New Finds of Saka-period Sculptures in the Kazakh Uplands (in the Context of Issues of Cultural and Chronological Attribution and Evolution)
Ermolenko L. Kasenova A. Duisenbay D. Kassenali A.
30 September 2025Margulan Institute of Archaeology
Kazakhstan Archeology
2025#29Issue 3182 - 197 pp.
The article introduces three newly recorded Saka-period stone sculptures from the Kazakh Uplands, two of which (Kotyrkol and Lakpai) have a detailed human head and the third one (Sarytau) depicts a half-figure of a person. Each sculpture is unique: the Kotyrkol find is the northernmost Saka-period statue discovered in the Uplands; the Lakpai statue bears a rare attribute – earrings (depicted without details); and the Sarytau piece is the only half-figure sculpture with a tubercular bulge on the head. In the absence of secure dating attributes, the problem of chronology within the Saka statuary tradition is addressed. The previously accepted dating (7th–5th centuries BC) may be revised in light of radiocarbon results obtained by A. Beisenov for kurgans No. 1 and 2 of the Saka period with statues at the Kyzyljartas burial ground. The specified lower chronological boundary (8th century BC) points to the emergence of an autochthonous statuary tradition represented by bust-type figures both with and without the tubercular detail. The appearance of half-figure sculptures demonstrating iconographic parallels with Scythian statuary is dated no earlier than the late 7th and no later than the 6th century BC. The Sarytau statue belongs to this category, while also incorporating a feature typical of the autochthonous tradition.
chronology , Kazakh Uplands , Saka period , stone statues , Tasmola culture , tubercular bulge
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Department of Archaeology, Kemerovo State University, Kemerovo, Russian Federation
Margulan Institute of Archaeology, Almaty, Kazakhstan
National Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Astana, Kazakhstan
Center for Research and Preservation of Cultural Heritage, Astana, Kazakhstan
Department of Archaeology
Margulan Institute of Archaeology
National Museum of the Republic of Kazakhstan
Center for Research and Preservation of Cultural Heritage
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