Iron Age society and chronology in

South-east Kazakhstan
Claudia Chang1, Norbert Benecke2, Fedor P. Grigoriev3 Arlene M. Rosen4
& Perry A. Tourtellotte5

This new view of Iron Age society in Kazakhstan breaks away from the old documentary
and ethnic framework and offers an independent archaeological chronology. Excavated
house types and new environmental data show that nomadism and cultivation were practised
side by side. Scholars had previously tended to emphasise the ability of documented Saka
leaders to plunder and collect tribute from sedentary agriculture groups through military
aggression. But what really gave them a political and economic edge over other steppe
groups was a dual economy based upon farming and herding.
Keywords: Iron Age, Kazakhstan, chronology, economy.

For we live in the age of the iron race, when men shall never cease from labor and woe by
day, and never be free from anguish at night, for hard are the cares that the gods will be
giving. (The Poems of Hesiod, Translated with Introduction and Comments by R. M.
Frazer, Stanzas 175–180. 1983. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press)

Introduction
Three cultural or ethnic designations have been distinguished among the Iron Age cultures
of the eastern or Asiatic regions of the Eurasian steppe (Phillips 1957). The Yuezhi, linked
linguistically to the spread of the Tocharian language into Xinjiang, are the Inner Asian
nomadic groups that were pushed out of Bactria into the Ili River and areas of the Taklakman
desert according to various readings of the Shi ji, a famous Chinese chronicle documenting
the travels of Zhang Qian into Western Asia (Pulleyblank 1970; Di Cosmo 1994). The term
Saka is used to denote Scythian populations of Kazakhstan and Central Asia and the term
Wusun, is used as a designation for the later nomadic populations that conquered and subdued
the Saka and agricultural populations in the Ili Valley at the end of the first millennium BC
and during the first half of the first millennium AD (Di Cosmo 1994; Moshkova 1992).
The use of these ethnic designations to characterise the archaeological remains of Iron Age
populations in regions such as Semirechy’e is naturally problematic, a fact that is well-
recognised by the historians and archaeologists who study the ancient populations of the

1 Sweet Briar College, Sweet Briar, VA. 24595

2 Eurasien-Abteilung, Deutsches Archaologisches Institut
3 Central State Museum, Almaty, Kazakhstan
4 Institute of Archaeology, University College London
5 Sweet Briar College, Sweet Briar, VA. 24595

Received: 13 March 2002; accepted: 17 March 2003

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Iron Age in this region of the world (Di Cosmo 1994). During the Soviet period, the Iron
Age archaeological cultures of Semirechy’e (the Seven-Rivers region includes the Ili River
Basin and the seven rivers that flow north from the Tian Shan Mountains, bounded by the

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Chu River in the West) were placed into two roughly divided chronological periods based on
burial chronologies put forth by Bernstam and Ageev (Istorii Kazakhskoi SSR 1977; 272;
310): (1) the Saka epoch (eighth century BC to third century BC) and (2) the Wusun epoch
(third century BC to fifth century AD). The Saka period has been further divided into the
early Saka period (eighth century BC to sixth century BC) and the later Saka period (fifth to
third century BC) (Moshkova 1992: 75). Here we choose instead to lump our archaeological
materials into the broader category of Iron Age cultures of the Eurasian steppe that date
approximately from the eighth century BC to the fifth century AD and in the discussions of
the radiocarbon sequence established for the Talgar Iron Age settlement sites, it will become
clear why we have chosen to avoid the use of ethnic labels for designating chronological time
periods, phases, or sub-phases.
Our main objective in this paper is to apply the principles of settlement archaeology to the
study of Eurasian steppe communities in the first millennium BC. The theoretical thrust of
our research has been to establish the nature of pastoral and agrarian adaptations during the
Iron Age in this region of Kazakhstan. The Soviet archaeologists describing the Iron Age
cultures of this region tended to refer to these cultures as ‘Early Nomadic’ cultures, a misnomer,
since they had already recognised that the Iron Age nomadic populations also practised
agriculture or at least had considerable interaction with settled agrarian populations (see
Yablonsky 2000:3 for a critique of these terms). In fact, Di Cosmo (1994) provides
archaeologists with a cogent discussion and argument for why the so-called nomads of the
Iron Age in the Dneiper region, Mongolia, Siberia, Western China and Kazakhstan either
practised agriculture or at the very least traded and interacted regularly with agrarian
populations.

