Results of the 2025 archaeological excavations at the karabau–2 kurgan
From August 16 to October 16, the archaeological expedition of the Atyrau Regional Historical and Local Lore Museum continued excavations at the Karabau–2 kurgan, located north of the village of Karabau in the Kyzylkoga District. The Karabau kurgans group was discovered in 2005 and consists of seven kurgans. The total diameter of Karabau–2 is 70 m, and its height is 2.5 m. The kurgan is surrounded by a trench.
During the 2023–2024 excavations, eight burials were uncovered and about 1,000 artifacts were found, nearly 100 of them made of gold. In the current season, two burials — No. 5 and No. 10 — were fully investigated, yielding a number of valuable finds: Burial No. 5 — located in the northwestern part of the kurgan. The finds include a human skeleton, a gold necklace, gold bracelets, silver plaques depicting a leopard, a bronze bowl, bronze arrowheads (200 pieces), a bronze mirror, an iron sword, and horse harness. Burial No. 10 — located in the eastern part of the barrow. The finds include gold beads (8 pieces), a bronze mirror, arrows, finely worked stones, iron objects, and corroded fragments of a sword. The artifacts discovered date to the 4th–3rd centuries BCE and belong to the Saka-Sarmatian period.
