Aksu-Ayuly-2, an archaeological monument

Located 3 km north of the district center of Aksu-Ayuly village, at the foot of Ayuly mountain (Shet district, Karagandy region).

A significant group of ancient monuments concentrated in the left-bank valley of the Sherubainura River was first discovered by A.Kh. Margulan at an early stage of activity of the Central-Kazakhstan archeological expedition (CKAE), apparently back in the late 1940s. The first excavations at the Aksu-Ayuly-2 burial ground were carried out by CKAE in 1952, A.Kh. Margulan, G.I. Pacevich, K.A. Akishev participated in the study. Brief information about the monument was given in the articles of A.Kh. Margulan, materials were included in the dissertation of K.A. Akishev and then were published in the collective monograph of Kazakh scientists in 1966.

The burial ground consists of 36 structures, among which, in the opinion of A.Kh. Margulan, are distinguished as early objects belonging to the Andronov time, and later. Late burials of A.Kh. Margulan were considered as monuments of the transitional stage, embodying the peculiarities of the period of completion of the Andronov culture and the beginning of the formation of the Begazy-Dandybay culture. In general, the barrows Nos. 1, 2 and 3, studied by excavations, were proposed to be considered as elite structures of the transition type.

A stone sculpture was erected at the burial ground 17 m north-east of barrow No. 2. Judging by the description, the anthropomorphic stele with the height of 1.2 m is a "belt image of a very rough work, without details of a human figure", it stood "face" to the barrow. Near the statue there is a massive slab, menhir, 1.2 m high, 0.69 m wide and 0.30 m thick. Among the bones of pets from the barrows of Aksu-Ayuly-2 there are bones of a camel, as well as in the children's grave in a small fence № 4 were the bones of a sheep, lamb and camel. The largest among the studied objects is the barrow № 3 - the construction of a mausoleum type.

In the period 2003-2011, a group of specialists from KarSU (Zh.E. Smailov, V.G. Loman, I.A. Kukushkin, etc.) conducted a new study of the burial ground, including the re-clearing of the barrow No. 3. Based on the data of the CSAE, as well as the materials of new studies that allowed to identify and clarify a number of previously unknown features in the design of the monument, in 2013 this object was restored.

Barrow No. 3 is a rounded structure consisting of four concentric fences and a large stone box in the center. The first fence, located at the base of the embankment, consists of large slabs mounted on a "rib" with a slope inside the structure. The three inner fences are made of large slabs using the horizontal masonry method. The rectangular stone box was located in a ground pit of 2.5 x 1.45 m. The box was covered by two large granite slabs. According to A. Kh. Margulan, after the burial, a wooden structure was erected over the central part of the structure, covering the space above the burial chamber. Perhaps, this construction, crowning the complex architecturally complex stone building, had the form of a pyramidal-stepped frame. Judging by the burnt fragments of wood found during excavations, the building was burned.

After a series of memorial, ritual activities, a large earth barrow with a diameter of 30 m and a height of 1.8 m was built over the funeral building. In all likelihood, the first, extreme, fence was built already at the time of erection of the earth embankment. Researchers noted that "the construction of Aksu-Ayuly-2 finds its analogues in the burial grounds of Ortau-2, Belasar, Besoba and Begazy. Especially the tomb of Aksu-Ayuly has a lot in common with the monument of Dandybay, 11". A. Kh. Margulan dated the barrow No. 3 at the end of the II millennium BC (XII-XI centuries BC), that was connected with chronological-periodization schemes of cultures of the Bronze Age of Kazakhstan existing in those years. In the light of modern developments of the barrow № 3 of the burial ground of Aksu-Ayuly-2 can be dated to the period of the second quarter of the II millennium BC. As well as other constructions of the burial ground, it belongs to the Nurinic culture of the Bronze Age of Central Kazakhstan.

The location of the Aksu-Ayuly-2 burial ground is a zone of significant concentration of monuments of the ancient epoch, the Middle Ages. At a distance of less than 1 km there is a famous burial ground of the Bronze Age of Aksu-Ayuly-1. In the vicinity, at a short distance, there are burial facilities of Begazy Dandybay culture of the late Bronze Age, the Tasmola culture of the early Iron Age. According to Zh.E. Smailov, there are eight barrows with stone ridges (with "mustache") here for several kilometers. Among the Kazakh mazars, the most famous is the mausoleum of a historical person who lived in the XVIII century, Batyr Zhidebai Kozhanazaruly, located about 15 km away from Aksu-Ayuly-2.

The slopes of the "bear mountain" of Ayuly were well inhabited by the tribes of the Andronov community in ancient times. The concentration of bright, large and complex monuments here testifies to favorable conditions in the life of communities that inhabited the grass-rich left-bank valley of Sherubainura. One of the leaders of these communities was buried in the barrow No. 3 of the Aksu-Ayuly burial ground, while the other structures studied are probably also the tombs of the ruling elite. In the course of studying the monuments of the Sherubainura valley, A. Kh. Margulan recorded a stone sculpture of a bear (ayutas) belonging to the Bronze Age at the foot of Mount Buguly. Apparently, bears and deer (Ayuly, Ayushat, Buguly, Semizbugy) were found in the natural environment of these places, as well as in other regions of Central Kazakhstan, since ancient times. The important thing is that The discovery of camel bones in the barrows of the burial ground of Aksu-Ayuly-2, which proves the presence of this animal in the farm of Nurinic tribes of the Bronze Age of Saryarka.

At present, the area of the Aksu-Ayuly-2 burial ground is intensively visited by pilgrims and numerous tourists. Among the favorable conditions for the development of tourism are the presence of a highway of national and international importance communication Almaty - Astana - Yekaterinburg, as well as a fairly large settlement with modern infrastructure.