Bob Marley said wisdom is better than gold. The precious metal will be central to a major new exhibition in Cambridge that features loaned artifacts and tells the story of an ancient civilization not known beyond Kazakhstan.The Fitzwilliam Museum will display golden objects found in ancient burial mounds constructed by the Saka warrior people from central Asia. This culture flourished between the eighth century BC and the third century BC.The museum will present the Gold of the Great Steppe exhibition, which it described as an archaeological sensation on the international stage. It will feature hundreds of extraordinary gold artifacts discovered in ancient burial mounds in east Kazakhstan by the Saka.A collection of gold artifacts was found in one of the burial mounds constructed by Saka warriors in Kazakhstan. Photograph: Megalara Garuda/PAHighlights include a reconstruction showing the burial of a teenage archer and how many golden objects were placed alongside him. Archaeologists discovered the archers' burial display intact in many mounds that held elites.He was only 18 years old when he died, and was buried in the same room as a younger relative. Rockfall had protected him from the outside world for over 2,500 years. In the last three years, Kazakh archaeologists found artifacts there.According to the Fitzwilliam museum, it was the second Saka burial that had been found in Kazakhstan.The Saka people were fierce warriors who lived in steppes to the west and mountains to the east. However, they were skilled artisans who created intricate gold and other metalwork.Luke Syson, museum director, described the importance of the loaned artifacts as "incredibly important". We are excited to bring the Saka culture to life for our audience and we are grateful for our partnership with east Kazakhstan. Without this, enlightening exhibits like these would not be possible.The three east Kazakhstan burial sites that will form the basis of the exhibition are Eleke Sazy, Shilikty, and Berel.Governor of the Republic of Kazakhstan's east Kazakhstan region, Daniyal Akhmetov stated that the exhibition would highlight Kazakhstan's most remarkable archaeological discovery of recent times, the golden man discovered in the Eleke Sazy cemetery's mounds. This discovery dates back to the eighth-century BC.He stated that scientists had new opportunities to study the religion, worldview, and funeral rites for the Saka people in the extraordinary state of preservation.A gold dagger sheath with turquoise-lazuli inlays. Photo by Amy Jugg/PAHe said that Saka made truly exceptional jewellery masterpieces using advanced technological processes. They also constructed monumental and complex memorial, religious, and funerary monuments.We are optimistic that the exhibition and the research conducted around it will reveal new chapters in the history of the east Kazakhstan region and all humanity.The exhibition will be open until 28 September.
