Some Results of the Study of Yeleke-1 Settlement

Abstract

Archaeological research in the Yelekesazy valley, which is located on the northern slope of the Tarbagatai ridge and is a closed bowl-shaped valley surrounded by low mountains (SaryShoky, Arshaly, Akshagyl, Akberen) and cut by small rivers - tributaries of the high-water river Kargyba. Kargyba, as well as with swampy areas and flat uplands, on which hundreds of barrows and memorial structures of the beginning - the first half of the I millennium BC are located in the meridional direction, which are structured in independent groups and chains. Until today the monument was known to the general public only due to the Saka elite barrows and gold items found in the burial ground. But as a result of reconnaissance work in the past years and reliable information from our colleagues A. E. Rogozhinsky and I. V. Merts in the field season 2021 our team found a multi-storey settlement complex. In their work archaeologists dated the monument XVIII-XVI centuries BC.

Excavations revealed 1015 fragments of pottery, more than 2000 animal bones, stone grain grinders and bronze arrowheads and fragments of a cauldron. The monument is the highest in East Kazakhstan and the first studied Andronovo settlement on Mount Tarbagatai between Kazakhstan and China.

In conclusion, we would like to add that the materials obtained from the monument are now undergoing various chamber processing, as well as various analytical works. As a result of the research work, we are confident that the monument provides comprehensive information about the life of the Bronze Age population in the foothills of Tarbagatai.