Terekty Aulie

Terekty Aulie is an ancient monument of rock art in Central Kazakhstan, included in the state list of local historical and cultural heritage monuments of the Ulutau region.

Location

It is located in the Ulutau district, 18 km northeast of the Terekty railway station. It consists of purple granite ridges that run from west to east within the area of the Ulutau National Historical, Cultural and Natural Reserve Museum. The ridges, subjected to strong wind erosion, have taken on a half‑sphere shape. There are cave paintings on the tops of the ridges and on their sides.

Period

Bronze Age (III–II millennium BC), early Iron Age (IX century BC – III century AD) and the Middle Ages.

Research, historical data

In the late 1930s the complex was studied by Q.I. Satpayev. In 1947–1956 the complex was studied by A.X. Margaul, and in 1990 by an archaeological expedition led by 3.S. Samashev. From 1999 to 2001, under the leadership of Z.K. Kurmankulov, the Zhezkazgan University organized a reconnaissance‑archaeological expedition that excavated two fortifications dating to the Bronze Age and two fortifications dating to the early Muslim period.

From 2000 to 2004 the comprehensive study continued with scientists from Canada and Italy.

The repertoire of the petroglyphs is varied, but most of the images depict horse sculptures. The complex covers an area of 1.5 × 1 km, where more than 50 monuments have been found: Neolithic settlements, Bronze Age settlements, horizontal and vertical shaft pits for extracting ores and semi‑precious minerals, Iron Age fortifications, and tombs from the IX, XVII–XIX centuries and the early XX century. In addition, many family or clan graves (approximately of warriors) are located within the complex.

There are many legends and traditions associated with the settlement. One of them is the legend of the holy sheikh Hazret Ali and his monument visited by Duldul Saigul.

The most attractive monuments in the Terekty holy complex—petroglyphs and mausoleums—have not been fundamentally studied. The Terekty holy mausoleum is located in the south‑west part of the complex, on a granite hill between an ancient line of fortifications and three groups of petroglyphs. The spring water at the foot of the hill is considered to have great healing properties and is thought to be a potent remedy for colds, nervous diseases and back pain.

On the east side of the shrine, in mausoleums built in the IX–XII centuries, local oral stories indicate that the burials of holy people such as Ospan baba, Abilkair ata, Zhanqara ata, Mutalip baba, etc., are located there. The sacred place that people strive to visit is also theirs; the woven cloth bundles offered by pilgrims to the surrounding tal‑shiliks are visible from a distance. Specialists, however, conclude that all the preserved shrine structures were built in the XIX–XX centuries and that the people buried there are members of the Baghanaly and Baltaly clans who turned the area into a tribal settlement.

Petroglyph groups

The oldest and most meaningful monuments in the complex are the Terekty holy petroglyphs. The aesthetic power and attractiveness of the Terekty holy petroglyphs may lie in their high‑quality workmanship combined with the characteristics of the local nature. The petroglyphs are painted on flat stones on the surface of four rounded granite hills. Large granular granite materials allowed sculptures of 15–70 cm in length to be placed; however, over hundreds of years natural erosion of the stones has caused most of the images to disappear. Today, about 300 petroglyphs are preserved on 27 stone surfaces in four locations on the southern side of the granite rocks.

First group

On the surfaces of the slabs, the more heavily weathered southern side contains more than 200 figures of various animals depicted in 13 compositions, and the number of first‑group petroglyphs is also large, thematically quite diverse. The majority of the animals are horses, but there are also several camels, two bulls, a elk, a bird (duadaq) figure and four horse‑hoof traces, several goats, a cart, lines and circles decorated with cup‑shaped motifs. Except for the second stone surface where a goat figure is depicted, horse figures are more numerous in all other places.

In the spacious plain, more than 80 patterned motifs mainly depicting horses are preserved, where a shining, unmarked path for pilgrims passes through the upper part of the stone surface. In the western part of the flat surface there are dozens of clearly depicted horse statues, including a marvelous image showing two horses in combat that recalls a similar composition in Kangja-Shimendzy (SHUAA, KHR); in the eastern part, based on the natural texture of the stones, there are horses, a camel, several goat figures and cup‑shaped linear sculptures that are identifiable only from the side. The picture ends in the middle with three statues: two horses in the Seima‑Turbino tradition, followed by a large outline figure in the Saka‑Scythian style.

Second group

Having a diameter of 35 cm, a circle resembling a camel statue is first drawn toward the northeast and then returns, with two lines, one 5 m long and the other 2.5 m long, a complex composition of the 2nd group located toward the lower slopes of the later peak. On the west side of this mysterious statue there is another shining road where pilgrims walk.

Third group

It is located on the ridge extending horizontally on the opposite side of the 3rd group cemetery complex. About 80 petroglyphs are carved on 10 sandstone surfaces.