Besshatyr Burial Ground

Besshatyr Burial Ground
Yakov Fedorov · CC BY-SA 4.0

A sacred necropolis of the Saka tribes dating to the 6th-4th centuries BC, located in the Ili River valley within Altyn-Emel National Park, Almaty region. The complex spans about 2 sq km and contains 31 kurgans (burial mounds), the largest rising 17 m high with a 104 m diameter. Inside the great mounds, log chambers built from Tien Shan spruce trunks were discovered, along with 55 m of underground passages. Ritual stone altars on the eastern sides of mounds are linked to the Saka Cult of the Sun.

TypeMound/tumulus
Period1500 - 500 BC
CountryKazakhstan
Coordinates44.3335° N, 78.4334° E

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