Boralday (archaeological site)

Boralday (Kazakh: Боралдай), is a kurgan necropolis in Almaty, Kazakhstan, dating to the early Iron Age and associated with the Saka people.^[1] Located on the southeastern outskirts of the village of Boralday, the site comprises 47 burial mounds spread over 430 hectares on the left bank of the Bolshaya Almatinka River.

Boralday

-500 SAKAS Tasmola Kulay Goro- khovo Itkul Sargat Ananyino culture Massagetae Sauro- matians Mumun Dian culture SABEANS Ordos culture Sha- jing Pazyryk Tagar Chandman Aldy-Bel YUEZHI Subeshi ACHAEMENID EMPIRE MAHA- JANAPADAS ZHOU DYNASTY Slab-grave culture DONGHU MEROË Scythians ◁ ▷ class=notpageimage| Location of Taksai (), with contemporary cultures in the 6th century BCE
Geographical range	South Siberia
Dates	600-400 BCE
Major sites	43°20′13″N 76°52′07″E / 43.3370°N 76.8687°E / 43.3370; 76.8687
Preceded by	Karasuk culture
Followed by	Aldy-Bel culture, Pazyryk culture, Tagar culture

The site was discovered in 1990^[2] and was declared a protected monument in 2010.^[3] There are plans to turn the site into a museum.^[4][5]

The complex was first scientifically described and registered by the archaeologist Ageeva in 1956.^[6]

Archaeological Park "Boralday Sak Barrows"

By Decree No. 1/185-390 of the Almaty City Akimat on March 28, 2006, the territory occupied by the kurgans was transferred under the jurisdiction of the Museum of Almaty to create a unique open-air museum – Archaeological Park "Borolday Sak Barrows", which should include an archaeological park and ethnopark "Monuments of nomadic architecture and life of the Kazakh people".^[7]

In 2016, M. M. Nurpeisov, scientific secretary of the Association of Museums of Almaty, specified that the main direction of development is the idea of an ecopark. It is planned that there will be small groves around, and in the central part of the park, where the mounds themselves are located, the landscape should be preserved as much as possible.^[8]

On May 27, 2017, the park hosted a festival of nomadic culture, where visitors could actually see the "Sarmatian Priestess," which was found in the Taksai 1 mound, gold jewelry, and items of Saka culture. Visitors also took part in a subbotnik to beautify the park's territory.^[9]

Necropolis

 

Boralday among other kurgans in Central Asia.

The necropolis comprises 430 hectares and includes 47 mounds from the Saka period from the 5th to the 3rd centuries BC. The necropolis is located in chains in the south–north and South-West-North-East. The burial ground is 3 km long and 800 meters wide. The height of the largest mound, which is located in the center of the necropolis, is 14 meters, and the diameter is 100 meters. There are also several mounds with a height of 5–6 meters and a diameter of 60–80 meters. Medium-sized mounds have a height of 3 meters and a diameter of 30–40 meters, and the small ones have a height of 1–1,5 meters and a diameter of 10–20 meters. The dry climate conditions in the area have preserved and mummified remains, including human remains, clothing, and various objects. A burial area for horses has also been found.^[10]

Monument status

On November 10, 2010, a new State List of Historical and Cultural Monuments of Local Significance in Almaty was approved, simultaneously with which all previous decisions on this subject were declared null and void. In this decree, the status of the Boroldai Mounds as a monument of local importance was retained. The boundaries of the protection zones were approved in 2014.^[11]

References

1. "Что ждет казахстанский Стоунхендж?". voxpopuli.kz. 5 May 2016. Retrieved 2017-12-25.
2. "Открыт новый экскурсионный маршрут в Боралдайские царские курганы". kt.kz. Retrieved 2017-12-25.
3. "Об утверждении Государственного списка памятников истории и культуры местного значения города Алматы – ИПС "Әділет"". adilet.zan.kz. Retrieved 2022-05-30.
4. "Berel mounds will turn into museum · Publications · "Kazakhstan History" portal". e-history.kz. Retrieved 2017-12-25.
5. "Сакские курганы в Алматы могут стать аналогом Долины пирамид | Все права защищены". inform.kz. 5 July 2017. Retrieved 2017-12-25.
6. "Статьи – Статьи – Курганные могильники ранних кочевников северо-восточной части Алма-Атинской области". www.arheology.kz (in Russian). from the original on 2019-04-27. Retrieved 2021-12-14.
7. . 2017-04-22. Archived from the original on 2017-04-22. Retrieved 2022-08-18.
8. "Музей, которому не нужны стены". kazpravda.kz (in Russian). Retrieved 2022-08-18.
9. . 2019-02-02. Archived from the original on 2019-02-02. Retrieved 2022-08-18.
10. . 2017-04-25. Archived from the original on 2017-04-25. Retrieved 2022-05-30.
11. . 2020-11-27. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 2022-08-18.
12. Image file with complete data, Amir, Saltanat; Roberts, Rebecca C. (2023). "The Saka 'Animal Style' in Context: Material, Technology, Form and Use". Arts. 12: 23. doi:10.3390/arts12010023.

Further reading

• Summerer, Latife (21 January 2021). The wooden comb of the 'golden lady': a new battle image from the Taksai-1 kurgan (western Kazakhstan) Masters of the Steppe: The Impact of the Scythians and Later Nomad Societies of Eurasia: Proceedings of a conference held at the British Museum, 27-29 October 2017. Archaeopress. doi:10.2307/j.ctv1fcf8hh.48. S2CID 234314102.
• Боралдай Курган
• Управление культуры г. Алматы. Курганный некрополь (могильник) Боролдай
• Открытие археологического парка «Боралдайские Сакские Курганы»
• Энциклопедия Алматы. Боралдай, курганы
• Постановление Акимата города Алматы от 10 ноября 2010 года N 4/840 «Об утверждении Государственного списка памятников истории и культуры местного значения города Алматы»
• Решение ХХХI сессии маслихата города Алматы V созыва от 10 сентября 2014 года N 261 «Об утверждении границ охранных зон, зон регулирования застройки и зон охраняемого природного ландшафта объектов историко–культурного наследия города Алматы»