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Tuesday, 20th July 2010 (492 views)

The ancient grave of a Scythian warrior who was buried clad in gold has been discovered by archaeologists in Kazakhstan.

Found in the Karaganda region east of Astana, the site is likely to have seen the warrior - who has been nicknamed The Sun Lord - buried there in the fifth or fourth century BC, Eurasianet said based on a Kazinform report.

Arman Beysenov, who led the excavation project, said it is possible the warrior was a leader because of the opulence of his burial. One of the burial mounds contained 130 gold objects, including jewellery, beads and a figure of a feline predator.

"He was probably a ruler and a warrior simultaneously," he commented.

The Scythians were ancient Iranian nomads who migrated to southern Russia from central Asia in the eighth and seventh centuries BC but eventually fell foul of the Sarmatians in the period between the fourth century BC and the second century AD.

 

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