1/ Between the Black & the Caspian Seas there is a rich & unique find, the Kurgan from Maykop. The Maykop culture, which existed between the years 3700-3000 BC is in fact the first Bronze Age culture in the Caucasus. So here's a #thread from #Archaeology_Online. >>
@nickfshort

2/ >> The Kurgan is a tumulus, a tomb under an artificial hill, like those in Mycenaean Greece. The burials in the a Kurgan vary, & some included animals. Their origin might be the Indo-European tribes from SE Europe in the 5th-3rd millennium BC. >>

* Kurgan interior.

3/ >> One can see the impact of the Kurgan burials on the world. It is thought that tombs of kings, like the various Thrace kings were influenced by the Kurgans. Some argue that the tomb of Philip II, father of Alexander the Great is a Kurgan. >>

* Philip's tomb entrance.

4/ >> This culture is parallel to the Scythian culture, who also buried in Kurgans. One thing that stands out in Kurgan excavations is the large quantities of jewelry & gold items. A tomb in the Crimean peninsula, contained many gold items, including a gold vase with carvings. >>

5/ >> Another rare and amazing find was found at a site in southern Ukraine. A large necklace, made entirely of pure gold, with carvings of humans, bulls, horses, a lion hunting a wild boar, and also some mythical animals like horses with wings. >>

6/ >> Large amounts of gold were found during archeological excavations in Kurgans all around the Caucasus and Ukraine. The gold items ranged from small finds like lions and small earrings, to a large find like a whole human-sized armor from gold found buried inside a Kurgan. >>

7/ >> Kurgans can be found all over SE Europe (like those in Poland), the gold finds in them lead to grave robbing attempts, some successful & some not. But there is no doubt, that the Kurgans are a great door to the world of the Early Bronze Age Caucasus cultures.

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