Research in Kazakhstan

Central Kazakhstan expedition of the Institute of History, Archeology, and Ethnography of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR under the leadership of A.Kh. Margulan carried out excavations in the Karaganda, Kokchetav, and Pavlodar regions.   

In recent years, the Chaglinka detachment (headed by A.M. Orazbaev) has been excavating the Bronze Age settlement Chaglinka. The settlement is located in the Krasnoarmeisky district of the Kokchetav region, 3 km south of the village of Oktyabrskoye, on the right bank of the Chaglinka River. In the walls of a quadrangular shape dwelling 3 were visible traces of poles and the remains of rotten wood. On the floor were fragments of seven crushed pots. Two hearths made of small stones were cleared. Stone and bone tools were found: a hoe, pestles, ore crushers, rattles, dead ends, piercers, and flint and bone tips were erased; bronze items: two-pronged arrowheads, a knife of the East Kazakhstan type with a slotted handle, characteristic of the Late Bronze Age of Kazakhstan. Also, two deep pits were discovered on the floor of the dwelling. One of which was, apparently, a well; at the bottom of the well, wicker lining has been preserved.

Dwelling 4 also had a quadrangular shape and was oriented from west to east. Holes from pillars were traced along its walls. The dwelling had a partition, as indicated by the pits from posts that ran across the dwelling. In the eastern part of it, there was an accumulation of ash, along with fragments of ceramics. Possibly pots were molded here and burned at stake. Two pits were found on the floor in the western half, one of which turned out to be a well and the other a hearth. Many ceramics, animal bones, and bone tools were found in the dwelling.

Dwelling 14 in plan resembled the number 8, which indicated a two-chamber structure. Fragments of clay pots bones of small and horned cattle were found in the cultural layer. A dark spot was found in the southern half of the dwelling - possibly the hearth's place. Dwelling 9 had an oval depression oriented from west to east. Its eastern part was destroyed by erosion of the coast during spring floods in the Chaglinka river. From the side of the cliff, the transverse profile of the dwelling was visible. During the excavations, fragments of clay vessels, a bone puncture, a fish vertebra (?), slag, animal bones, a stone pestle, a rattle from a cow's jaw, and a stone grater were found. In the western half, a dark golden spot was seen - apparently, the place of the hearth. The excavation of the dwelling will be completed in the following field season.

Archaeological material obtained during excavations of dwellings suggests that the ancient inhabitants of the Chaglinka settlement (at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC) engaged in cattle breeding, hoe farming, weaving, and metallurgy. 

The Bronze Age burial ground consisting of small earth mounds is located 0.5 km northwest of the settlement. Under the mound of burial mounds on the ancient horizon, there were fences made of slate slabs dug in edgewise. Inside there were soil grave pits; sometimes, in the pit, there was a log house with several crowns. Burial rite - corpse-position. In the burials, in addition to the skeleton of individual bones of a person, there were fragments of pots, bronze beads, and bronze daggers with notches on the sides. The settlement and burial ground belonging to the Zamaraevo (Meshovskaya) culture.

The Kurgan detachment (headed by M.K. Kadyrbaev) focused on the study of little-known monuments of the second half of the 1st millennium BC and the 1st millennium AD. 

Further works were carried out at the Kyzyl-koy burial ground, which consisted of 18 barrows. A concentration of 15 earth mounds around three large stone mounds, elongated along a long axis from north to south, was observed. Seven burial mounds have been excavated. One of them is large - 36 m in diameter and 2 m high. The catacomb chamber of the large mound and most of the other burials were robbed. The remaining bronze rectangular buckle with a fixed tongue, a horn burr with spiral-shaped recesses painted with ocher, and a golden ribbed piercing allow us to attribute the studied burial mounds to the end of the 1st millennium BC. The burial of a young man with dice, discovered for the first time in Central Kazakhstan, arouses interest. His skeleton was in an oval-shaped earthen pit covered with stone slabs, and its head was turned to the northwest. 11 dice - astragalus lay in a pile at the left elbow joint. Four of them retained traces of red paint.

