A unique burial site, estimated to be around 2,000
years old,
has been discovered by archaeologists
in the Turkistan
region. Several
burial grounds with catacomb funerary structures were uncovered. In one of them, at a depth of three
meters,
the remains of an ancient warrior and valuable artifacts were found.
«Judging by the burial
attributes, the remains appear to be those of a nomadic warrior. These include iron arrowheads of
various types, horse bridles, part of the horse’s gear typical of nomads,
and buckles. There is no backbone,
spine or ribs present.
Most likely, the warrior wore protective armor called a cataphract, which may
have been made of bronze or silver,» said
Alexander Podushkin, professor at the South Kazakhstan State Pedagogical
University.
According to experts, one
of the graves had been
completely looted. In the second
grave,
they discovered the
burial of a man along with
a well-preserved table jug
and iron artifacts. To avoid damaging the
burial site, the archaeologists
used
a new method, a
narrow dromos corridor. It allows for archaeological excavations without
disturbing the natural landscape,
specifically the mountainous
valley
in the Silbeli
tract.
«We conducted the excavations through a dromos, then
through a passage, and finally reached the burial chamber. Here, the burial
structures are often hollow. For the past four years, we have been excavating
at this site, discovering valuable artifacts for our history each year,» noted archaeologist Gulmira Stamkulova.
The archaeologists are confident that the
Silbeli tract
will yield many more discoveries, with the next expedition already planned for next
year. All artifacts found at this site will be handed over to the Central State Museum of Kazakhstan
for further study.
