Полевые исследования тюркских памятников в местности Тасшокы

Abstract

This article examines the results of fieldwork on Turkic complexes in the Tashoky locality (Bukhar-Zhyrau District, Karaganda Region) conducted by an expedition of the Saryarka Archaeological Institute. A survey of the area was carried out, during which chains of Turkic enclosures were identified, along with two monuments featuring earthen walls. Excavations covered two structures at the Tanabai burial ground. These were quadrangular enclosures with stone fill packing the interior space. Notably, pieces of quartz were discovered within them. At present, including the structures published here, a total of 45 Turkic fences have been investigated in Central Kazakhstan, the majority of which have been studied over the past two decades. The aim of the study is to analyse the new materials obtained during the investigation of the Turkic enclosures of the Tashoky locality, to determine their typological attribution, and to refine the chronology of the early medieval monuments of Central Kazakhstan. The study employs the comparative-typological method and radiocarbon dating (accelerator mass spectrometry, with calibration in OxCal v4.4.4). Based on the typological analysis, the structures studied are assigned to the multi-slab enclosures of the early stage. The scientific novelty of the work lies in introducing into scholarly circulation new field materials and two radiocarbon determinations from the Ketaban (structure 2a) and Taldinsky-1 (structure 58) complexes. At present, to establish the chronology of the Central Kazakhstan early medieval monuments, we can rely on the results of radiocarbon analysis of two Turkic complexes investigated at the Ketaban (structure 2a) and Taldinsky-1 (structure 58) burial grounds, the materials of which were published earlier. Their combined age within one sigma falls between 556 and 648 CE, which corresponds to the period of the Turkic and Western Turkic Kaghanates, while the lower chronological boundary confirms the data on the time of the territory's annexation by the Turks (ca. 555 CE).