During excavations at the Korgan-tas burial ground, material relating to two historical periods was learned. The early period, corresponding to the 5th - 4th centuries BC, is most fully represented by the burial of a warrior from the burial mound "with a mustache." Among the finds, an iron acinaces and a gold overlay with the image of a tiger stand out. Acinaces, preserving the traditional forms of the heart-shaped cross of the Sauromatian and South Siberian acinaces of the middle of the 1st millennium BC, differs in the shape of the pommel. It is similar in shape to the Ust-Bukon pommel of a bronze dagger. In Altai (Bashadar), there are analogies to a golden plaque depicting a tiger, whose body is covered with zigzag lines. In addition to these items, bronze trihedral socketed arrowheads, two-hole bronze cheek-pieces, a grindstone, many stone beads, and blue paste beads belong to the early period. 

Three burials should be attributed to the second period, which was sharply distinguished by the peculiarities of the funeral rite. In them, the northeastern part of the soil grave pit, behind the buried head, was fenced off by a vertically placed stone slab. Here lay the heads of horses and rams. The amount of ritual food and the species composition of sacrificial animals in the burials are not the same. Most often, these are horses and sheep, less often - goats, and only in one case - cattle. An essential feature of the ritual is also the position of the horse's shoulder blades on the chest of the buried. Judging by the set of iron three-pronged stalked arrowheads, these burials should be attributed to the turn of our era. Of the other things, a bronze frame-shaped buckle draws attention, containing a highly stylized scene of a fantastic beast attacking a deer. In addition, bronze belt plaques, iron knives with a pronounced handle, beads made of a blue vitreous mass, crafts made from the tubular bones of a horse and a ram, and pendants made of gold wire were found.

The next object of work was the burial ground Kara-oba, located 27 km from the “Arkalyk” state farm from the Edrei mountains. The burial ground consisted of 87 mounds with stone and mixed mounds.

Most of them are grouped into two chains, stretched from north to south. The central part of the burial ground was occupied by a large mound "with a mustache," surrounded by a rectangular platform of one row of stone slabs laid flat. The mounds of 15 studied mounds were the natural collapse of wide rings of small stone. The burial pits are earthen, oval in shape, and covered with stone slabs. The skeletons lay in an extended position with their heads to the west. The accompanying inventory is small and consists of a bronze mirror with a rectangular eye on the edge of the disk, an oval-shaped stone altar, a bone needle, and piercings.

The mound, located somewhat apart from the excavated group, was very interesting. Under the stone embankment, there were two soil graves, repeating the variant of the funeral rite from Korgan-tas. Both buried lay on their backs, with their heads to the northeast. The implements (iron three-feathered petioles, arrowheads, knives) and ritual food at the head of the bed (heads of horses and rams) turned out to be the same. However, the southeastern burial was made, as stratigraphy shows, somewhat later than the main one. The reason for this "unplanned" burial was the death of one of the warriors. There were traces of two wounds on his skull: the first on the frontal and the second on the parietal bones. Judging by the holes, the tool (possibly coinage) that was hit had a rectangular rod.

The Zhezkazgan detachment (headed by A.Kh. Margulan) unearthed a large, "royal" and several smaller mounds of the Saka period and carried out an architectural study of some mausoleums located in the northwestern Betpak-dala.

The Semirechye expedition (headed by K.A. Akishev), consisting of four teams, conducted surveillance and excavations of monuments of different eras in the valleys of the Kegen, Talas, and Arys rivers and the Alakul depression. The Kegen detachment (headed by K.A. Akishev) carried out its work in two stages: 1) in the valley of the Arys river in South Kazakhstan and 2) in the valley of the Kegen river in the Eastern Semirechye.

In numerous gorges of the southern slopes of the Ketmen mountains (the right bank of the Kegen river), the last field season was carried out, which completed many years of research work. In four cemeteries, 35 burial mounds and stone fences dating back to the late Usun time (4th-6th centuries AD) were excavated. Burials were made in-ground graves, sometimes with a lining in the northern wall, oriented with a long axis from west to east. The deceased was buried in an extended position, on his back, with his head to the west. What is new in the studied burial grounds, in contrast to hundreds of mounds excavated in different regions of Semirechye, is a sharp increase in the number of clay vessels that were in one grave and the discovery of previously unknown burials "on the platform." All pottery is similar in form, dough, and molding technique to the well-known Saka-Usun ware of Semirechye. Pots with a broken body and a rope ornament imitating leather vessels appeared in a new form. It seems that this feature is a phenomenon of chronological order since the vessels of the described form are characteristic of the Turkic time.

