Aktobe Zhirenkopa Tört Oba Kurgans (Tört Oba Four Mounds West Aktobe)
Tört Oba Kurgans · Zhirenkopa Mounds
Early Sarmatian (500–300 BCE)·Early Sarmatian / Aorsi·🇰🇿 Aktobe Region, northwest Aktobe Oblast near Orenburg border, Zhirenkopa village, Tört Oba family, Kazakhstan
About
About Aktobe Zhirenkopa Tört Oba Kurgans (Tört Oba Four Mounds West Aktobe)
Tört Oba (‘Four Mounds’) group near Zhirenkopa village at northwest Aktobe Oblast threshold to Orenburg steppe (145 m), studied by Samashev 2010. Four major kurgans 35–58 m diam (Kurgan 3 — 58 m, 7 m high) with surrounding 78-m-diameter ditches (ditches join and partly cross, GPR-verified). Each surrounded by ditch enclosure with causeway entrance. Kurgan 3 central timber chamber looted via robber shaft, but peripheral horse burial intact: 6 horses with gilded harnesses and akinakes. GPR shows secondary chamber under ditch crossing of K3/K4.
Why it mattersKey kurgan illustrating Early Sarmatian / Aorsi hydraulic/geoglyph/kite/kurgan tradition in Aktobe Region, northwest Aktobe Oblast near Orenburg border, Zhirenkopa village, Tört Oba family.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Ditch crossing sequence
Theories
- 01Aorsi royal threshold cemetery
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.500–300 BCE
- Period
- Early Sarmatian (500–300 BCE)
- Culture
- Early Sarmatian / Aorsi
- Builders
- Early Sarmatian
- Purpose
- Northwest Aktobe royal cemetery at Orenburg steppe threshold
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.500–300 BCE
Initial construction
2020
Drone/UAV high-resolution mapping and heritage inventory
On the ground
Structures & features
50.3500° N · 54.8500° E · 145 m · 3 mapped features
Tört Oba Kurgan 3 (58 m) Horse Burial
kurgan58-m royal kurgan with 6 gilded horses
50.3510° N · 54.8510° EDitch Crossing K3/K4 (GPR)
earthwork78-m ditch enclosure crossing with secondary chamber GPR anomaly
50.3520° N · 54.8530° ECauseway Entrance K3
earthworkCauseway entrance through ditch
50.3510° N · 54.8510° E