Tamgaly III — Karatau Ridge Petroglyphs
Tamgaly Outer Gorge · Karatau Tamgaly Group
Bronze Age to Turkic (1400 BCE – 900 CE)·Andronovo to Saka-Scythian to Turkic, Chu valley pastoralists·🇰🇿 Almaty Region, Chu-Ili Mountains, Anrakay Massif Karatau spur, Kazakhstan
About
About Tamgaly III — Karatau Ridge Petroglyphs
Outlying Karatau ridge grouping 1.2 km southwest of Tamgaly main gorge, with 120+ panels on three basalt knolls: Bronze Age sun-headed shaman figures, Iron Age deer in Scythian style and Turkic tamgas. Part of the Tamgaly archaeological landscape UNESCO 1145 but outside the five central groups, documented 2005 by Rogozhinsky leading to expanded buffer. Altitude 1120 m, south-facing pediment with seasonal spring.
Why it mattersProves Tamgaly landscape extends beyond five canonical groups; Karatau shows solar cult persisted into Early Iron Age
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Relation of Karatau sun-heads to core gorge solar cult uniformity
- 02Chronology of tamga overcarving
Theories
- 01Outlier as initiation peripheral sanctuary
- 02Clan territorial tamga marker
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.1400 BCE earliest sun-heads; intensive 900–700 BCE
- Period
- Bronze Age to Turkic (1400 BCE – 900 CE)
- Culture
- Andronovo to Saka-Scythian to Turkic, Chu valley pastoralists
- Purpose
- Rock sanctuary with solar shamanic iconography and later tribal markers
- Abandoned
- c.900 CE
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.1400 BCE
Sun-headed deities carved
2005
Rogozhinsky maps Karatau outlier
2004
UNESCO inscription of core landscape (buffer expanded 2008)
On the ground
Structures & features
43.7950° N · 75.5200° E · 1120 m · 3 mapped features
Karatau Sun-Head Knoll
petroglyph panel3 m anthropomorph with rayed sun disk and 12 attendant dancers
43.7952° N · 75.5205° EScythian Deer Slab
petroglyphFlying deer in Arzhan–Maiemir style with tipped antlers
43.7946° N · 75.5196° ETurkic Tamga Boulder
tamga7 tamgas in vertical row including trident and ibex mark
43.7954° N · 75.5209° E