Bronze Age girl buried with more than 150 animal ankle bones in Kazakhstan

The burial mound of a Bronze Age girl unearthed in Kazakhstan contains a plethora of grave goods, including dozens of animal bones that may have been used for ceremonial purposes and a carving of a frog on a bronze disc.

cArchaeologists in Kazakhstan have unearthed a burial mound of a Bronze Age girl surrounded by a variety of grave goods.

Archaeologists in eastern Kazakhstan have unearthed a Bronze Age burial mound of a girl surrounded by various grave goods in the Ainabulak-Temirsu Necropolis.

The young girl was laid to rest with a number of peculiar grave goods, including 180 animal ankle bones and a small, exquisite silver accessory depicting a frog on a disc.

The excavations are carried out together with experts from the University of Cambridge and under the direction of Rinat Zhumatayev, Head of Al-Farabi Kazakh National University (KazNU) Archaeology, Ethnology, and Muzology Department. The ongoing excavations have gained momentum since 2016 when the journey to explore the region’s historical treasures commenced in the Zaisan district, spearheaded by Abdesh Toleubaev.

According to The Astana Times, an English-language news outlet in Kazakhstan, the girl’s grave is located near Ainabulak village in the east of the country and dates from Central Asia’s Bronze Age, which lasted from roughly 3200 B.C.E. until 1000 B.C.E.