0Brimming with research from recent excavations, this book presents artifacts from the sophisticated burial mounds of the fierce warriors of East Kazakhstan, the Saka. Nearly three thousand years ago, the Saka people lived rich, complex lives and produced intricate gold and other metalwork. By exploring what the Saka left behind, we can start to understand how their society lived, how they traveled, and what they believed in.

Gold of the Great Steppe details the results of recent excavations and new archaeological research from East Kazakhstan, complemented by contributions from a team of international scholars and experts. Rich accompanying images include photographs of intricate gold artifacts in the Saka-Scythian animal style and landscape and aerial photography of Saka burial mounds. Grounded in decades of careful study--including papers by professors Zainolla Samashev and Abdesh Toleubayev, the two leading Kazakhstani archaeologists of the East Kazakhstan region--this volume demonstrates current archaeological thinking in Kazakhstan today.