Excavation decoration. Scythian gold - secrets and curses. Cross from Aunslev
In the year before last, in the Bryansk region, "black diggers" discovered a unique treasure, which consisted of jewelry created in the third century AD by Slavic jewelers. Scientists became aware of this archaeological find only recently thanks to the FSB officers who crossed the illegal export of Venetian treasures abroad. Illegal archaeological finds were sent to the State Museum, and the "archaeologists" ended up in prison.
Although a significant part of the treasure was transferred for study, researchers assume that many invaluable antiquities for science were destroyed by inexperienced diggers. But still, we can say with confidence that even small amount the surviving items are enough to change, supplement and clarify many facts in historical science.
An archaeological find was discovered in the Desna valley, flowing in the south of the Bryansk region. In total, the "black diggers" managed to extract from the ground about one and a half hundred objects, including several complexes of ancient bronze jewelry that belonged to both women and men. Some items were used to decorate horse harness.
The treasure included torques, bracelets, head crowns, brooches, pendants, chest chains, and glass beads created in the third century. The find dates back to the time when on the territory modern Russia the first Slavic settlers began to appear, called the Byzantine chroniclers "Veneti".
Many bronze artifacts were richly decorated with engraving or decorative elements made of champlevé enamel, an opaque red glass. Similar adornments were found earlier in the burials of the leaders in the territory from central Russia to the Baltic Sea. Before that, it was believed that in the third century the Slavs had not yet appeared in Russia, but now scientists will have to revise some historical facts.
In addition, it is now known that the technical knowledge of the ancient population of Russia was more developed than scientists believed - fragments of scissors with springs were found among antiquities. No less interesting for researchers was a bronze mirror, probably of Samara origin. It was created according to the Chinese model, which testifies to the early international contacts of the most ancient Slavic tribes.
The hope of finding treasures or ancient artifacts feeds those people who go in search of them with metal detectors. And, perhaps, these hopes and labors will not be in vain, because in the bowels of the earth there are indeed a lot of interesting things hidden. The main thing, when going to arrange such an exciting adventure for yourself, is to remember about the law. In this review, there are a dozen of amazing and valuable finds that have been made by enthusiasts.
1. Crosby Garrett Helmith
This 1800-year-old helmet, or rather dozens of its fragments, were found in one of the fields in England. It took more than 200 hours to restore him at the auction house, where he was found after discovery, but the efforts were not in vain. This stunning find consisted of a mask reflecting a classic Roman face and paired with a headdress adorned with a miniature griffin figurine.
The restored helmet was not intended for warriors; it was used by Roman cavalrymen during tournaments or performances to recreate famous battles. A total of three similar helmets have been found in the UK. The find was subsequently sold at auction for £ 2.3 million, 10 times its market value.
2. Staffordshire treasure
In 2009, in Britain, in Staffordshire, the largest Anglo-Saxon hoard of gold and silver objects was found, which had lain in the ground for 1300 years. However, all the items found were intended only for military purposes - swords, helmets. Archaeologists do not know exactly why this was all buried. Some believe that the victors hid their spoils, others - that these items were offerings to the gods. Most of the items were bent or broken.
The Germanic tribes had a custom to break weapons before burial so that no one could use them. They believed that in this case the offerings were sent to the spirit world. And only three gold items from this amazing treasure were not directly related to military affairs - two crosses and a plate with a quote from the Bible. Apparently, these items served as amulets for the warriors.
3. Sterling necklaces (torques)
David Booth took a metal detector with him when he went for a walk, and found, at a depth of only six inches, one of the most significant treasures ever found in Scotland. These were four necklaces (torques) made by a blacksmith between 300 and 100 BC. NS. The find was unusual in that the necklaces were made in different styles, two of them - in Scottish style, one - in French, and one, the most interesting, combined two styles at once - Mediterranean and Scottish.
