ANCIENT STONE SCULPTURES OF SARYARKA (history of the study)

Abstract

The work was prepared within the framework of the grant of the Ministry of Science and education of the Republic of Kazakhstan AP08957321 "Мedieval statuesque monuments of Saryarka Abstract The article deals with the history of ancient stone sculptures of Central Kazakhstan. The works of A. H. Margulan devoted to the ancient monumental monuments of Saryarka were also analyzed. In the work of A. H. Margulan, a large number of materials on menhirs and zoomorphic steles of "koytas"are analyzed. Thus, we identified and analyzed the ancient stone sculptures of Saryarka. As a result, to date, the ranks of the ancient monuments of Saryarka have been replenished with field work under the leadership of Zh. Kurmankulov and A. Z. Beisenov. The tradition of stone sculpture on the territory of Central Kazakhstan is represented by monuments of different chronological groups: menhirs and zoomorphic steles of the Late Bronze Age studied to varying degrees. The analysis of the state of knowledge both at the field and theoretical levels shows that the monuments of the Late Bronze Age are the least studied. Meanwhile, the number of them has now significantly decreased in comparison with the one recorded in the works of A. H. Margulan. The authors of the article, analyzing the works of the above authors, reveal the problems of modern and prospective study of menhirs and zoomorphic sculptures of Saryarka.