Treasure trove

Buried treasure, yes, really: the Scythians sent their dead into their chilly grave mounds—or kurhany, in the great plains to the north of the Black Sea. Bodies lay wrapped in fine leathers and cloths, surrounded by the best for the afterlife: slaughtered horses, servants and goods —though the “servants” may not have been sacrifices, but relatives sharing a family burial vault. The gold gleams in a pair of bracelets finished with wolves’ heads or shines in delicate, jangling earrings. It looks soft as butter, stretched into fine wires or beaten into thin foils to decorate clothes and hats, whip handles and quivers. The Scythians flourished between…