This find showed that the Scottish tribes in the Iron Age were more closely related to each other and Europe than previously thought. National Museums of Scotland bought torques for £ 462,000
4. Eskrik's Ring
In 2009, in a field outside the city of Eskrik, an elegant ring was found, made, according to experts, in the 5-6th century in Europe and belonging to a man of a noble family. At the same time, the ring was made specifically for the stone to show its beauty. The sapphire in it was several centuries older than the ring itself. Historians still hope to understand the technology of making a ring of such High Quality... It was sold to the Yorkshire Museum for £ 35,000.
5. Cross from Aunslev
In March 2016, an amateur archeologist found an unusual artifact in Aunslev in Denmark, probably representing a cross 4.1 cm long and 13.2 g in weight, dated to the first half of the 10th century. The image on one side resembles a crucifix. It may turn out to be the oldest crucifixion ever found in Denmark.
And then scientists will have to reconsider their ideas about when Christianity was adopted in Denmark. However, it has not yet been precisely established whether this find is really a Christian relic, and not a pagan decoration.
6. Tomb of the Roman era
Phil Kirk, a treasure hunter from England, having found a Roman coin in the field, decided that the search here was worth continuing. And he turned out to be right - several jugs and a bronze dish were indeed found. Kirk contacted local experts and told them about his find, and they decided to investigate the field in person. Archaeologists found a bottle with cremated bones and concluded that this was the burial place of a noble person.
They also found glass bottles, an iron lamp, a small piece of lava, and a coin dating from the beginning of the third century. But the main discovery was the glass mosaic dishes made in Alexandria (Egypt). Subsequently, in 1954, Roman pottery was found in the same field, and in 2013 - a grave with the remains of a Roman.
7. Shapvik treasure
In 1998, in the county of Somerset, England, a hoard of Roman silver coins from the 1st century BC was discovered by accident. NS. - 3rd century AD NS. in the amount of 9212 pieces. Archaeologists have established that there were Roman settlements in England at that time, and the coins were apparently buried by the owner of one of the Roman villas. The Museum in Somerset bought the treasure for £ 265,000.
8. Hoxne's Treasure
In 1992, having gone to the field to look for the lost hammer of his friend, Eric Lowes found there a treasure of gold and silver. Friends reported the find to the city council, and soon a team of archaeologists arrived. In total, 14,865 Roman coins of gold, silver and bronze of the late 4th - early 5th centuries (times of the late Roman Empire) and about 200 silver cutlery and gold jewelry were found as a result of excavations.
The lost hammer, by the way, was also found. The treasure also had historical value. Many of the spoons were engraved with Christian symbols, indicating that their owners were Christians. And this, in turn, means that Christianity was already adopted in Roman Britain at that time.
9. Axes of the Bronze Age
During his search, Tom Pearce unearthed first one bronze hatchet, then several dozen more of the same. Together with friends who came to his aid, about 500 of these specimens were excavated, made around 700 BC. NS. The amazing thing was that all these axes were never used for their intended purpose, and they could not be used, because, made of poor quality metal, they were very fragile. Therefore, it was concluded that they were made and buried for ritual purposes.
10. Ringlemere Cup
In 2001, amateur archaeologist Cliff Bradshaw, who discovered several seventh-century artifacts in Ringlemere Barrow in England and continued further searches at the site, was fortunate enough to unearth a delightful antique goblet made between 1700 and 1500 BC. And despite significant damage, he looked fine.
The goblet was made from a solid bar of gold, like five others found in continental Europe. The find suggested that the people who lived here had connections with continental Europe long before the arrival of the Romans. The British Museum bought this goblet for £ 270,000.
Especially for those who are interested in antiquity, a story about.
Dedicated to all lovers of looking for someone else's good in the earth (and not only) - the largest found treasures from all over the world!
Did you play pirates or robbers as a child? Then you probably drew a map with an "X" at least once, and then pretended to be looking for a valuable treasure - a chest of gold, for example. Well, the treasures that Bigpikcha will talk about today were indeed found - by random lucky people or true adventurers. Only, unlike your children's trinkets, these values are worth much, MUCH more. The most interesting thing is that sometimes the treasure is practically under our noses.
