KARKARALY KORGANTAS – ANCIENT CULT OBJECT IN CENTRAL KAZAKHSTAN

Abstract

Karkaraly Korgantas is a large archaeological site in Central Kazakhstan, known in sources as the “Kalmyk Wall”. Based on new research conducted at the site and in its surroundings, an interpretation of the monument as a ritual and cult one is given. Karkaraly Korgantas includes various landscape elements: rocks, passages in rocks, flat areas on the tops of rocks, small outcrops, as well as man-made structures: stone walls and alleys. There are five main elements in the structure of the monument - two long stone walls running along the top of the ridge, a central part with a stele, a natural platform in the southern part of the complex, a rectangular structure to the west of the central part. The study of similar types of cult objects in adjacent territories made it possible to attribute this monument to the Late Bronze Age. According to researchers, the monument is associated with the cult activities of ancient communities of Karkaraly and the observation of the sunrise on the day of the spring equinox.

Keywords

• ancient sanctuary
• religious object
• organization of space
• stone wall
• stone stele