DOCUMENTED OUTFIT · CLOSED CONTEXT OR CONTROLLED COMPARISON

Steppe kurgans

The grave goods of Arzhan 2 and Pazyryk

These burials preserved gold ornaments, weapons and materials uncommon in other graves, such as clothing, felt and leather.

Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.

Contextual image of Arzhan-2 in the Valley of the Kings for the assemblage Steppe Barrows — **DECLARED VISUAL RECONSTRUCTION · AI-GENERATED IMAGE · TRACEKEEPERS**
Generated reconstruction · Declared visual hypothesis
Declared visual reconstruction; not a photograph of the original nor documentary evidence.

History and context

Little-altered contexts and permafrost allow the study of organic materials, clothing and animal style.

Representative objects: Double burial with 9,300 objects, 5,700 of gold; clothing, weapons, carpet, felts, wood, leather, cart and horses.

Evidence and interpretation

Documented fact: Little-altered contexts and permafrost allow the study of organic materials, clothing and animal style. Mandatory caution: Scythian and Saka gather regional traditions. Affinities and imports do not create a single nation; the origin of the Pazyryk carpet remains debated.

Catalogue facts

Date: 7th–4th centuries BCE
Location: Tuva and Altai
Complex: Double burial with 9,300 objects, 5,700 of gold; clothing, weapons, carpet, felts, wood, leather, cart and horses
Level: Trousseau or funerary context with visible caution

A SHARED TOPIC, DIFFERENT MOMENTS

Objects connected through time

Follow a topic across the collections. A shared tag is a way to compare objects, not proof that one culture influenced another.

The order uses the midpoint of each approximate date range; ranges can overlap. Spacing does not represent elapsed time. Swipe, scroll or use the arrows. With the sequence focused, use ← / →, Home or End.

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7th–4th centuries BCE

Steppe kurgans

Scythians and Saka

Comparative framework of various barrows and grave goods.

Current record

Funerary contexts54 dated objects

29 / 54In the centre: Steppe kurgans

Also connected, without a comparable date (10)

These objects are not placed after the others: an unknown date does not mean a more recent object.

A Kerma vessel deposited at AbydosAncient Egypt · Second Intermediate Period
A vase travels; the rite changesIberians · No individual dating published on this record
CemeteryIndus civilisation · ca. 2600–1900 BCE
Daegok-ri grave goodsGojoseon and early Korea · from c. 5th century BCE
Four panopliesIberians · No individual dating published on this record
Livestock and moundsNubia, Kerma and Kush · c. 2050–1500 BCE
Shum LakaBantu-speaking worlds · c. 8,000 and 3,000 years before present
The quarry remained visibleGojoseon and early Korea · Mainly 6th–5th centuries BCE
Three hundred lives in the sandYayoi Japan · Mainly 4th century BCE–3rd century CE
Urns from AdichanallurVedic and later Indian worlds · Iron Age · samples towards 665 and 467 BCE

You can scroll the first group without JavaScript. The other topics are also available below.

Jewellery and adornment

Hohle Fels · ≈40,000 years · Aurignacian · Prehistory
'Jamila's' necklace · ≈7250–7000 BCE · Prehistory
The Gold of Varna · Towards 4600–4200 BCE · Thracians
Puabi headdress · ca. 2600–2450 BCE · Sumer
Cemetery R-37 · ca. 2550–2030 BCE · Indus civilisation
Carnelian beads · ca. 2600–1900 BCE · Indus civilisation
Grave Circle A and Chrysolakkos · 18th–16th centuries BCE · Greek worlds
Burial at K IV · circa 1750–1550 BCE · Nubia, Kerma and Kush
Tutankhamun's grave goods · death towards 1323 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Fu Hao’s burial goods · ca. 1200 BCE · Ancient China
Before the Iberias · Final Bronze, c. 1000 BCE · Iberians
Tomb 1 at Kuntur Wasi · c. 800 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
Beads from Cerro de los Vientos · 8th–7th centuries BCE · orientalizing · Iberians
Gold at Kuntur Wasi · c. 800–550 BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
Regolini-Galassi tomb · ca. 675–650 BCE · Etruscans and Rome
Condomina Earring · 6th century BCE · Iberians
Steppe kurgans · 7th–4th centuries BCE · Scythians and Saka — You are viewing
Vix Tomb · c. 500 BCE · Celtic worlds
La Venta grave goods · ca. 600–400 BCE · Maya worlds
Ezerovo Ring · 5th century BCE · chronology discussed in the bibliography · Thracians
Grave goods of Baza and Toya · First half of the 4th century BCE · Iberians
Treasure of Jávea · 4th century BCE · Iberians
Susa grave goods · c. 350 BCE · Achaemenid Persia
Punic head pendant · Mid 4th–3rd centuries BCE · Phoenicians
Treasure of Cheste · Jewellery from the 4th–3rd centuries BCE; concealment at the end of the 3rd century BCE. · Iberians
Marina Alta Hoard · Jewellery: 5th–2nd centuries BCE; concealment probably around 80–73 BCE. · Iberians
Golyamata Kosmatka · End of the 4th century – beginning of the 3rd century BCE; ritual burial at the beginning of the III according to Iskra. · Thracians
Mairena Hoard · 3rd century BCE · Iberians
Chão de Lamas pectoral · 3rd–2nd centuries BCE · concealed in the early 1st century BCE · Iberians
Fibula from Lancia · ≈300–100 BCE · Iberians
Northern mound · 2nd–1st centuries BCE · Yayoi Japan
Horse fibula · 2nd century BCE · disputed chronology · Iberians
Simancas-type belt buckle · Second half of the IV century–V century CE · Iberians
Pakal’s grave goods · sealed on 28 August 683 CE · Maya worlds
Missing grave goods · 13th–15th centuries according to the heritage overview · Bantu-speaking worlds

