Besshatyr Burial Ground

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The Besshatyr Kurgan (the royal

The Besshatyr mound consists of many burial grounds covering a total area of about 2 km² (0.77 sq mi). These burial grounds date to the 6th to 4th centuries BC.

The big Besshtyrski mound is the largest of the mounds. The height of the mound is 17 meters (56 ft), the diameter - 105 meters (344 ft). The mound has the shape of a truncated body and a stone layer at the base. The mound is surrounded by 94 ring fences made of stone pillars-

Archaeology

Saka kurgans[2]
Salbyk Arzhan Pazyryk Issyk Boralday Taksai Eleke Sazy Tasmola Ingala Tillya Tepe
Arzhan-2 c. 650 BCE Bes Shatyr c. 550 BCE Taksai c. 500 BCE Ingala c. 500 BCE Tasmola 7th-5th centuries BCE Boralday c. 600-400 BCE Salbyk c. 600-400 BCE Eleke Sazy c. 600-400 BCE Berel-1 c. 350 BCE Pazyryk-1,2 c. 300 BCE Berel-11 c. 300 BCE Issyk c. 400-200 BCE Tillya Tepe 1st century BCE
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The first mention of the necropolis was by Vladimir Gorodetsky in 1924. About 33 years later the burial grounds were first investigated by an archaeological expedition led by K. Akishev^[3] from 1959 to 1961. Archaeologists have established that the mound includes thirty-one large and small burial grounds. Twenty-one burial grounds are covered with stone, ten with a layer of rubble and clay.

Conventionally, burial grounds divided into northern and southern ones. Large burial mounds have a diameter of 45 to 105 m (148 to 344 ft); a height of 6–17 m (20–56 ft), medium-sized mounds, 25–38 m (82–125 ft), and 5–6 m (16–20 ft) respectively, and small 6–18 m (20–59 ft) and 0.8–2 m (2 ft 7 in – 6 ft 7 in). Six of the twenty mounds are fenced with a chain of 45 fences made of stone slabs and small stones. There are images of mountain goats, wild boars, wolves, and other animals, as well as other markings on a variety of plates. There are also symbols of the sun and circles depicting the Kazakh Tamga "eye". There found complex of underground passages with a total length of 55 m (180 ft) 6 large mounds.^{[clarification needed]} The height of the passageways are 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in) and the width 0.8 m (2 ft 7 in).

According to scientists, the Besshatyr complex was a sacred place for the Saka tribes, who for centuries have performed religious ceremonies, various religious