Saimaluu-Tash East Summit — Upper Fergana Crest Petroglyphs
Saimaly Tash East · Fergana Divide summit
Bronze Age to Early Turkic (2000 BCE – 800 CE)·Fergana pastoralist to Saka to Kyrgyz proto·🇰🇬 Jalal-Abad Region, Toguz-Toro, eastern ridge above Saimaluu-Tash lake, Kyrgyzstan
About
About Saimaluu-Tash East Summit — Upper Fergana Crest Petroglyphs
High eastern crest 300 m above the famous Saimaluu-Tash glacial lake boulder field, with 200+ newly tallied blocks bearing Middle Bronze Age ibex, Saka deer and early Turkic horseman-hunters. The crest forms the watershed divide at 3200 m, exposed after snowmelt July–August only. Surveyed 2018 Amanbaeva team. Complements the 10,000+ stones of the main valley floor but in a skyline setting visible from 10 km.
Why it mattersExpands UNESCO tentative site beyond valley floor; demonstrates vertical zonation of rock art at high altitude
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Why skyline location vs lake floor – distinct ritual zone or later overflow
- 02Patina dating vs excavation debate
Theories
- 01Skyline as solar calendar horizon
- 02High hunter's shrine visible to valley camps
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.2000 BCE earliest; peak 1200–500 BCE
- Period
- Bronze Age to Early Turkic (2000 BCE – 800 CE)
- Culture
- Fergana pastoralist to Saka to Kyrgyz proto
- Purpose
- Skyline oracle and hunter initiation ritual at watershed
- Abandoned
- c.900 CE Turkic last carvings
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.2000 BCE
Early ibex panels
1968
Bernstam initial discovery
2018
Amanbaeva east crest survey
On the ground
Structures & features
41.1850° N · 73.8300° E · 3200 m · 3 mapped features
East Summit Ibex Ridge
petroglyph panel12 ibex in procession along ridge crest block
41.1852° N · 73.8305° ESaka Stag Block
petroglyphLarge antlered stag in Scythian flying gallop
41.1846° N · 73.8296° ETurkic Horseman Boulder
petroglyphHorseman with falcon and dog, tamga on saddle
41.1854° N · 73.8309° E
Gallery