Shilikty

Shilikty
Geographical rangeSouth Siberia
Dates7-6th centuries BCE
Major sites43°32′59″N 78°17′00″E / 43.549697°N 78.283366°E / 43.549697; 78.283366
Preceded byKarasuk culture
Followed byAldy-Bel culture, Pazyryk culture, Tagar culture

Shilikty (Ru: Шиликты курганы), formerly Chilikti, also more precisely Baigetobe Kurgans (Ru: Курганы Байгетобе) in Shilikty Valley, is an archaeological site in eastern Kazakhstan, located in the Chilik river basin. At this site, numerous 8th-6th century BCE Early Saka kurgans were found. Carbon-14 dating suggests a more refined date of 730-690 BCE for the kurgans, and a broad contemporaneity with the Arzhan-2 kurgan in Tuva.

The Kurgans contained vast quantities of precious golden jewelry. Remains of a "golden man" (similar to the Issyk kurgan golden man) were found in 2003, with 4262 gold finds.