Research of the Irrigation Detachment
A detachment of the South Kazakhstan expedition of the Institute of History, Archeology, and Ethnography of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR investigated medieval irrigation facilities in the territory of South Kazakhstan.
The remains of a rural settlement and a fortress, date back to the 16th century, found on the northern slopes of Karatau, in the Kzylsay gorge, 20 km north of Kentau, Chimkent region. The remains of late medieval rainfed fields are recorded on mountain slopes and a wide intermountain plateau. The fields are rectangular in plan (50x30; 75x50; 1 (10x50 m), divided by earthen ridges 1-1.5 m wide and 0.3-0.5 m high. The total area of cultivated land here was about 7 hectares. The location of the fields at a height about 1500 m above sea level, much higher than water sources, apparently due to the absence of various kinds of hydraulic structures in the study area. The absence of ridges and furrows may indicate that the inhabitants of the rural settlement mainly grew grain crops. Fields under rain (bogara) were noted for the first time in the territory of South Kazakhstan.
As part of the Semirechye expedition, the detachment continued to study the irrigation systems of the medieval settlements of Eastern Semirechye. Most of these settlements are located in the piedmont zone, as a rule, along the banks of mountain rivers at the exit of their gorges. The water supply and irrigation principles of two settlements were studied: Antonov and Kapal. On the settlement near the eastern outskirts of the village of Antonovka, Sarkand district, Taldy-Kurgan region and on the territory surrounding it, the remains of numerous ditches 1-3 km long, derived from the Ashchibulak river. The width of ditches is 2-3 m, the depth is 0.5-0.7 m, the height of dumps is 0.4 m, their width is 1 m. m. On the south side, a water supply system was laid out of ceramic pipes, through which 'water from the spring came to the city center. The waterline length is about 200 m, the length of the pipes is 35–40 cm, and the diameter is 20-22 cm. The water supply, like ditches, dates back to the 10th-12th centuries.
Tortkul Kapal was based on the waters of a spring river. Traces of ditches of the 10th-12th centuries are noted around the settlement (about 1.5 km long and 3 m wide).