Tamgaly Petroglyphs

The earliest petroglyphs date from the second half of the second millennium BC, and carving continued until the beginning of the 20th century. Alongside them are multi-layered settlements, stone enclosures and cists of the Middle and Late Bronze Age, and burial mounds from the Early Iron Age onwards. Stones in the central canyon are thought to have served as altars, and the area kept its sacred associations through every period.

The site was listed as a national monument in 2001, and the Tanbaly state reserve-museum was set up in 2003 to protect and manage it. In 2004 it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, under the current official spelling Tanbaly; the property covers about 900 hectares including the 982-metre summit of Mount Tanbaly, within a 2,900-hectare buffer zone.

The reserve-museum is based near the village of Karabastau in Zhambyl District, with an office in the district centre of Uzynagash. The images document the herding life, rituals and social organisation of the pastoral peoples of the steppe, and staff continue archaeological research and excavation across the surrounding landscape.