Cultural legacy of Talas river valley.

DURATION: 10 days
DISTANCE: 1000 km
ROUTE: Bishkek-Talas-Bishkek
СЕЗОН: April - October

- Petroglyphs of Scythian times at the top of Urmaral river: The purpose of this trip is to visit the petroglyphs located at the top of Urmaral river - a unique site, presenting samples of Scythian culture; to identify specifics and general properties of the “Scythian Animal Style”; to locate the sources of cultural influence on the art of nomads by the Akhemenid Iran and China; to decode the petroglyph language. We will try to discover undocumented images, conduct primary processing of the collected data, and practice in application of dating techniques depending on the type of drawing. The majority of images at Urmaral are spread out unevenly alongside the river flow with a lesser density in the river's lower stretch. The images at the river source are more vivid (north face). The most renown group of images is located on a boulder named Zhaltyrak Tash ("Glanced Rock") This rock is 60 m across and 8-10 m in height. It is blocking half of the Kaman Suu valley. There are images of a deer-camel - a female maral deer with 2 cone-shaped humps. The animal is depicted in motion - as if it was aiming for the sky. The images are made with a contour line technique. Other images, like a multi-figure composition consisting of scenes drawn at different times, are made by the so called point technique.

- Ken Kol catacombs and Manas memorial: Explore the renown Ken Kol catacombs, that have given its name to an entire culture of ancient migrants, who have buried their tribe-mates in catacomb-like constructions. We will have a chance to argue on timing and cultural belonging of the Ken Kol catacombs and tribes with artificially elongated skulls. Visit the Manas gumbez - architectural artefact dating to XIV c. and the Manas lore museum.

- Medieval cities of Talas river valley: Visit the remains of the medieval cities, that once flourished at Talas and gather medieval artefacts. We propose the following route: (1) Ak Tobe site located on the outskirts of the contemporary city of Talas, by a village called Ivano-Alekseevka; (2) site near a Talas brick factory; (3) site by a village called Min Bulak (Vodnoe); (4) remains of a city named Sadyr Korgan, drowned by the modern-day Kirovskoe reservoir; and (5) a burial site in the Chong Kapka gorge washed off by the reservoir, to the east of Sadyr Korgan.