The city of Turkestan is the ancient capital of Kazakhstan – the ancient cities of the Turkestan region –
Kultobe is an ancient fortified settlement and an archaeological monument, included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The settlement is a massive hill 9 m high, with an area of 150x120 m. In later times, the topography of the monument has changed a lot. The Kultobe hill belongs to the military construction system of medieval Turkestan.
How to get there
The settlement of Kultobe is located in the city of Turkestan, Turkestan region, Republic of Kazakhstan, 400 meters from the mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, on the left bank of the Arys River. GPS coordinates: 43°17'35"N 68°16'15"E
Information
The first archaeological materials on Kultobe were provided by the Turkestan detachment under the command of T. N. Senigova. In 1972, excavations began in the western part of the complex, but after the upper layers of typical residential complexes dating from the 18th and 19th centuries were cleared of soil, work in them was stopped, and only information about early medieval ceramics of the 7th and 8th centuries, accidentally found in Kultobe, and coins collected from the uncovered lower layers were published.
Also, an archaeological team led by E.A. Smagulov conducted research on Kultobe. Stratigraphic excavations were carried out on an area of more than 70 m2 on the right edge of the fortress site. He opened up a number of cultural boundaries of Kultobe. The lack of a comprehensive archaeological study of early medieval ceramics in the Otyrar-Turkestan region, as well as the scant discovery of ceramics in the Kultobe belt, do not allow us to determine exactly how long they have been lying here.
Kultobe settlement Turkestan region
Photogallery:
