Запропонована робота продовжує серію публікації матеріалів дослідження поселень сакського
часу Центрального Казахстану. Поселення Абилай відкрив А. З. Бейсенов у 2004 р., а в 2016 р. розпочато розкопки. Нині на цій пам’ятці проведено шість сезонів розкопок (2016—2021 рр.). У статті
наведено матеріали дослідження 2020 р., коли було
розкрито ділянку площею 186,5 м2. За матеріалами поселення проводяться мультидисциплінарні
дослідження.
The Abylai settlement was discovered by the author
in 2006, and in 2016 the excavations of this site began.
This settlement is located in the Karkaralinsky district
of the Karaganda region of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
In 2016-2021 six field campaigns headed by the author
were carried out, the total area of which is more than
1200 m2 (fig. 1). The materials of the 2020 excavation,
as well as the overview of the main multidisciplinary
studies are published in the paper.
Excavation area 5 was 185.5 m2. In this area, the remains
of five structures with stone foundation walls, as
well as household pits were discovered (fig. 2, 3). One
pit has large dimensions: 5.9 × 3.45 m along the top,
5.3 × 2.9 m along the bottom (fig. 4). It was filled with
three layers of ash and the soil mixed with ash. Perhaps
this pit was used to drain the rain and melt water.
The burial (fig. 5, 6), which does not belong to the
inhabitants of this culture, was found in the excavation
area. Such burials belong to the «Korgantas type» and
date to the 4th—5th centuries BC.
Fragments of ceramics (fig. 7), numerous stone
tools (fig. 8), among which there are objects for grinding
grains and other plant residues, hoes, graters, etc.,
were found in the excavation area.
Materials, found in 2020, supplement the information
previously received about this site. A large amount
of data has now been accumulated. In this regard, the
complex of multidisciplinary studies has been launched
in recent years. Archaeozoological and traceological analyzes
have yielded important results. Based on more
than 11,000 animal bones found at the settlement, the
composition of the herd, having consisted of sheeps, cows
and horses was ascertained. A more important result is
the determination of the slaughter season: it turned out
that the entire mass of livestock was slaughtered in the
period from late autumn to early spring. This conclusion
proves the author’s hypothesis about the winter character
of such settlements. Part of the bones (over 6000)
was found in a large pit measuring 8 × 4 × 0.9 m. These
were the bones of sheep and cows, thrown into the pit
and covered with ashes. Analyzes showed that all the
bones were thrown into the pit at the same time and
belong to animals that died in the early spring. This fact
is the first case in Kazakhstan of finding the remains of
animals that died as a result of spring starvation or epizootic.
The entire results of the archaeozoological analysis
are now preparing for publication.
More than 500 stone tools were found at the site of
Abylai. In 2020, 150 items were subjected to trace analysis,
as a result of which the functions of 139 tools were
determined. Of these, 130 turned out to be tools that
were intensively used in various cases: earthworks,
vegetation processing, work with livestock products, as
well as the processing of metal surfaces (whetstones).
Moreover, all bars have traces of iron objects (Beisenov,
Gorashchuk, Duysenbay 2021). In 2021, a new group of
stone tools was covered by traceological analysis. Out
of 250 items, 202 had a function determined. Thus,
there is a good prospect to study the economic structures
of the Abylai settlement. The few grains of cultivated
cereals found by carpological analysis, including
millet, barley (fig. 9) and wheat, provide additional
information about the life of the ancient inhabitants of
the settlement.
The Abylai settlement, like other sites of the Tasmola
culture, dates back to the period of the 8th—
5th centuries BC (Beisenov et al. 2016; Beisenov 2017).
Terminus ante quem of the settlement is additionally
confirmed by the burials of the Korgantas time. These
burials are dated within the period of the 4th—2nd centuries
BC. The presence of them proves that closer to
the 4th century BC the Abylai settlement had already
been abandoned. A more accurate dating of the settlements
of the Saka Age of Central Kazakhstan should
be expected in future studies.
