Another find from Kazakhstan, at Kultube in the south, of a Sarmatian woman buried with mirrors and in a robe adorned with 80 rolled golden plates. (Also crystal and ruby jewelry, but its not clear if that was from the same tomb, as hers was part of three deep (5 meters!) burials under mounds.) The scientists believe they belong to the mysterious and poorly studied state of Kang-kü or Kangju. The state existed from the 2nd century BC until the 4th century AD and was a nomadic federation of unknown ethnic and linguistic origin. They were one of the greatest powers on the territory of Central Asia for about two centuries and even the Chinese had to reckon with this power in the West. Still, little is known about Kangju. ... The historians believe that Kangju state was polyethnic and consisted of Sarmatians, Saks (Saka), Huns and possibly Alans. Many rich Sarmatian womens burials have been found, often with golden headdresses and mirrors. Jeanine Davis Kimball who has excavated and studied these sites, puts forward evidence that some of these womens grave goods were linked to spiritual activity as (shamanic) priestesses. The headdresses, with their fusion of steppe animal style, trees of life, and hellenistic goddesses, tend to bear this out, while golden plaques depict a female deity, ancestor, or living leader. Sarmatian is the latinate spelling of Sauromatae, a group that Herodotus wrote had sprung from a union of Amazons with the Scythians. They spoke a language related to Scythian and Saka (spoken in central Asia by the Pazyryk and Ukok peoples), all classified as Indo-Iranian languages. 3.bp.blogspot/-Lms41Jay860/U9kTmPcgNxI/AAAAAAABEvU/iNoTa-PXKOM/s1600/Kazakhstan_06.jpg
Posted on: Mon, 25 Aug 2014 03:47:08 +0000