1. Treasure in the foundation of a building in Sroda lska
In 1985, builders undertook the renovation of the old building, who discovered a treasure in the foundation dating from the beginning of the XIV century. The walled vase contained over 3,000 rare coins, medallions and a gold crown. The find is estimated at $ 150 million. The treasure is currently on display in the Wroclaw Museum.
In 2012, search engines raised about 48 tons of silver from the ocean floor. The treasure has become one of the largest finds of silver. Its cost was estimated at $ 38 million. The valuable cargo was on a military transport ship that sank after an attack by German submarines. The treasure was found after the British Department of Transport announced a reward.
In 2007, the company Odyssey Marine Exploration, which specializes in geological exploration, found a Spanish ship offshore. On board were found gold and silver coins... After the treasure was found, a terrible scandal erupted. The Spanish government demanded that the treasure be given. And the gold itself was exported from the territory of Peru.
In 2011, gold was discovered in the foundations of the Padmanabhaswamy temple, which is estimated at $ 22 billion. And it weighed more than 30 tons. The son of the last maharaja was present at the opening of the treasure.
6. The treasure was found in 2010 by David Crisp. He is an amateur treasure hunter. The treasure is estimated at only $ 5 million. The treasure is most valuable in the historical aspect: this is due to the fact that during this period the Roman Empire was experiencing an economic crisis and the quality of the coins was very low, and the treasure itself represents a four-year salary of a legionary warrior. Found coins can be seen in the British Museum.
The cargo with platinum was supposed to be delivered to New York during the Second World War - this platinum was used to pay for "allied aid." But the ship was sunk by a German submarine. It is very difficult to estimate the value of this treasure - according to rough estimates, it is worth $ 3 billion. It was found by the treasure hunter Greg Brooks.
The largest treasure found in England was discovered in 2009. The treasure was found by amateur treasure hunter Terry Herbert. Almost all products date from the 7th century AD. The treasure consists of silver and gold items, their total weight is 7.5 kg, and the number reaches 1500 pieces. These are weapons, dishes, and jewelry.
10. Archaeologists who excavated on the island of Jersey (Britain) have discovered a cache of treasures of the Celts. The treasure was hidden about two thousand years ago. Most likely, he was hidden from the troops of Rome, who invaded the British Isles. Now the cost of jewelry and coins is estimated at $ 17 million.
The treasure was found during the renovation of the mansion in which the Trubetskoy-Naryshkins lived. During the renovation, a secret room was discovered that was not marked on the building plans. It contained whole deposits of silverware with the coat of arms of the Naryshkin family, awards and decorations. The dishes look great because they were in a linen cloth soaked in vinegar. This cache was created in 1917. The treasure was estimated at 189 million rubles.
13. In the state library of the town of Passau, a cleaning lady, Tanya Hels, accidentally discovered rare coins in 2011. Tanya took her find to the management. The treasure is estimated at several million euros. This cache contained very rare Byzantine, Greek, Roman coins. It is believed that this collection was hidden from the authorities in 1803, for the reason that the authorities took away the monastic coins and books for the needs of the government.
This treasure was found in 1984 by an archaeologist who specializes in underwater excavations. The treasure is estimated at $ 15 million. He was on a sunken ship built in the 18th century.
Galleon "Atocha" was loaded with jewels for two months! With great difficulty, the ship was sent to sail, but he never made it to the metropolis. The ship sank off the coast of Florida. The Spanish authorities have repeatedly tried to raise the treasure from the bottom, but all attempts were unsuccessful. It was only in 1985 that Mel Fisher was lucky enough to find the treasure. To find him, Mel created an entire company, Tragers Salvors Incorporated, and was also able to find investors for funding. While searching for the treasure, Mel's team surveyed about 120 sq. miles of the seabed. The value of the valuables raised is estimated at $ 450 million. It is believed that no $ 500 million worth of valuables was found from this vessel. And, probably, they will not find it anymore ...
