Petroglyphs in the Karkaraly Mountains -
Travels through the petroglyphs of Kazakhstan -
Konyrjon petroglyphs are little-known petroglyphs of the Karaganda region. The petroglyphs belong to the Karkaraly Mountains and are located in these mountains in the Konyrjon tract. The rock carvings of Konyrjon are painted on flat stones of the local rock, which comes out of the ground here in the form of rocky stone cliffs. The rock carvings belong to the Bronze Age and other historical periods. Here you can find images of people and hunters with bows, horsemen on horses and people with weapons, horses, camels, dogs, mountain goats are also depicted here.
How to get there, visit -
The Konyrjon petroglyphs are located in the Konurjon tract, Karkaraly Mountains in the Karaganda region, Karkaraly district, 9 km from the village of Besoba, Republic of Kazakhstan.
Information -
The petroglyphs of Konyrjon date back to the II millennium BC, for the first time the petroglyphs were examined by the expedition of the Saryarkinsky Archaeological Institute. In addition to petroglyphs, ancient human settlements, burial mounds, ancient burial sites, and ancient sites of nomads were found and investigated in this area. The monuments, settlements and rock carvings of the Bronze Age and other historical periods discovered here testify to the high level of material and spiritual culture of the population of this region. A re-examination of this area for the presence of previously unearthed artifacts was conducted in 2015.
Petroglyphs of Konyrjon are represented by figures of camels, mountain sheep, dogs, horsemen, people with weapons. Scenes of hunting and animal persecution are depicted on the rocks. A group of images is indicative - a kind of triptych located on three different planes, but united by one rocky outcrop of rock. On a separate, uppermost plane, there is a large contour figure of a horse with a large round horn above the rump. The image of a horse is divided by vertical stripes that dissect the animal's body into several parts. The legs are slanted forward, the muscles of the legs are tense, which gives dynamism to the pose of the animal. The image of a horse is made in the Scythian-Saka animal style and is located above all other petroglyphs of this group.
Next to and just below this "horned" horse, a multi-figure composition with thirty images is presented on a plate with a triangular shape measuring 0.9 x 0.7 m, including warriors armed with bows with drawn quivers suspended from belts (the shape of triangular arrowheads is well traced); a rider on a camel; a large dog and others. The style of the composition is original, all the characters are depicted in different projections, and the figures of animals and especially camels are shown with four legs and very small humps. A number of figures of this scene were later updated.
Traces of renovation and a lighter patina color on many figures of this composition are convincing evidence of this. At the same time, all the smallest details of this composition are carefully worked out with fine carved lines. So, people have fingers of the hands spread out to the sides, hair, noses, phalluses, feet; read the rein straps of animals from the caravan, bows and quivers with arrows from warriors, the shape of arrowheads, saddles and other small details. The triptych is completed by a composition of three figures of people with their arms raised up or bent at the elbows. They seem to be turning to the sky. Next to it are four figures of birds in a standard pose - with their wings lowered down. Obviously later, in the left part of the plane, the sultan's tamga was applied with carved lines, possibly stylized as a bird with wings lowered down. The above-mentioned analogies allow us to date the considered images of this entire triptych to the era of the early nomads, when the images of the "horned" horse as a symbol of the sun or sky and the horse itself - the main productive force of nomads - become the defining element of nomadic society.
source: silkadv.com
Konyrjon rock carvings in the Karaganda region