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

Dressing to be seen · 6th–1st centuries BCE · Iberians

Arms and military equipment

Bilateral harpoon · ≈15,000 years · Magdalenian · Prehistory
Nahal Hemar Knives · 8th millennium BCE · Pre-Pottery Neolithic B context · Prehistory
Holmegaard bow · ≈7000 BCE · Prehistory
Gebel el-Arak knife · 3600–3200 BCE · Naqada II C–D · Ancient Egypt
Narmer Palette · ca. 3100 BCE · Ancient Egypt
Stele of the Vultures · Towards 2450–2425 BCE · Sumer
Naram-Sin Stele · Reign of Naram-Sin, 2254–2218 BCE · Sumer
Before Phoenicia · 20th–18th centuries BCE · Phoenicians
Talayotic sword · ≈1200–1000 BCE · destruction of the talayot towards 790 BCE · Iberians
The lute-shaped dagger · Towards 1000–400 BCE · Gojoseon and early Korea
Steppe kurgans · 7th–4th centuries BCE · Scythians and Saka — You are viewing
Bow and arrows in a case · 5th–4th centuries BCE · Scythians and Saka
Coțofenești helmet · Second half of the 5th century – beginning of the 4th century BCE · Thracians
Grave goods of Baza and Toya · First half of the 4th century BCE · Iberians
A battle on a comb · Early 4th century BCE · Scythians and Saka
The Solokha gold comb · 4th century BCE · Greek worlds
453 astragali from Alarcos · 4th–3rd centuries BCE · necropolis chronology · Iberians
Falcata from Almedinilla · 4th–3rd centuries BCE · Iberians
The blade became straight · 5th–1st centuries BCE · Gojoseon and early Korea
Vas dels Guerrers · 3rd–early 2nd century BCE · Iberians
Warriors' Vase · 3rd–2nd centuries BCE · Iberians
The Shield that Did Not Fight · Around 350–50 BCE · Celtic worlds
Gladiators Cup of Chavagnes · 25–75 CE · Etruscans and Rome
Thracian Gladiator from Cádiz · 67–100 CE · Etruscans and Rome

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

Daegok-ri grave goods · from c. 5th century BCE · Gojoseon and early Korea
Dance with weapons · Towards 400 BCE. Xenophon's story · Thracians
Four panoplies · No individual dating published on this record · Iberians
Tools in relation · ca. 1947 · Batwa / Twa histories
Weapons under the Lake · Mainly 3rd–1st centuries BCE · Celtic worlds

Textiles

Tarkhan Dress · ca. 3482–3102 BCE (95 % probability) · Ancient Egypt
Steppe kurgans · 7th–4th centuries BCE · Scythians and Saka — You are viewing
The oldest knotted carpet · 5th–4th centuries BCE · Scythians and Saka
The Karwa textile · 4th–3rd centuries BCE · Pre-Inca cultures
Two rows of coffins · Mainly Middle Yayoi, 2nd century BCE–1st century CE · Yayoi Japan
Hunter’s tunic · early 20th century · Mande Worlds

Without a comparable date (not part of the chronological order):

Dressing to be seen · 6th–1st centuries BCE · Iberians

A closer look

About 1 min to read · 1 section. Further reading and sources · free access. Editorial review recorded: September 5, 2026.

Used objects, or objects made for the funeral?

Wear distinguishes histories within the Arzhan 2 grave goods. The large male neck ring shows clear signs of use, while many other gold pieces retain little-altered surfaces. The 2024 technological study proposes that a significant part may have been fabricated shortly before the burial for its funerary presentation. It does not demonstrate that every piece was new, but it does question the idea that the entire burial gathered belongings used for years. The iron weapons with gold and silver inlays add another speciality to the metalwork involved in that commission.

Research · Barbara Armbruster and Caspar Meyer · Gold Artifacts from the Early Scythian Princely Tomb Arzhan 2 (2024)Access recorded: September 5, 2026.

Sources and references

Consult the institutional funeral context

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History and context

Evidence and interpretation

Catalogue facts

Steppe kurgans

Brno II Articulated Figure

'Jamila's' necklace

The Gold of Varna

El Miradero spatula-idols

Guadancil idol-plaque

Staff of Anta 4

Abydos Boats

Queen's Lyre

Puabi headdress

Standard of Ur

Cemetery R-37

Kerma vessel

Grave Circle A and Chrysolakkos

Burial at K IV

Before Vedic India

Osmankayası and Ilıca

Tutankhamun's grave goods

Fu Hao’s burial goods

The voice of Ahiram

Before Etruscans and Rome

The urn under the helmet

Tomb 1 at Kuntur Wasi

Beads from Cerro de los Vientos

Ceramic stand 1010

Regolini-Galassi tomb

Shabti of Psamtek

Two voices in an urn

The great Greek krater of Vix

Steppe kurgans

Vix Tomb

La Venta grave goods

Sarcophagus of Eshmunazar

Banquet under leopards

Twenty-six voiceless signs

The oldest knotted carpet

The statue was the urn

Grave goods of Baza and Toya

The Attic krater that took on a new life in Cástulo

The silver amphora of Chertomlyk

The Kul-Oba vase

Susa grave goods

Faces of the Steppe

Lady of Ibiza

453 astragali from Alarcos

Lady of Ibiza

Falcata from Almedinilla

Golyamata Kosmatka

The blade became straight

Geometry in very fine lines

Northern mound

Two rows of coffins

Kabusanza, ca. 400

Pakal’s grave goods

Missing grave goods

A closer look

Used objects, or objects made for the funeral?

Sources and references

Did you enjoy this exhibit?