Burials "on the platform" - a new type of grave construction. The deceased was laid on poles laid on two stone slabs placed at the bottom of a bottomless grave pit near the transverse walls. At the time of burial, therefore, the corpse was lying on a platform, rising above the bottom of the grave. Vessels with funeral food were on the platform.

The origin of the burial "on the dais" is not yet clear; the influence of the alien (Hunnic) culture cannot be ruled out. In the river valley, Arys detachment carried out work on the registration and topographic study of traces of medieval agricultural culture. Although earlier it was assumed that there are the remains of several cities, however, the work led to completely unexpected results: in a small area of ​​​​35-40 km along the middle course of the river from the village of Obruchevka to the village of Chubar, the ruins of 25 fortified settlements, cities and watchtowers dating back to the 6th-12th centuries were discovered. The remains of medieval rural settlements and cities were found at a distance of 2 - 3 km from each other in the low floodplain of the river, in areas where water could be supplied to irrigate fields and provide it to the needs of city residents.

Hillocks up to 20 m high now point to the place of the once flourishing cities. Such a height testifies to the thickness of cultural layers, to the centuries-old consistency of the remains of building structures.

The topography of the placement of watchtowers is quite unusual. They are located on a high terrace on the left bank of the river, 8-10 km from one another. Together, they form a system of guard fortifications, signaling and alerting residents of cities about the threat of an enemy attack.

The Talas detachment (headed by A. G. Maksimova) carried out work to the south and southeast of the ruins of Akyr-Tash, located 7 km south of the Ak-Chulak station (Sverdlovsk district, Dzhambul region).

25 barrows have been excavated in the Uzun-Bulak tract. At the base, they were lined with large stones. The mound on top was also lined with stone. Sometimes they are marked with a circle of rocks, the surface inside of which is covered with stone.

Burials were made in soil pits, oriented mainly from west to east with a slight deviation. The buried lay on their backs in an extended position, with their heads to the west, west-northwest, west - southwest. In the southwestern corner of some grave pits, there were small niches in which molded earthenware vessels (bowls, bowls, mugs) with a rounded bottom (with and without a handle) stood. Unfortunately, the burials were robbed, and the remaining inventory is represented by small iron knives placed on the funeral food (ram tails), glassy beads, and iron hairpins.

23 barrows have been excavated in the Karasha tract. In appearance and burial rituals, they are very close to those mined in the Uzun-Bulak tract. The grave goods are mainly represented by stucco clay vessels with a rounded, flattened, and a flat bottom (bowls, bowls, jugs), a fragment of a grain grater and a grater were found.

Two burials are of interest: one in a stone cist, the other in a ground grave pit. Near the shoulder of the person's right hand buried in a stone cist, there was a flat-bottomed earthenware vessel (jug) with a high neck, made on a potter's wheel. Buried in a soil, almost square grave pit, oriented from the west-northwest to east - southeast, he also lay on his back in an extended position, with his head to the west. The carcass of a lamb was laid near the femur of the right leg.

In the Kyzyl-Kainar tract, the burial ground consisted of two groups of burial mounds: the northern one - nine mounds arranged in a chain, and the southern one - 14 mounds located in disorder, with and without stone mounds (marked with stones on the surface). Burials in soil burial pits (one in a stone cist) related to the Usun and Turks were found under mounds with a stone embankment. Of the barrows burials, one of the Bronze Age was investigated, and the rest were Usuns in soil grave pits, covered across with stone slabs. The buried in the Bronze Age lay on his back in an extended position, with his head to the west-northwest. The right hand rested on the pelvic bones. Near it was found a flat-bottomed jar-shaped earthenware vessel, ornamented with a broken line drawn with a stick. Found a fragment of a bronze knife. The funeral inventory of the Usun is represented by clay vessels similar in shape and manufacturing technique to those found in the tracts of Uzun-Bulak and Karasha.

Burials in stone cist were left by newcomers, possibly from East Kazakhstan.

The Choltoba detachment (headed by M.S. Mershchiev) continued excavations of the settlement on the northern slope of the Kirghiz Ala-Tau (Dzhambul region, near the Ak-Chulak railway station). Before the excavations, it was a small, gently sloping mound covered with dense thickets of thorns and wormwood. The locals call it Chol-Tobe, which means a dry, waterless, lifeless mound. It is located at the confluence of two dry places and consists, as it were, of two parts: a central elevated platform up to 3 m, with a diameter of about 80 m and an underestimated placed platform up to 1.5 m high adjoining it in a semicircle from the south.

