Tamgaly Petroglyphs

In a dry gorge in the Chu-Ili mountains, around five thousand petroglyphs are pecked into dark varnished rock across dozens of panels, the oldest from the Bronze Age in the second millennium BC and later additions running through the Iron Age and into the medieval period. The most striking are the solar deities, human figures with radiating sun-discs for heads, sometimes surrounded by dancing figures, which occur here in unusual concentration. Others show hunting scenes, chariots, bulls, ibex and warriors. The site was a sanctuary rather than a settlement, with associated burial grounds and altars in the same valley, and it sits in open steppe where the silence is part of it.

What you actually see

• Sun-headed deities - the radiating solar figures that make the site distinctive.
• Hunting and chariot panels - Bronze and Iron Age scenes across the gorge walls.
• The burial grounds - associated cists and mounds in the valley.
• The gorge setting - dark varnished rock in open steppe country.

When to go

Spring and autumn for comfortable temperatures and better light; summer on open rock is very hot. Low-angle morning or evening light makes the carvings far easier to read than midday sun.

Honest expectations

There is no public transport and the last stretch of road is rough, so a car or organised trip is necessary. Facilities are minimal. The carvings are small, weathered and scattered across a large area, and without a guide or a good site map most visitors find only a fraction of them. Do not touch or chalk the panels, which has been a problem here.

Nearby

Almaty is around three hours southeast; the Chu-Ili range continues northwest.