Kazakhstan petroglyphs found using 1856 explorer’s sketches
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Archaeologists in Kazakhstan and Russia rediscovered ancient rock carvings along the Koksu River after locating sketches made by explorer Pyotr Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky in 1856.
Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky, a Russian geographer, documented the carvings of deer and wild goats during his travels toward the Tian Shan mountains. The team confirmed the accuracy of his sketches and descriptions while retracing his route as part of a program celebrating the 200th anniversary of his birth in 2027.
Researchers believe the carvings originate from the early Iron Age and medieval periods, linking the largest deer figure to the art of the Saka people, who inhabited present-day Kazakhstan during the first millennium BC. Saka designs featuring deer appeared on ornaments used to decorate clothing and horse equipment, similar to those found at burial mounds. The expedition is part of a larger effort by the Russian Geographical Society to revisit Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky’s journeys through Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan.
Beyond the petroglyphs, the team is also investigating the submerged medieval settlement of Toru-Aygyr at Lake Issyk-Kul in Kyrgyzstan, where they recently found coins from the 10th and 11th centuries. They mapped the sites they visited and took aerial photographs. Researchers intend to create three-dimensional models of the monuments and an interactive map of Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky’s route, making them available online.
