This was in early August 1958. On an unremarkable field on the right bank of the river. Shamshi in the Chui Valley, collective farmers were harvesting. Suddenly the left rear wheel of the combine unit fell through. The car tilted sharply, almost overturned, but resisted. When they pulled it out with the help of another tractor, they saw an underground chamber, the ceiling of which could not withstand the multi-ton weight. The camera was half-buried by a landslide, and gold flashed under a thin layer of earth … A lot of gold!
The foreman was the first to recover from an understandable shock, as it should be. Having shown maximum efficiency, he and two collective farmers stayed at the bottom, and sent one to the village council in a passing car. The foreman strictly ordered his subordinates not to go down into the hole, not to touch a single thing. The village council, having learned about the incident, immediately called the district police and the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz SSR. Police officers and archaeologists did not keep themselves waiting long. The first changed the collective farm guard, established a cordon and did not allow the curious to interfere with the work of scientists. And archaeologists, barely holding back the excitement, with a scalpel and a thin brush cleared the treasures that had lain in the ground for about 1,500 years. You shouldn't worry! The only unlawful, very rich burial of the era of the Great Migration was found in the USSR. By the very end of the work of archaeologists, an authoritative evaluation committee arrived in time. According to our Soviet law, all treasures are the property of the state. But, following the letter of the law, the one who found the treasure and handed it over to the state is paid a remuneration equal to 25% of the total value of the treasure. The lucky ones got their reward. Some bought cars, others rebuilt solid houses, and science enriched itself even more - after all, the burial was not disturbed, all things were in their places. What material for analysis!others rebuilt solid houses, and science was enriched even more - after all, the burial was not disturbed, all the things were in their places. What material for analysis!others rebuilt solid houses, and science was enriched even more - after all, the burial was not disturbed, all the things were in their places. What material for analysis!
It should be so. But that was not the case.
And it was like this … People jumped into the hole, raked the ground with their hands, grabbed jewelry, tore off the tiara, bracelets, and rings from their bones. Then, as "honest" people and "kind" fellow villagers, they piled up priceless treasures and honestly divided them into four parts (according to the number of participants in the robbery). Truly "people are dying for metal …"
So the treasure, the legitimate property of the republic, would have disappeared, turning into tasteless trinkets or dentures. But you can't hide a sewing in a sack. There was still a citizen who reported the find. The operative, delicate psychological work of employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and scientists from the Academy of Sciences of the republic saved the Shamshinskie finds. Soon after a clever one-on-one conversation with everyone, the "lucky ones" voluntarily and completely surrendered the loot.
Many years later, the author had to conduct excavations near the famous Shamshinskiy kurgan. Fate unexpectedly brought the archaeologist and the unwitting robber of the mound together. He himself told about what happened. According to him, if he knew the legislation, he would immediately surrender the treasures to the state. In addition, he believed that he had discovered not ancient works of art of unique scientific value, but the burial of a bai from the time of collectivization.
Hence the conclusion: it is imperative to strengthen the popular explanation of both the legislation on historical and cultural monuments and the propaganda of the monuments themselves.
What did the scientists manage to find out, who, of course, through no fault of their own, arrived very late? P. N. Kozhemyako and D. F. Vinnik took part in the additional exploration of the Shamshi mound. Scientists interviewed the participants in the find and unearthed the remains of the burial. It turned out that in this field there was a large group of burial mounds, which in 1956 were demolished to expand plowing (a gross violation of Soviet legislation. It was necessary to first create conditions for the study of burial mounds by archaeologists). The Shamshi mound was approximately 20 m in diameter and 2 m in height. The burial structure consisted of a pit-like dromos. The entrance to the catacomb was in the long wall of the pit and was filled with three large boulders. The catacomb was located parallel to the dromos. According to our classification, according to the construction of the burial structure, the mound belonged to the Kyzart type of the Aigyrdzhal group. The burial was performed in a wooden coffin made of thin boards, which were fastened with bronze brackets. The woman's skeleton lay on her back in an extended position. The skull was artificially deformed during its lifetime. Almost all gold items were found in the skull and chest area. At the feet outside the coffin stood a bronze cauldron with a smoked surface. Outside the coffin were: horse harness, ram bones, an earthen jug and other things.an earthen jug and other things.an earthen jug and other things.
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All finds were carefully described by P. N. Kozhemyako and I. K. Kozhomberdiev. Here, the description of only a small number of the Shamshins collection has been deliberately reduced to a minimum, so as not to turn it into a dull list that only specialists will read with interest.
Gold products. Full sheet gold face mask. The eyeballs are marked with large light yellow carnelians. The sharp straight nose is riveted, the mouth is marked by a depressed groove. On the face, punctures (imitation of a tattoo?) Mark an ornament in the form of three stylized Christmas trees.
Round-bottomed cup with a loop-shaped vertical handle. Has traces of rough repairs.
A diadem (headdress) of a very complex design made of many component parts. It is based on a round silver hoop, decorated with amber. Upward from the hoop, forming a hemisphere and closing at the top, there were strips of gold. More than 60 cylindrical pendants hung down from the hoop.
Medallion with intricate chains, in the center of which is a bust of a woman carved from a red garnet.
A necklace in which gold leaf-shaped pendants alternate with dark red garnets set in the frame.
Three types of paired compound pendants with cloisonné frames and beading (6 pieces).
Two absolutely identical rings. On the outer rim of the ring, flagella, woven from two wires, are soldered along the edges. Shield of rings with three pomegranate inserts surrounded by grains.
Four hollow balls, the surface of which is covered with round cells made of soldered gold strips. The balls have through holes for hanging. Two of the same balls, but the cells are made in the form of an eight.
Silverware. Leather belt with two buckles. The entire canvas of the belt is decorated with rows of plates and studs with hemispherical caps, which form a complex ornament.
Two cylindrical boxes with lids. Round plaque with belts of grain and amber inserts.
Over 30 round plaques with red glass inserts.
A toilet spoon with a round reservoir and a long handle.
Musical instrument (?) With a neck, coated with engraved silver sheet.
The woman wore 8 bracelets on her wrists, made from solid pieces of smoky, matte and various tones of brownish jade.
On this it is appropriate to end the list of personal jewelry and household items of a noble nomadic lady of the 5th century. from Shamshi, which, even in a very abbreviated form, resembles an inventory of the treasures of Ali Baba's cave. But in the mound was also found a luxurious horse harness, ornamented with a multitude of artistic ornaments made of bronze, silver, silver with gilding and gems, parts of silk robes, items of unknown purpose.
The Shamshinskaya find is not the only one in Kyrgyzstan. Similar items were found by I. K. Kozhomberdiev in the Ketmen-Tyube valley, in Talas, Y. D. Baruzdin and A. K. Abetekov - in the Alai, K. I. Tashbaeva - in the Central Tien Shan. Now, thanks to the works of Kyrgyz archaeologists, the Historical Museum of Bishkek has collected one of the richest collections of jewelry of nomads of that time. It is only slightly inferior to the famous collection in the Hermitage.
PN Kozhemyako and DF Vinnik handed over the finds to the Historical Museum of Frunze, where they are kept "with seven seals." But you won't see them on the stands of the museum. The full publication of these treasures has not yet taken place. Only a narrow circle of specialists knows about them. The rarest values extracted from the earth were buried in the heavy safes of the museum. The time has come to exhibit the Kyrgyz archaeological art gold, of course, with a full guarantee of preservation, for a wide viewing. This property of the republic should in fact become the spiritual property of our contemporaries.
V. Mokrynin "Archeology and history of ancient and medieval Kyrgyzstan"