While some only dream of finding valuable artifacts, others, armed with tools, go to excavations. Finding ancient treasures is always a thrilling event. It is difficult to count how many treasures have been found in Russia today, but it is worth highlighting the five most famous.
The largest treasures in Russia
Scythian gold
The vast space between the Danube and Don is strewn with many mounds left after the disappearance of the Scythian tribes. The raids on the kurgans began in the Middle Ages, and today's collection of the Hermitage and other museums is replete with a huge number of gold items from the Scythian burials.Vladimirskie Golden Gate
According to legend, oak doors were upholstered with copper sheets with a thick layer of gilding. Disappeared in 1238, during the offensive of the Tatar-Mongol troops. Legend has it that at the moment they are resting at the bottom of the river. Klyazma. 
Kolchak's gold
Over 1600 tons of gold. For part of the gold, Kolchak bought weapons. The second part was found by the Red Army after his arrest. And there are conflicting rumors about the third part of the gold reserve, but all traces lead to Tyumen. 
Napoleonic treasure
The plundered riches of Moscow were placed on two hundred carts. With the onset of winter, Napoleon's troops returned to France, but the difficulties of movement forced him to get rid of a certain amount of booty on the way. On the route from Moscow in the direction of Smolensk, it was possible to find many valuables, but the fate of the main part is unknown until our time. 
Treasure hidden by Sonya Golden Handle on Khitrovka
Having a weakness for jewelry, the cheat skillfully appropriated them for herself. It is believed that in the center of Moscow, she hid a huge diamond. The exact location is not known. According to legend, the fraudster hid it in a samovar, buried next to the Khitrovy market. 
Top-most famous treasures of world history
But not only in Russia all over the world it is possible to find hidden treasures. There are legends about them, films are made, books are written. Every year, thousands of people from all over the world try their luck in search of sunken ships, pirate hiding places, caves, grottoes, excavate in various parts the globe... Here is a list of just a few of them:Treasure on the island of Java (Indonesia)
More recently, an amazing find was discovered, consisting of 14,000 pearls, 4,000 rubies, 400 crimson sapphires, and 2,200 garnets. They were found on a ship that sank over 1000 years ago. Also, treasure hunters found small flasks for perfumes, jars of baked clay, dishes, vases of the Fatimis dynasty, which once ruled Ancient egypt... Such finds of the 10th century from sunken ships are extremely rare and this will fill a large gap in knowledge about those times. 
Treasures of Tillya Tepe in Afghanistan
In northern Afghanistan, near Shibargan in 1979 (a year before the Soviet troops entered), archaeological excavations were carried out under the leadership of V. Sarianidi. In six graves, a treasure was discovered, which is a collection of approximately 20,000 gold jewelry. The find consisted of coins, belts, necklaces inlaid with precious stones, medallions and a crown.A treasure discovered in Staffordshire
In 2009, archaeologist Terry Herbert discovered a treasure dating from the Anglo-Saxon era. The weight of the treasure was 10 kg, and consisted of gold, precious stones, silver. Among the items were armor, swords, dishes, religious items.Pirate Treasure - Florida Beach
In 1984, treasure hunter Barry Clifford discovered a treasure that once belonged to pirates on the Florida coast. From the site of the shipwreck, about five tons of various values were raised. The treasure was valued at $ 15,000. 
Tut's Treasure (Egypt)
In 1922, Howard Carter discovered a golden coffin made in an unsurpassed manner in the tomb of Tutankhamun, as well as a throne, masks and many other treasures. The tomb was the first one that had not been plundered before. The find was hailed as a huge discovery. 
