Saimaluu-Tash West Ashu Pass Petroglyphs
Саймалуу-Таш — Ашуу ашуусу · Saimaly-Tash Ashu West · Fergana West Cirque
Saka to Turkic Medieval·Saka, Wusun, Turkic·🇰🇬 Jalal-Abad Region, Toguz-Toro District, Fergana Range, Kyrgyzstan
About
About Saimaluu-Tash West Ashu Pass Petroglyphs
Western cirque shelf of Saimaluu-Tash at Ashu Pass, a glacial hanging valley 2 km west of Saimaluu-Tash I main valley floor at 3420 m. Shelf exposes 12 quartzite boulders with 340 panels on polished glacial pavements: Early Iron Age Saka deer-masks and medieval Turkic falconers. Distinct from main valley (10,000 boulders), Ashu Pass preserves the only glacial-striation-cut ibex herd aligned to summer solstice view to Chatyr-Kul. Surveyed 1950 Pomaskina, UNESCO tentative 2001.
Why it mattersWest Ashu shows high-altitude adaptation of Saka–Turkic petroglyph tradition above 3400 m.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Alignment of ibex herd to Chatyr-Kul pass
- 02Continuity Saka to Turkic iconography
Theories
- 01Summer-pasture clan gathering shrine
- 02Glacier-appeasement ritual
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.700 BCE–1400 CE
- Period
- Saka to Turkic Medieval
- Culture
- Saka, Wusun, Turkic
- Builders
- Fergana high-pasture nomads
- Purpose
- High-altitude summer pasture shrine and glacier veneration
- Abandoned
- c.1400 CE Kyrgyz consolidation
- Rediscovered
- 1950 Pomaskina; 1996 Kyrgyz-German survey
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.700 BCE
Saka deer masks
c.800 CE
Turkic falconer phase
1950
Pomaskina Ashu discovery
2001
UNESCO tentative
On the ground
Structures & features
41.1780° N · 73.8050° E · 3420 m · 2 mapped features
Ashu Pass — Saka Stag-Mask Boulder (WP-7)
petroglyph panelQuartzite erratic with antlered deer-mask and Saka dagger overlay
41.1785° N · 73.8055° EFalconer Horseman Slab (WP-18)
petroglyph panelTurkic panel with galloping falconer, hound and ibex flush
41.1775° N · 73.8045° E
Gallery