorated by ancient jewelers (zergers) with corrugated suspension brackets. In a form and an ornamental embodiment, the find reminds national Kazakh female headdresses saukele and borik. Similar headdresses as it is supposed were accessory of a full dress of Saka tribes of Kazakhstan. The similar find in Kazakhstan is known only in the well-known Issyk barrow relating to the same time, as the burial in the Urdzhar area. The "Princess" from Urdzhar is preliminary dated back to the IV-III centuries BC.

June, 2013