New Andronovo monuments in Karatau

The route-search detachment of the South-Kazakhstan complex archaeological expedition continued research on the western slopes of the Karatau ridges in the Yanykurgan district of the Kzyl-Orda region. A fascinating Bronze Age complex was excavated in the mountain valley of Kuyukty, on the left bank of a dried-up stream, at the very edge of a powerful diluvial plume.

It is a multi-chamber construction of massive slate slabs dug on the edge and three single rectangular fences. The main structure consisted of six rectangular chambers with long axes from the southeast to the northwest and several outbuildings. The average dimensions of the sections are 4.5 x 3.6 m; they have common southeastern sides. The chambers were filled with mountain sierozem with diluvium fragments included. In sections 3–5, at a depth of 1.0–1.2 m from the surface, grave pits were found, oriented from the northeast to the southwest and filled with fine rubble and loam. At a depth of about 1.5 m, stone slabs were found in five sections, placed obliquely at the southwestern or northeastern ends of the pits. Most of the holes were empty. The exceptions are sections 2 and 3. In section 2, under a layer of turf on the southwestern side, three slabs are open, laid flat and compact. Beneath them was a grave pit. Elongated from south-southeast to north-northwest. At a depth of 0.6 m, in the southeastern end of the oval pit, two molded vessels of the so-called "Alakul forms", nested one inside the other. Two-thirds of the surface of the body of the vessels are ornamented with a comb stamp: a “walking” meander, scalloped triangles, dotted belts. The bottom of the pit was covered with pieces of highly melted slag with calcined bones, making it possible to determine the burial rite. Section 3 had a hole stretched from the southwest to the northeast. At a depth of 1.5 m from the ancient horizon, two slabs were found leaning against the northeast corner of the pit. Under one of them, a fragment of rough molded ceramics and a knife-shaped blade of black flint were found.

Segment-like extensions were made to the western walls of sections 4 and 5. A rectangular fence (1.3х2.5 m) is “inscribed” in the segment of section 5, inside of which there was a smaller fence (1.0х1.2 m). It turned out that this is the crown of a rectangular chamber, built in five rows of spoons of stone blocks held together with clay. At the bottom of the chamber were two vessels: an Alakul pot decorated with a “walking” meander and a goblet relatively rare for Andronovo pottery in the form of a truncated cone without ornamentation. The chamber was filled with dense gray soil and covered with two slabs on top. A cylindrical chamber was in the center of section 6, similar to a well. Similar constructions, which are sometimes defined as altars, are widespread in the Late Bronze Age complexes of Sary-Arka. The "altar" had a mouth lined with a radial row of stone slabs, and its walls were reinforced with stones. It was covered with slate slabs from above, some of which collapsed inside.

Sections 7 and 8 looked like rectangular layouts of several rows of slabs dug into the ground, alternating with boulders lying on the horizon. In section 7, a passage corridor is traced from the east side.

A separate quadrangular enclosure was excavated 20 m northwest of the described complex. Inside it was an oval soil pit, covered with thick slabs and oriented from the northeast to the southwest. At the bottom of the pit, a crouched skeleton of a man was found, lying on his left side, with his head to the southwest, facing west. An Andronovo vessel stood at the head, decorated with two rows of zigzags made with a comb stamp.

Tentatively, the Kuyukty complex can be attributed to the late stage of the Alakul stage of the Andronovo culture. Andronovo sites in the Kuyukty valley are unique for the Karatau region. Until recently, only the Tautary burial ground was known here, discovered in the 50s on the northern slopes of the ridge. The detachment recorded several more rectangular fences made of significant boulders. Seven of them form a group on the first terrace of the Bes-Aryk river, 3 km downstream from the Kuyukty valley.