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TAKSAY ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE
It is located near the Taksay railway station (Terektinsky district, West Kazakhstan region), 50 km towards east and southeast of Uralsk. In 2012, the archaeological team lead by Y.A. Lukpanova first discovered the Taksay 1-5 complex and excavations started in the same year.
Burial mounds of the Taksay complex 1–3 were studied in 2015–2017. The results of the study showed that there was a large wooden roof structure on the former surface and many objects, used in the funeral procession. The burials belonged to the military aristocracy, and the leaders of the nomadic tribes who settled in Western Kazakhstan in the early Iron Age.
Taksay 1 is one of the rare monuments that provides excellent evidence for the burial traditions and culture of the early nomads and post-Sarmatians. The complex consists of six mounds, the largest mounds are 1 and 2, their height is about 4 m, and diameter - 70 m. Mounds 3-6 are in disrepair, on the verge of extinction. The results of the excavation of the 6th burial mounds were world-class.
The height of the 6th mound is 1 m, and the diameter is 41 m. The burial structure consists of a wooden layer above the grave pit in the middle, a clay wall with red walls around it, and a double-circular wall of continental soil at the edge of the mound. Two women were buried at the level of the ancient floor of the mound, but the burial of the third person was especially difficult. It was discovered that the top of the tomb was carefully covered with two rows of logs and the remains of a furious fire, imitating the temple of the Sun and the chariot of the afterlife. Unique decorations made of metal, wood, bone and glass indicate that the mound belongs to a woman from a noble dynasty.
References:
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Altynbekov K. Reborn from Ashes. Reconstruction of the Taksay 1 complex materials. - Almaty: "Island of Crimea", 2013. - p.64
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Influence of the Achaemenid Culture in the South Urals (5th - 3rd centuries BC) / Berlin University, FGBU IA RAS; under the editor. M.Y. Treister and L. Yablonsky. - M .: TAUS, 2012 .- T. 2. - p. 468
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Lukpanova Y.A. Reconstruction of a Female Costume from the Elite Burial Ground Taksay 1: archaeologist's view // Povolzhskaya archeology. - 2017. - № 1 (19). - p. 145-156
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Sdykov M.N., Lukpanova Y.A. Early Nomads of Western Kazakhstan (in the example of Taksay 1 complex). –Uralsk: "Polygraphservice", 2013. - p. 292
Source: https://archaeology.kz/mura?id=419ттт