Exhibition “The Gold of the Sarmatians”
On January 27, 2025, with the support of the Akimat of Atyrau Region, the Department of Culture and Languages Development of Atyrau Region, and the Atyrau Regional Museum of History and Local Lore, a one-day exhibition titled “The Gold of the Sarmatians” was held to present the results of archaeological research conducted in 2023–2024. The event was attended by representatives of the intelligentsia and the mass media.
The exhibition was opened by Museum Director M. Kipiev, followed by a welcoming address from D. Shamuratov, Deputy Akim of Atyrau Region. In his speech, he emphasized the importance of ongoing archaeological research and assured that the regional administration would continue to support projects aimed at developing this field. As a result of the archaeological work conducted in 2023–2024 at the Karabau-2, Karakuduk-1, and Karakuduk-2 sites, about 1,000 artifacts were discovered. In particular, seven out of nine graves at Karabau-2 were found undisturbed, containing around one hundred gold and silver ornaments, precious stone items, weapons, as well as ceramic and bone vessels. At the Karakuduk-1 and Karakuduk-2 kurgans, finds included silver pictograms depicting saiga and wolves, gold jewelry, ceramic and wooden vessels, household objects, bronze cauldrons, and weapons made of iron and bronze (akinakes, swords, arrowheads, and spear parts).
Of special significance were unique finds with no analogues in Kazakhstan, among them: a large gold buckle decorated with images of two tigers and two argali, made by casting and soldering; a massive gold bracelet, 0.4 cm thick, with relief figures of snow leopards at the ends; a touchstone with a gold handle (used by the Sarmatians to test gold purity); as well as ritual vessels and staffs made from elk bone. Of particular interest to researchers was the first completely preserved wooden vessel in Kazakhstan, decorated with silver inlays in the animal style and dated to the 5th–4th centuries BC (previously, such vessels had only been found in fragmentary form). The discovered archaeological materials testify to the high level of development of the Sarmatian civilization that once inhabited the Atyrau Region, as well as to the refinement of craftsmanship, military art, and religious practices of the ancient nomads.