Pereshchepinskoe treasure (Bulgaria)
The treasure was discovered by chance in 1912 in the village. Small Pereshchepino in Ukraine, 13 km from Poltava. The shepherd boy literally fell into the Kuvrat tomb, which belonged to the founder of Great Bulgaria, the father of Asparukh. More than 800 items, weight of gold items - 25 kg, silver - 50 kg. Amphorae, dishes, cups, 12 gold and 11 silver bowls, stirrups, a blade in a gold sheath, a saddle, etc. were found.The largest treasure found
History keeps many legends about treasures and the lucky ones who managed to find them. But there are treasures of which the most notorious skeptics are breathtaking. In the dungeons located in the temple of Sri Padmanabhaswamy (India), the researchers managed to find untold treasures that amazed the whole world. 
In the temple of Sri Padmanabhaswamy, built in honor of the god Vishnu, five hidden vaults were uncovered. According to experts, their price is $ 25 billion, and this gives reason to consider it the largest treasure to date.
To date, research continues in 2 more secret chambers and, possibly, new caches will be discovered.
The largest treasure in the world includes gold coins, ingots weighing about 2 tons, a diamond necklace 5.5 meters long, and several bags of diamonds. And the most outstanding find is the statue of the god Vishu, made of gold, 1.2 m high.
Very often there are problems with the right to own the discovered treasure. For example, treasures found American company Odyssey near Portugal, from a drowned Spanish military frigate. 500,000 coins, jewelry and jewelry were raised to the surface. Until now, the fate of these artifacts has not been determined. The Spanish government put forward its right, but the company defends its rights, since the treasure was found in neutral territory.
The frigate Nuestra Señora las Mercedes transported coins from the Spanish colony to Peru in 1804, and was sunk by the British near Cape St. Mary. About 200 sailors of the frigate were killed in the explosion.
Not only jewelry, but also money are often found in hoards. ...
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Those who have ever traveled along the Black Sea steppes, most of them plowed and rugged forest plantations, must have paid attention to the ones they meet periodically on the way. Created many centuries ago, these man-made earthen hills, like the Egyptian pyramids, have long become a part of the natural landscape.
Initially, the most incredible versions were expressed about their origin: some believed that the high hills in the flat steppe were specially poured before the war in order to look out for a friend from their height; others considered the mounds to be something like border pillars separating the territory of one ancient people from another; still others assigned the role of burial mounds to the mounds, containing in their bowels the tombs of the ancient kings and countless treasures.
At all times and more than once in the immediate vicinity of the mounds - either on arable land during excavation work, or in a quarry dump - they found outlandish gold plaques, scraps of gold foil, and vessels that darkened with time.
Chest decoration - a badge of the royal horse. So, in the second half of the 19th century, peasants in the vicinity of Nikopol, mining sand in one such hill, nicknamed local residents"Meadow grave", found gold items with images of strange monsters minted on them. The happy owners of the finds reported this incident to local government, and officials have already told archaeologists. As a result of the subsequent excavations, it was possible to find the grave of the Scythian king, whose remains were abundantly decorated with golden objects.
For more than a millennium, this powerful tribal union occupied the territories of modern Ukraine and Moldova. Scythian culture is considered one of the most striking in history, and its heritage for Europe is as great and significant as Celtic or Slavic. True, until recently, not very much was known about the Scythians, the main source of information was the descriptions of their life and customs, made by the ancient Greek historian Herodotus. As you know, he loved to travel and even personally visited the Greek colony of Olbia, located at the mouth of the Dnieper-Bug estuary, that is, in the immediate vicinity of the territory inhabited by the Scythians.
Where they came from in the Northern Black Sea region is unknown. This people settled well on the occupied lands, developed a distinctive culture, established trade relations with neighbors and even allowed themselves to go to war against more aggressive neighbors. In general, everything is as usual, except for the fact that it was the Scythians who were the first to mine gold in the steppes of Ukraine.
