Ancient golden artefacts found in Almaty

Excavations of a burial mound in Alatau district of Almaty have uncovered unique golden artifacts, Tengrinews reports citing the City Department of Culture.

Archaeological research was conducted by an expedition from the museum of history of Almaty in the burial mound of Kok Kainar. Three historical artefacts were found. One of them is a golden figurine of a feline predator.

"It is made of two pressed embossed plates connected into a single sculptural figurine. It can be refereed to as a "playing kitten" for its pose. Dated back to the 4th century BC, the figure probably represented an element of a magical composition of a headwear. The artifact was found in the mound number 2 of Kok Kainar burial," the Department said.

The second finding is a golden plate with a picture of a bird. "The plate depicts a bird of prey, its head turned to the left, with a large beak, and wings unfolded. The bird is depicted against the background of strawberries. This image is treated as a heraldic symbol," the Department explained.

The last finding was a bronze mirror with a handle and a round bronze disc with a protrusion. The disk of the mirror and the ring are soldered together. This artifact was found in the burial mound number 1 and dates back to period from the 2nd century BC and the 2nd century AD. 

All of these artefacts are kept in the Museum of History.
_________________
Urazova, Dinara. 2015. “Ancient golden artefacts found in Almaty”. Tengri News. Posted: January 15, 2015. Available online: http://en.tengrinews.kz/science/Ancient-golden-artefacts-found-in-Almaty-258428/