Abstract
During the years 2008-2011, the TOPOI project (A-1-1) “Pyramids of the Steppe”, in cooperation with the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation in Berlin as well as the A. Ch. Margulan Insititute for Archaeology in Almaty/Kazakhstan, investigated and mapped the large grave mounds – also known as Kurgans – in Early Iron Age necropoleis in southeastern Kazakhstan (Zhetysu).
Construction of the kurgans was in specific focus during this project, namely the internal structures of the necropoleis and their accordance with the landscape. Additionally, the features surrounding the large kurgans – belonging to the periphery of the kurgans as a whole – were recorded and evaluated.
The hitherto unpublished documentation of the ca. 1000 kurgans and their periphery offered a unique look into the burial grounds of the Early Irong Age nomadic horsemen of Zhetysu, dually helping to render a historical-cultural reconstruction of the region.
Description
The kurgans (grave mounds) serve as the main material remains of the warrior nomadic horsement of the Early Iron Age in the Eurasian Steppe and belong to the Scythian cultural group. The excavations and research of these constructions yielded a great deal of information about the daily lives of the nomadic horsemen, as well as their economic and ideological basis. The materials found in the burials – weapons, jewelry, and imports – indicated the large communication network maintained by the nomadic horsemen during the 1st millennium BCE.
The Asian Scythians – also known as the Saka – occupied in the Kazakh steppe during the Early Iron Age.
The kurgans of the Saka stand in the centerpoint of the collection. Individual cemetaries are composed by several kurgans; these were studied within the necropoleis, which also served as the excavation sites. Illustrations and photos of the kurgans were supplemented with numbering, descriptions of their form and characteristics as well as with measurements encompassing diameter and height. For the first time in the Asian Steppe, four-sided, pyramid-like kurgans (“Pyramids of the Steppe”) were discovered. If the kurgans indicated any indiviudal peripherial finds – such as circular enclosures, stone circles, processional routes – these were also measured and described. Each individual construction (kurgan) was dated by relative chronology.
Further information
For more information please refer to the documentation and the project websites. The project has been realized by: Hermann Parzinger, Anton Gass, Maik Blättermann, Brigitta Schütt, Manfred Frechen, Christiane Singer, Zajnolla S. Samašev, Anatoli Nagler
Research Group
Anton Gass
