Excavations in Northern Kazakhstan
The Ural-Kazakhstan expedition of the Chelyabinsk University completed the study of the Aktau settlement, located on a high cape on the right bank of the Ishim River, 6 km north of Petropavlovsk. In 1980, 620 sq. m of the cultural layer with a thickness of 0.4-0.5 m was excavated (in three years - 1730 sq. m). The remains of 8-10 ground dwellings were investigated and the general layout of the village was established. Dwellings were identified by hearth punctures, collapsed vessels, accumulations of pottery, and light utility depressions. Rectangular dwellings with an area of about 24 sq. m, deepened into the mainland by 5-7 cm, were oriented along the west-east line with a long axis and faced the entrance to the village. The dwellings were located in two rows behind the rampart. The distance between buildings did not exceed 2-2.5 m.
The defensive fortifications, consisting of a ditch and an inner rampart with a total length of over 60 m, were discovered entirely. The width of the ditch is 2.5 m, the depth is 1.2-1.5 m; its outer wall is gently sloping, the inner wall is steep, with slight ledges; the flat bottom and inner wall are lined with slabs. The ditch is arched, goes around the village's territory, and descends from both sides along the slopes of the beams, turning here into a narrow groove up to 0.5-0.7 m wide. A passage 1.2 m wide was recorded in the eastern part of the structure. Parallel to the moat, 2.5 m from it, there is a line of pits from a log palisade covered by a 0.3 m high embankment collapse.
The collection from the monument includes 6780 items. The main material is earthenware round-bottomed utensils, ornamented with flat stamp impressions and pitted impressions. There are articles made of bone and stone, bronze and bone arrowheads among the finds. The settlement belongs to the circle of monuments of the Sargat culture and dates back to the 5th-3rd centuries BC.
On the right bank of the Ishim River in the zone of the Sergeevskoye reservoir, the study of the Bekteniz burial ground (graph ruins) continued, where more than 20 barrows with stone sketches were unearthed. The grave pits are oval in shape, small in size, packed with stone, and oriented from northwest to southeast. A significant part is made up of female burials, where stone altars, bronze mirrors in bags made of leather and fabric, vessels and shells with red, yellow and white paints were found. An interesting find is a set for a tattoo: a hollow bone tube with blue paint and an artistically made "needle" with a wide sharp blade. The group was placed in a bag decorated with a bone plate and embroidered with small beads. The burial ground belongs to the Saka and dates back to the 7th-5th centuries BC.