Research in the Oiyk reservoir flood zone

The Oyik group of the South Kazakhstan expedition of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR examined the flood zone of the Oyyk reservoir on the Ikansu river, 12 km northwest of the village of Ibata, Turkestan district, Chimkent region. Exploration revealed Neolithic sites, burial mounds, settlements, hydraulic structures, fields of ancient irrigation, wintering, cemeteries of the late feudal period. A detailed archaeological map has been compiled.

Selective excavations were carried out in burial mounds and at the Daulenbaitobe settlement. The cemeteries consist of chains of mounds of stone and earth. Each chain contains from 7 to 43 mounds. Burial mounds with and without riprap, rounded enclosures, rectangular and round flat excavations, and square enclosures have been found. Burials of the 1st-3rd centuries were made in earth grave pits with western orientation. Inventory: earthenware, iron knives.

The Daulenbaitobe settlement is an oval hill (45 X 20 m) in a plan, elongated from east to west. On the north side, a platform adjoins it. Two excavations (48x200 sq. m.) revealed a fortress wall 5 m wide, built of pakhsa blocks (49х6 cm). Fixed building structures of residential premises adjacent to the fortress wall hearths. The pottery of the settlement is represented by fragments of pots, jugs, mugs, khums. Collected stone hoes of oval and trapezoidal shape, grain grinders, pestles. Ceramics is similar to the materials of the sites of the Otrar oasis, the lower reaches of the Syr Darya, the northern slopes of Karatau. In general, the upper layer of the settlement are tentatively dated to the 3rd-5th centuries.

The semi-sedentary-semi-nomadic way of life of the population is well illustrated by the hydro-technical structures discovered here and the fields of ancient irrigation. Fixed ditches collect slope runoff water and bring it to the place of consumption.