Ancient petroglyphs of Tesik gorge

The article presents the cultural and chronological attribution of the petroglyphic complex of the Tesik tract in the Aitau mountains, investigated by the expedition of the A.H. Margulan Institute of Archaeology under the leadership of A.A. Goryachev in the field seasons 2019-2020. The Aitau Mountains are located in the northwestern part of the Shuiley-Kindyktas uplands on the territory of the Shuisky and Kordai districts of the Zhambyl region. Due to their geographical location, they are one of the most convenient routes of the oldest transit corridor between Central Kazakhstan and Northern Tianshan. Despite this, full–scale archaeological research began here, including by the authors, relatively recently - in the 2000s.The primary exploration of the ancient monuments of this region was carried out mainly on the route of the Taorenburg–Verny, built in the early twentieth century, and in the neighboring mountains of Khantau, Zhyngyldy and Kulzhabasy.

In 2018-2020 . the complex of archaeological monuments of this mountain system was explored, where about 30 settlements, burial grounds, clusters of petroglyphs of the Bronze Age and Early Iron were discovered and documented (the work was carried out within the framework of the grant financing project of the Committee of Science of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan on the topic: "The Khantau Transit Corridor in the Paleometallic era").Petroglyphs in the Aytau mountains are found in groups in places where ancient settlements and burial grounds are localized. The presence of drawings of different epochs on the nearby rocks testifies to the residence of ancient pastoralists here at different historical stages. Usually small clusters of rock carvings up to several dozen petroglyphs are recorded here, and their most significant complex is marked near the burial ground of the Bronze Age and Early Iron Tesik-I. Their study in the Tesik tract began in 2019 with the discovery and primary fixation of a complex of rock carvings on rocks near the burial ground of the Bronze Age. In 2020, petroglyphs were recorded on the next ridge on four more hills located north of the edge of the tract. Separate planes with petroglyphs were found further to the west and east of the valley with an ancient burial ground. At the initial stage, rock carvings located 100-400 m north of the burial ground of the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age Tesik-I were examined. The identification of rock carvings of the Tesik tract was carried out by methods of archaeological exploration of ancient archaeological complexes on the territory of the Zhetysu steppe zone, in particular, the Shu-Iley interfluve. Analysis of the materials of previous studies suggested that petroglyphs may well be found either on rock slabs near the ancient settlements of the tract, or on the nearest hill opposite the largest glacier Tesik-I of the Bronze Age and Early Iron. If the clusters of rock carvings in the settlements belong to the category of so-called "home" sanctuaries, then others are associated with the establishment of common ancestral or tribal cemeteries. Each category of sanctuaries has its own specific topographical features, structural organization and semantics of the main images and plots.The practical study of the petroglyphic complex of the Tesik tract consisted in the detailed fixation and copying of petroglyphs with subsequent processing of copies in laboratory conditions. Cultural and chronological attribution of individual drawings and plots was made, graphic tables of materials were compiled. The methods of chronological identification of petroglyphs of the Tesik tract are based on the analysis of the degree of patinization of slabs and rock paintings, the identification of stylistic features of rock paintings and the analysis of palimpsests in multilayer compositions. The layers of different-time petroglyphs identified during the study formed the basis for the analysis of their repertoire.The obtained data became the basis for the theoretical developments presented in the present study. As a result of comparing the materials of the Tesik petroglyph complex with the monuments of the adjacent regions of Zhetysu, Saryarki and Karatau, an attempt was made to determine its position in the system of archaeological monuments of the southern regions of Kazakhstan. The archaeological complex with the Tesik petroglyphs was discovered in the central and western parts of the tract of the same name (Shusky district, Zhambyl region).

The rocks with drawings stretch from west to east for 2.5 km. Their main array was found on four hills to the north of the Bronze Age tomb Tesik-I. A characteristic feature of this section of the western part of the tract is the presence of a low ridge, which closes the space of the glacier on the eastern side. It turns out that the burial complex is located inside a territory surrounded on all sides by low hills, the northern part of which is occupied by rock carvings.In total, more than 300 rock carvings have been found in the area of the Bronze Age burial ground Tesik-I, among which there are both single petroglyphs, mainly with images of zoomorphic figures, and large planes with multi-layered compositions. The rock carvings are carved on separate stone ridges in the middle and upper part of the hills on the plates of the southern and southwestern expositions. The knockout varies in depth and technique. The structural organization and location of this complex makes it possible to classify it as sanctuaries organized near ancient burial grounds of the Bronze Age and Early Iron. This gives reason to compare it with such monuments of the region as Tamgaly, Karakyr, Ma-dyarsai, Zhyngyldy and petroglyphs of other districts of Zhetysu.