Research of the Irrigation Detachment
The detachment of the South Kazakhstan expedition of the Institute of History, Archeology, and Ethnography of the Academy of Sciences of the Kazakh SSR continued to study the agro-irrigation layouts of the left bank of the Syr Darya and began to survey the irrigation canals of the Talas Valley.
On the left bank of the Syr Darya, in the medieval settlement Oksus (Otrar oasis) area, an instrumental survey of rice fields (about 3 ha) was carried out. A characteristic feature of agro-irrigation planning of this type is their division into squares. Land plots measuring 50*50 m were surrounded by ramparts 1.2–1.5 m wide and 0.7 m high with an opening 0.5 m wide in the middle of one of the sides. As a rule, this site side adjoined the distribution channel with a bed width of 3-4 m. In front of each opening in the distributor channel, an earthen dam 1.5-2 "m wide and 1 m high was preserved. Inside the squares were divided into rectangular, square, rhombic shapes with dimensions 4*5; 5*5; 5*6 m. The area of one compartment was at least 15 and not more than 50 square meters. m. They were limited to rollers 0.8-1 m wide and 0.3-0.5 m high, in which there were openings 0.2-0.3 m wide on opposite sides of the earthen bridge, the water level rose, filling the first square, then the second, third, etc. Water was collected in a collector (width 2-3 m). After watering each row of squares, the jumper was removed and poured into the next. Elevated ceramic material dates the compartments to the 13th-14th centuries.
In the Talas Valley, work was carried out in the middle reaches of the Talas River, where three irrigation systems related to Bektobe, Tyuymakent and Okhkhum were identified and partially examined. The source of the Bektobe main canal (11th-12th centuries) was located 3 km southeast of the settlement, on the steep bank of the Karasu River. Canal of the "Amangeldy" collective farm of the Dzhambul district, Dzhambul region was laid along its channel. The width of the main canal is 4-5 m, the length is 12-15 km. The source of the Tuymakent canal (11th-14th centuries) was found on the right bank of the Talas River, 1.5 km southwest of the main ruins. At present, the medieval canal has been reconstructed. It used to supply water to the central estate of the "Krasny Pakhar" collective farm in the Sverdlovsk district of the Dzhambul region, but some of its branches and the main channel in places of bends have been preserved. The width of the main canal in these sections is 5-6 m, the width of the branch distributors is 2-3 m, the estimated length of the Tuymakent canal is 10-15 km. The source of the main canal Okhkhum (11th-12th centuries) was found on the left bank of the Talas River, 2 km southeast of the settlement. The channel is in poor condition, as it has been repeatedly opened. The width of the bed on the surviving sections is about 5 m, the length of the route is 10 km.