Archaeological surveys in the Talgar region

From 1994 to 2001, our international team conducted surface surveys and excavations in
the Talgar Region of southeastern Kazakhstan, along the northern flanks of the Zailiisky
Alatau Mountains of the Tian Shan Range and about 25 km east of the major city of Almaty
in the Republic of Kazakhstan (Figure 1). The use of systematic surface surveys and field
walking in the Republic of Kazakhstan is a relatively recent practice, although productive
surveys were conducted in the Choresmia expeditions of the Amu Darya and Syr Darya
valleys (Moshkova 1992: 31–33, citing the important work published by S. P. Tolstov on the
Choresmia surveys conducted in the 1950s and 1960s). In the mid-1990s the Kazakh-
American Talgar Project initiated the systematic field survey of three areas: (1) the Talgar
alluvial fan (ca. 150 sq. km. at 550 to 1100 m in elevation); (2) the upper Turgen/Asi valleys
(c. 46 sq. km at 2100 to 2500 m in elevation) and (3) the upland plateau of Orman
(c. 36 sq. km at 1350 to 1800 m in elevation). The majority of survey was done in ploughed
fields or over open grassland terrain where surface features such as burial mounds, graves,
and artefact scatters could be found on the surface terrain. In the Talgar alluvial fan, less than
0.01 of the entire surface was surveyed and a site density of 2.8 places per sq. km was recorded.
In the upper Turgen/Asi valleys the coverage was about 75 per cent of the total area, recording

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Claudia Chang, Norbert Benecke, Fedor P. Grigoriev Arlene M. Rosen & Perry A. Tourtellotte

Figure 1

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 Iron Age society and chronology in South-east Kazakhstan

a site density of 4.06 places per sq. km. (Chang n.d.). In Orman, a preliminary reconnaissance
survey only was conducted.
In the Talgar alluvial fan approximately 63 per cent of the places recorded were Iron Age

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sites, while the remaining were either Bronze Age (c 1700 BC to 1000 BC, or post-Iron Age
to Medieval Period sites (c 500 AD to 1500 AD). This sample area was thus intensively
occupied during the Iron Age (c 800 BC to 100 AD). During this time period there is
evidence for an extensive mortuary cult of Saka burial mounds (large earthen mounds ranging
from 30 to 70 m in diameter and from 5 to 16 m in height) and Wusun burial mounds
(capped with stone cobbles and ranging from 5 to 15 m in diameter and from 1 to 2 metres
in height) (Akishev and Kushaev 1963). Fifty-nine Iron Age settlements were found within
a 1 km radius diameter proximity of the tumuli. Perhaps the alignments of tumuli along
ancient stream beds signified a family or kin group’s claim to prime arable land.
In the upper Turgen/Asi valleys, several Bronze and Iron Age settlements were found with
associated mortuary complexes. The mortuary sites included Bronze Age graves, Iron Age
burial mounds, Turkic period graves (c 600–900 AD), Mongol and Kazakh period graves
(c 1200–1900 AD). This upland zone was inhabited from the Bronze Age through the Mongol
and historic Kazakh periods. Ethnographic accounts suggest that these upland mountain
valleys were used for the summer pasturing of sheep, goats, cattle, and horses from the lowland
areas of Talgar, Issyk, or Chilik or for the winter pasturing of herd animals by transhumant
herdsmen migrating from the higher elevations of the Inner Tian Shan Mountains (3500 to
3000 metres) to lower elevations.
The Orman Valley is the highest elevation zone where agriculture can be practised
successfully. The preliminary reconnaissance survey identified Bronze Age graves, some Iron
Age settlements and Medieval and Kazakh hamlets. Most likely the Iron Age populations
practised farming and herding in this upland plateau, known for its rich chernozem soils.

