Kurgan Saka of the Tarbagatai Mountains
A 2,800-year-old goldsmith’s treasure belonging to the Eastern Scythians or Sakas has been unearthed in a burial mound in eastern Kazakhstan, Central Asia. Delicate earrings, marvels with animal decorations encrusted with precious gems… The discovery of a sumptuous set of 3,000 elements of gold jewelry was officially announced at the end of July 2018 in the distant mountains of Tarbagatai (“Marmotte massif”) , in the northeast of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
Works of the Sakas, – the name given by the Persians to the Eastern Scythians – a vast 2,800-year-old princely kurgan , affiliated with this nomadic people of Central Asia, was unearthed by a research team led by Zainolla Samashev, director of the Margulan Institute of Archeology, in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan. An eminent specialist in steppe cultures, the expert has been studying the Eleke Sazy plateau for several years where these fragile treasures are extracted.
Archaeological research in the Tarbagatai region (East Kazakhstan region) began relatively recently. To date, the surveys have been carried out in the districts and villages of the Aksuat of summer pastures, Ekpin, Kok zhyrau Akka, Shybyndy EKSU research expeditions. S. Amanzholova, National University of Kazakhstan. Al-Farabi and the Institute of Archeology branch. AH Margulan in Astana. Due to the fact that these monuments were located near populated areas and busy roads – almost all of them repeatedly looted and therefore found few objects. Several times, reconnaissance work has been carried out to identify and certify new archaeological, historical and cultural monuments.
It was as a result of one of them that the most remarkable archaeological monument on the territory of Tarbagatai was revealed – elite mounds of the ancient era of the Turkic plateau Saks Eleke Sazy. At the heart of an imposing tumulus hidden under cairns of large blocks of stone, a wooden burial chamber still contains the remains of the occupants. As traditionally for the frozen burials of Altai, sacrificed equines are among the offerings. Several tens of meters in diameter, these rich Scythian mausoleums are generally located at the crossroads of an immense territory stretching from Siberia to Kazakhstan via neighboring Mongolia and China. “ Coming across such untouched sites today remains rare . Looting is frequent. It is also from this remote region that various pieces of the famous ‘Siberian’ collection of Tsar Peter the Great (1672-1725) come from,” declares historian Yaroslav Lebedinsky. Called Altai Scythians, Sakas (or Saces), the steppe scum who were these nomadic people were passionate about gold, weapons and horses. Their goldsmiths made admirable jewelry.
Up to gold rolled into very thin sheets of barely fifteen microns thick. The Saka Scythians roamed the plains of Central Asia at the very time when the Eastern Zhou (771-256 BC) and subsequently the Warring States (5th BC-3rd BC) dominated the China .
Judging by the abundance of historical and cultural heritage the Tarbagatai Mountains have been populated since ancient times, it is not surprising given the fact that the favorable climate, rich pastures and lack of blood-sucking insects on the highlands ideally suited to nomadic and semi-nomadic livestock – the main type of agriculture of ancient tribes and peoples mountain steppe regions of Central Eurasia.
Archaeological studies of the Elke Saza mounds have not been carried out to date. During the current year the debut of these remarkable monuments of archaeological science was crowned with success. A little about the history of the discovery: during exploration activities in previous years by the local population, information was received that on a high plateau Eleke Sazy there are many varieties and different mounds of dimensions and stone structures. A trip to the specified area really surprised – were discovered royal necropolis of funerary and memorial buildings Sakas and the elite of the ancient Turkic era, very similar to the famous monuments of Bilge Kagan and Kultegin on the territory of modern Mongolia. In general, on the Eleke Saza plateau, 7 burials were discovered, i.e. more than 300 burial mounds. The largest has a diameter of 120 m, a height of 5 m. According to its presented sites are close to the same schemes of historical monument structures, both in the Kazakhstan subregion and in Altai and South Siberia. The main part of the burial mounds from the 1st millennium BC. rannesakskomu can be correlated with time – with the naked eye are seen parallel to Shiliktinskimi mounds Zaysansky EKO area, monuments with a circle Arzhanskogo Tyve also traced similar elements with objects NECROPOLIS Besshatyr region Almaty.
Sace tribes settled in northern India, creating lasting kingdoms. The Eastern Scythians lasted longer than the European Scythians. Herodotus (5th century BC) mentions these populations of Sakas or Asian Scythians sporadically, when he deals with the Persian army. “ A Saka revival, however, took place at the beginning of our era, with the appearance of the Indo-Scythian kingdoms.”
Historian Yaroslav Lebedinsky states: “ Saka was still spoken in the Tarim basin, in Xinjiang (China), in the Middle Ages” . And it is not excluded that Iranian-speaking peoples currently living in the Pamirs descend from this group.