Moreover, the Scythians created a whole cult from this noble metal. Gold was used in everyday life, clothes and shoes were abundantly decorated with precious plaques, they covered military ammunition, horse harness and, without regretting at all, buried a huge amount of gold jewelry together with the dead. The adherence of the Scythians to gold was their strange, amazing feature. The same Herodotus wrote that silver and copper were used by this people in limited quantities, and they gave preference exclusively to gold. Indeed, archaeological finds show that neither before nor after the Scythians this metal was so widespread in the steppe region of present-day Ukraine. No other culture of antiquity, even the "gold-rich Mycenae", could compete with. Gold among this steppe people was considered a symbol of wealth, personified fire, sun, royal power and, most importantly, eternal life. To cover as much of the body as possible, the Scythian masters developed special technology- manual extraction of gold foil and minting of plaques with original images from it.
In addition to gold household utensils and ornaments, the Scythians left behind many mounds. True, after two and a half millennia appearance theirs has changed markedly. Once the mounds were not just earth hills, but rather remarkable architectural structures. The mounds of some burial mounds were lined with stones or wooden log cabins, carried wide colored clay belts, were surrounded by deep ditches. And all this was intended to hide rather complex underground mausoleums, catacombs, crypts from human eyes.
According to Herodotus, the main cult center of Scythia was located between the Dnieper and Southern Bug rivers. It is the rulers of the steppe Scythia who own the largest of the kurgans, the true steppe pyramids, covering, like domes, the tombs of the powerful kings of the Black Sea region. Tombs filled with gold are no less lavish than the burial chambers of the Egyptian pharaohs. And since the Scythians valued the burial places of their ancestors above all else, they, of course, tried to protect the graves, for which they used mounds sometimes more than 20 meters high.
However, gold, for that and gold, from time immemorial to excite human minds. The secrets of the origin of Scythian wealth haunted the Greeks, Romans and Persians. Where did the Scythians get gold in such quantities - no one knew. At the same time, it was well known that there were no significant placer deposits or gold-bearing veins.
The impression was that the ancient craftsmen, like the alchemists of the Middle Ages, simply possessed the secret of extracting precious metal from improvised means. But how they did it remained a secret, which could not be discovered either by force or by cunning. So, due to ignorance of the gold-bearing source, the enemies, greedy for the wealth of others, could only trade by robbery. And if the Greeks and Romans ultimately decided not to get involved with the cunning and warlike steppe people, then the Persian king Darius I, having heard about the Scythian riches, in 512 BC. NS. invaded the territory, ordered the destruction of the Scythian tombs and extract from there all the treasures found.
In fairness, it should be noted that he nevertheless warned of his intention and offered to give him the treasure voluntarily. “We have fatherly graves. Find them and try to destroy them, and then you will find out whether we will fight for these graves or not, ”- this is how the Scythians answered Darius. The warlike steppe inhabitants, instead of taking on a battle with a huge army superior to them in strength and number, reasonably limited themselves to guerrilla tactics, exhausting the sluggish army of invaders with sudden attacks. So they defended their lands.
When the Scythians disappeared as suddenly as they appeared, their ancestors were left without protection and treasure hunters, eager for easy money, rushed into the mounds. However, getting to the legendary treasures was not so easy. It took a lot of effort to excavate a multi-meter earthen embankment, and, naturally, it was not possible to hide such a large-scale excavation. Excavation work of "black archaeologists" invariably attracted the attention of both ordinary residents and competitors, and especially the authorities. So illegal treasure seekers had to show haste, which, as you know, does not lead to any good in any business. In addition, their inhabitants themselves rebelled against the destruction of graves. As it soon became clear, not only the pharaohs knew how to defend their burials with curses.
In 1862, archaeologists began excavating a mound located 20 km from Nikopol and popularly called Chertomlyk. Already a preliminary analysis of the artifacts extracted from the earth has shown: this is the burial of some powerful Scythian ruler. However, the found tomb was plundered. It was possible to find only scattered bones of the deceased, the remains of a wooden bed on which the ashes rested, several gold things - a ring with the image of a bull, plaques with figures of animals and plants, and bronze arrowheads. However, archaeologists did not despair.
