Tamgaly-Tas III Upper Terrace Ili Petroglyphs
Таңбалы Тас III Жоғарғы терраса · Tamgaly-Tas Upper Terrace · Ili Upper Rocks
Early Nomadic·Saka, Wusun, Kangju·🇰🇿 Almaty Region, Kapshagai District, Ili River, upper steppe terrace, Kazakhstan
About
About Tamgaly-Tas III Upper Terrace Ili Petroglyphs
Second river terrace 30 m above the Ili floodplain, 500 m inland from the main cliff, with 90+ low boulders and slab pavements carrying shallow pecked petroglyphs distinct from the vertical cliff corpus: Early Iron Age Saka-Scythian animal style (c.700–400 BCE) — recumbent stags with curled legs, boars and raptors — mixed with Wusun kurgan stelae reuse. The terrace was the settlement terrace of the winter camp associated with the river-crossing sanctuary; surface pottery is Wusun (c.200 BCE–300 CE) and excavated hearths 2015–2019 link terrace hearths to cliff votive activity. Provides the domestic context missing from the famous religious cliff.
Why it mattersSettlement-terrace complement to famous cliff sanctuary, linking domestic Wusun camp to Buddhist/Turkic ritual cliff.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Wusun reuse of Saka boulders — ritual or pragmatic?
- 02Chronology of curled-stag style vs Ordos bronzes
Theories
- 01Winter quarter of Ili ferry custodians
- 02Kurgan cemetery of crossing toll elites
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.700 BCE–300 CE (Saka-Wusun)
- Period
- Early Nomadic
- Culture
- Saka, Wusun, Kangju
- Builders
- Ili steppe nomadic pastoralists
- Purpose
- Winter camp terrace and kurgan cemetery serving river sanctuary
- Abandoned
- c.300 CE with Xianbei push
- Rediscovered
- 2015 German-Kazakh Ili Terrace Project survey
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.700 BCE
Saka animal style pecking peak
c.100 BCE
Wusun kurgan capping boulders
2015
Ili Terrace Project excavation
On the ground
Structures & features
44.0650° N · 76.9980° E · 620 m · 2 mapped features
Upper Terrace — Recumbent Stag Boulder (UT-7)
petroglyph panel0.9-m Saka stag with folded legs and beaked crest, classic animal style
44.0655° N · 76.9985° EUpper Terrace — Wusun Kurgan Stela Slab (K-3)
petroglyph panelReused slab with tamga and ibex on capping of Wusun kurgan 11 m diam.
44.0645° N · 76.9975° E