Two Iron Age settlements on the Talgar alluvial fan: Tuzusai and
Tseganka 8
The Kazakh-American Talgar Project team excavated two Iron Age settlements on the Talgar
fan. The methods included the use of the Wheeler box-grid system for each 2 m by 2 m
excavation unit which were excavated in 20 cm arbitrary levels. The stratification and cultural
horizons were subsequently determined from the four baulk walls in each unit. At the level
of the sub-soil or materik the baulk walls were destroyed. At Tuzusai, the deposits at some of
the excavation units were screened using inch mesh screen so as to recover small fragments of
animal bones and pottery sherds. In the 2000 excavations at Tseganka 8, larger 4 m by 4 m
units were excavated in the eastern half of the site so as to recover the horizontal contexts of
eight to ten different cultural horizons. The goals of our excavations were to recover large
samples of faunal remains; to define habitation features such as hearths, fireplaces, house
floors, activity areas, and middens for the recovery of micro- and macro-botanical remains;
to establish stratigraphic sequences and cultural horizons at both sites that could be dated
using radiocarbon dating; and to cross-date the materials at both sites so as to reconstruct
Iron Age settlement patterns on the Talgar alluvial fan.
Tuzusai is a large village settlement (c 1 ha in size) on the west side of the ancient stream of
Tuzusai. An approximately 6 m (east/west) by 12 m (north/south) excavation block was

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 Claudia Chang, Norbert Benecke, Fedor P. Grigoriev Arlene M. Rosen & Perry A. Tourtellotte

excavated during three field

seasons (1994–1996).
Excavations from 1994 to
1996 uncovered over 30
circular and rectangular
storage pits, fragments of
house architecture and floors,
and a Mongol-period burial.
There are four to six different
cultural horizons at Tuzusai
spanning from approximately
415 BC to 75 BC and a later
sequence of about 1275 to
1950 AD. The 1994–1996
excavation blocks are probably
in a peripheral area of the
village, rather than in the
central area of habitation. The
majority of features are storage
and trash pits, great deposits
for animal bone and plant
remains. There are only partial
remnants of plaster floor
levels, and the later storage Figure 2 Tseganka 8: the site.
pits (from Phases IV and V, see Table 1) probably destroyed the earlier contexts of this area of
the site. The diagnostic sherds found at Tuzusai include mould-formed and hand made
bowls, jars, pitchers, and storage vessels of local clays. Typically the ceramics are fired at
between 800 and 900ºC., oxidised redwares with inclusions of crushed granite, plants, dung
and sand (Kuznetsova 1998). Surface treatments include buff and red slips and red paint.
These ceramics are primarily utilitarian wares that are similar to the grave goods found in
Saka-Wusun burials in Semirechy’e (Akishev & Kushaev 1963). Imported ceramics such as
burnished and polished black pottery, and red-slipped wares with fine sand temper, probably
come from the Syr Daria area and Central Asia proper (Grigoriev 1995).
Tseganka 8 is located on the east bank of the present-day Tseganka stream. This Iron Age
site is about 1.5 km to the north-east of Tuzusai. A block of 8 m (east west) by 22 m (north
south) was excavated along the edge of the eroding east bank of the Tseganka River (Figure
2). There are approximately six to eight different cultural horizons at Tseganka 8 spanning
from approximately 775 BC to 40 BC (Figure 3). It appears that more than fifty per cent of
the site was destroyed by the current down-cutting of the Tseganka River, a streambed that is
part of the Soviet-period field irrigation system. The pit-houses and storage pits were excavated
by the original inhabitants into the subsoil or materik, that currently lies from 80 cm to 1.2
m below the present ground surface. In fact Tseganka 8 was originally discovered in the
stream cuts along the eastern bank of the Tseganka River during our geomorphological surveys
conducted in 1996. At the southern-most extension of the 2000 excavation units, the eastern-

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Table 1 Radiometric Dates from two Iron Age Settlements in Talgar

