Ancient monuments of Central Kazakhstan

Monuments of Kazakhstan

Buzuk site of ancient settlement around Akmolinskay region

In 1999 there were commenced archaeologi­ са l excavations of Buzuk site of ancient settlement in five kilometres from Astаnа. Academician Kim а Akishevich Akishev headed that research. The fact of presence of medieval settlement nеаr the capital of Kazakhstan is interesting bеcause the culture of ancient nomads still remains Теrrа lncognita fоr man у Europeans.
Scarcity of written documents and arcbltectural monuments very оftеn causes scholars to allege that there аге nо signs of civilisation because nomads had nо civilisation. In steppes the civilisation developed in climatic and geographi­ са l conditions different from the ones of woodlands and the coastal lands. Therefore, it could not bе similar to the European, it did ехist, but it was different.
The found site of settlement was named Akzhol, but later they defined its original пате - Buzuk. This is а medieval memorial of 10-12th century АО. The age was determined bу the properties of the bricks found оп the surface before the excavation: their form, technology of production, and the temperature of firing. There are written references about this memorial.  
In 1816 Rus­sian mining engineer Ivan Shangin was the first оnе to visit that place. In the framework of the assignment of the General Headquarters he explored the valleys of Nura and Is him rivers. in his diary he wrote that there were some ruins, possibly remains of а settlement, at Вuzuk Lake not far from Akmolinsk. The diary was published in 1820 in Sibirskiy Vestnik.
Today the results of excavations give us а precise presentation of the plan of that settlement, its size and purpose. Air photography made it possible to define the plan more precisely. There is the lake and th е outlines of те nearby settlement at airphotos.
From the airphotos оnе саn see very well mat the settlement was made of three parts. Its central part is represented in the shape of three petals - roundish four-corner blocks of buildings. In the centre these blocks meet at the elevated ground, u ро n which there аrе remained ruins of а minaret and three or four mausoleums. They all were made of burnt bricks.
The bricks and materials were pro­duced at the spot. There was а production complex where they pro­duced the material (clay) and brought water from the lake. It was impossible to deliver water to the production complex b у the gravity flow because the settlement was situated at а height , mat is why they used special equipment to deliver water.
The complex included two furnaces for brick firing. Besides the samples of square bricks they found the so-called terracotta - i.e. bricks with carved drawings. The minaret tower had three belts of ornaments, most likely due to the architectural traditions of Central Asia . According to те religious ideas of that time it symbolized three worlds: the heaven, the earth, and the underground kingdom.
At the other side of the central ruins there is thе necropolis ­the graveyard, where they found the remains of the mausoleum made of burnt bricks.
According to the results of the excavations оnе саn assume that craftsmen who could construct furnaces and knew 110W to make and dry clay inhabited the settlement. They knew the technology of firing bricks at а certain temperature.
There were builders who could erect rather complex cult constructions there.
The data obtained еnаblе us to conclude that in 10-12 centuries Akzhol used to bе the military headquarters or summer residence of me leader of kipchak tribes. In those times the country was called Desht-and- Кipchak, there was К ipchak khanate there and its beginning and development happened to bе in period.