2,200-year-old gold bear figurine and surprising number of bones found in massive burial mound in Kazakhstan

Archaeologists have found a 2,200-year-old golden bear in an Iron Age burial in Kazakhstan that may have held seven people.

Archaeologists in Kazakhstan have discovered a unique gold bear figurine in a 2,200-year-old burial mound that looters had hit but failed to empty completely.

The sculpted bear stands on its hind limbs and holds a pot-like container between its front paws. The artifact would have been worn as part of a headdress, and holes at its base indicate that it could have been sewn onto the garment, according to a translated statement from the Kazakhstan government.

The gold bear was unearthed at an Early Iron Age burial mound at the Karagaily burial ground in the southern city of Almaty, along with a surprisingly high number of human bones for a single burial mound.

Although other gold-crafted animals have been found in the region, the newly unearthed bear is the first of its…