As practice has shown, often such burials behind a fake burial chamber were equipped with special hiding places, in which real treasures were placed. Apparently, the Scythians well understood how much gold-stuffed mounds were attractive to robbers. Such a cache was also found in the Chertomlyk mound. And it contained a lot of precious things: a gold plate from a sword scabbard, a gold lining of a quiver with scenes from Greek mythology depicted on it, a gold twisted necklace, gold bracelets and rings, a belt trimmed with gold plaques. It was also discovered that a predatory move was leading into this secret chamber. And in the place where it connected with the treasury, archaeologists found the tomb robber crushed by the collapse, surrounded by many gold things he had stolen.
However, the retribution of the afterlife almost never stopped the "black archaeologists." The abundance of gold buried in the mounds made one forget about fear. And its reserves, apparently, were enormous. For example, the famous Solokha burial mound, located in the Zaporozhye region, was ravaged for several centuries, and it seemed that gold did not decrease. This was partly due to the huge size of the mound - it reaches 100 meters in diameter and 18 meters in height.
Solokha's serious research began in 1912 and is associated with the name of Nikolai Veselovsky, a professor at St. Petersburg University. The initial examination of the mound showed that he did not escape the sad fate of plunder, but Veselovsky knew from experience that amateurs, hunting exclusively for gold, rarely managed to rob the grave clean. And there could be several burials in the mound. The inner instinct did not disappoint the Russian professor: after two seasons of archaeological work, the researchers received a well-deserved reward for their faith and hard work. The discovered caches stored a mass of gold items of rare historical value. The most outstanding find of this mound, which became famous all over the world, was a skillfully made golden comb weighing 294 grams.
Further more. Exactly 40 years ago, in the summer of 1971, at the excavations of Tolstaya Mogila near the city of Ordzhonikidze in the Dnepropetrovsk region, archaeologists extracted truly amazing jewelry from the excavation. Under the eight-meter embankment, the richest burials of the Scythian queen and the boy lying in an alabaster sarcophagus were discovered, not disturbed by either ancient or modern robbers. In full accordance with the description of Herodotus, the clothes of the dead dazzled with a golden sheen. The queen lay in a dress embroidered with gold plates with ornaments and images of animals, and her neck was hugged by a massive hryvnia hoop made of the same noble metal, with skillfully made figurines of lions. The tall cap also bore finely worked gold plates. Unfortunately, the main chamber - the burial place of the king himself - was not preserved until the excavation. Apparently, all that was valuable in it, the unscrupulous destroyers managed to endure.
At the entrance to the royal tomb, archaeologists found a hiding place, not noticed by the robbers, in which a golden pectoral was found - a breast adornment of a Scythian king of the 4th century BC. e., weighing more than a kilogram (to be precise, 1 kg 150 g). In diameter, this jewelry reached 30.6 centimeters and was made of 958 gold. In total, the researchers extracted about 4.5 kilograms of unique gold items from the Tolstaya Mogila.
As some connoisseurs of Scythian culture believe, all the gold still found in ancient burials is only a visible part of the iceberg. After all, Scythia was famous for a whole dynasty of kings, and the graves of most of them have not yet been discovered. And many grandiose, not yet explored kurgans are waiting in the wings.
If we take on faith the information provided by Herodotus, then the burial places of the first Scythian rulers were kept in the strictest confidence, and the treasures hidden in the most ancient burial mounds far exceeded the richest treasury of Priam, the king of Troy. The burial mounds, excavated by archaeologists in the past and the century before last, belong to the era when the powerful Scythian empire was already disintegrating and, consequently, the gold-bearing sources were becoming scarce. So, it is quite possible that some inconspicuous hill, standing on the outskirts of a little-known Ukrainian village, will still bring many surprises of world significance to archaeologists.