Most of the settlement has been excavated, mainly on an elevated platform. An architectural complex with a layout similar in shape to a square was revealed here. The complex consisted of several quadrangular adjoining rooms, elongated along the outer contour and forming a closed square courtyard. On each side, there were two or three corridor-type rooms. Almost all of them have one or two doorways leading to the courtyard, and the rooms on the western side also have an exit to the outside.

The premises were covered with a box vault built of large trapezoidal mud bricks. Often in the walls at floor level, there were small stoves in the form of fireplaces, which probably served for cooking and heating.

Fragments of molded clay vessels, ceramic and stone spindle whorls, stone grain graters, pestles, sharpeners, graters, burnishers, and various bone crafts were found on the premises and collected many bones of domestic animals.

In the middle of the inner courtyard, there was a monumental building with a rounded contour of the walls on the outside (probably it had a cruciform layout).

The central building was a corridor-shaped room, rectangular in plan, 11 m long, and about 2 m wide. In the southern wall, at the height of 1 m from the floor, there was a niche with traces of calcination. Two almost three-meter deep pits in the floor were filled with completely clean ash. Fragments of a ceramic brazier and vessels were found on the floor, more richly ornamented compared to vessels from other rooms in the settlement.

This building is unique for the territory of Kazakhstan. Judging by the central position in the complex, monumentality, originality of planning, isolation from living quarters found inside it, it was a temple. The presence in the settlements of a large number of grain graters, pestles, the remains of half-burned grains of millet, straw, cereals in mud bricks testifies to the significant role of agriculture in the economy of the population. However, with a large number of bones of domestic animals, cattle breeding also occupied a considerable place. 

Clay dishes (pots, jugs, mugs, braziers) in terms of manufacturing technique, material quality, forms, motifs, and methods of ornamenting find the closest analogs in the materials of the Ak-Tobe settlement.

There is also a similarity in the architecture of buildings, in the elements of planning and construction, in particular in the location in the central part of the settlement of a monumental complex with a rounded structure and an adjoining utility yard.

However, the overlapping of the premises in settlement of Chol-Tobe indicates a somewhat later time of its occurrence compared to Ak-Tobe. Raw bricks of this size and shape in the masonry of vaults are widely known in the monuments of the third quarter of the 1st millennium AD, which gives the right to attribute the described settlement to this period.

The Alakol detachment (headed by G.A. Kushaev) established the Alakol depression - the valleys of the Karatal, Sarkanda, Lepsy, Tentek, and the coast of Alakol Lake is replete with monuments of various types belonging to different historical periods.

The most ancient monuments should be considered the locations of flint tools - knife-shaped blades, end scrapers, numerous chips, small fragments of ceramics found on takyrs of dunes on the right bank along the middle course of the river Karatal and the slopes of dunes along the right bank of the river Chogan-Togay.

The next period of ancient history is reflected in the monuments of the Bronze Age in the On-Agash tract on the southern shore of the Lake Alakol and individual burials in the area of the village of Kapal. The Bronze Age burial excavated in the On-Agash tract was discovered by accident. The skeleton lay in a ground pit in a strongly crouched position, on its left side, with its head to the west. The burial inventory - bronze earrings with a bell, beads, pendants, fragments of a bracelet, a fragment of an earthen vessel - allows us to attribute it to the Alakul stage of the Andronovo culture. The clearing of two semi-dugouts was also carried out here. Small fragments of ceramics and animal bones found at the same time will allow us to preliminarily attribute them to the same stage of the Bronze Age.

The most numerous were the monuments of the early Iron Age burial mounds. Of particular interest are the burial mounds in the Kok-Sai tract, built of rounded river pebbles, known among the population under the name "Koitas", and burials in the square enclosures of the Arasan II burial ground.

A direct connection with the Turkic period is the open monuments of the urban settled agricultural culture in the northeast of Semirechye. Settlements in the valleys of the rivers Karatal, Sarkand, Lepsy, Tentek are new evidence of the former urban culture in the Alakol depression. A detailed study of these unique monuments will make it possible to make serious adjustments to the hypotheses about the ways of formation and development of the settled agricultural culture of Semirechye. 

The team also collected new data on rock carvings and ancient workings in the Alakol depression.