Chronology of Tuzusai 1 (excavated from 1992–1996) and Tseganka 8 (excavated from 1998–2000)
Stratigraphic Sequence Radiometric Date Calibrated Result (2 Sigma, 95%)

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VIII-Tuzusai, Occupation 5, 140 +/– 70 BP Cal AD 1650 to 1950
Unit V-11, Fire pit 1, B-98380
VII – Tuzusai, Burial 1, 650 +/– 50 BP* Cal AD 1275 to 1410
Animal bone collagen, B-142480
VI – Tuzusai, Pit 24, B-86747 2020 +/– 40 BP* (Oxford) Cal BC 100 to AD 75
Tuzusai, Pit 17, B-86749 2070 +/– 40 BP* (Oxford) Cal BC 180 to AD 25
VIa – Tseganka 8, 2190 +/– 80 BP* Cal BC 400 to 40
Unit V-10, B-133614
V – Tuzusai, Pit 30 B, B-098384 2170 +/– 30 BP Cal BC 335 to 290 and
BC 230 to 115
Tseganka 8, Pit 13, B-133611 2130 +/– 40 BP Cal BC 350 to 300 and
Tuzusai, Pit 29, B-098383 2230 +/– 30 BP Cal BC 220 to 50
Tuzusai, Unit V-13, ash deposit, 2170 +/– 60 BP Cal BC 380 to 190
B-98381 Cal BC 380 to 40
Tseganka 8, Pit house 2, floor 2, 2130 +/– 40 BP* Cal BC 385 to 100
B-133611
IV – Tuzusai, Pit 22, B-86750 2310 +/– 50 BP* (Oxford) Cal BC 415 to 345 and
BC 310 to 210
Tuzusai, Pit 8 – ’92, B-098385 2320 +/– 40 BP* (Groningen) Cal BC 410 to 260 and
cal BC 230 to115
III – Tseganka 8, Pit house 3, 2390 +/– 70 BP Cal BC 775 to 370
Floors 3a/b, B-133612
II – Tseganka 8, Pit house 3, 2120 +/– 40 BP Cal BC 350 to310 and
Floor 4, B-153900 Cal C 210 to 40
I – Tseganka 8, Storage pit ’98, 2300 +/– 80 BP* Cal BC 740 to 710 and
B-129589 BC 535 to 80
* These radiometric dates were obtained through Accelerated Mass Spectrometry. If the place is unspecified the AMS
date was obtained at Beta Analytic, Inc. (Miami, Florida). All dates were calibrated by Beta Analytic, Inc.

half of a destroyed Wusun tumulus was excavated (diameter was approximately 8 metres and
the centre height was 0.50 metres).
The main architectural features at Tseganka 8 were five intact pit houses, of which two (Pit
house 2 and Pit house 4) were circular in shape and approximately 3 to 3.5 metres in diameter,
and two (Pit house 3 and Pit house 7) were rectangular, ranging from about 7 metres in
length to 3 metres in width, with side-walls measuring 0.5 to 1.2 metres in depth
(measurements taken from the original occupation surface). There was one oval-shaped pit
house (Pit house 6) about 4.8 metres in length and 3.5 metres in width and with side-walls
measuring 0.5 to 0.8 metres in depth (measurements taken from the original occupation
surface) (Figure 4). In addition to these houses, there were small gravel-lined storage pits,
earthen storage pits, and an oven. A total of about 200 diagnostic ceramics (rims, bases, and
body sherds with surface treatment such as painted designs) were found at the Tseganka 8.
These ceramics were primarily redwares, fired at 600 to 700 centigrade, usually oxidised.
From a sample of bowl rim sherds, Kuznetsova (2000: 163) determined that these vessels

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 Claudia Chang, Norbert Benecke, Fedor P. Grigoriev Arlene M. Rosen & Perry A. Tourtellotte

Figure 3 Tseganka 8: section.

were about 0.7 to 1.1 cm in

thickness and made of 98
percent of clay with iron
particles and sand. Sixty
percent of these bowl
fragments consisted of red
wares with crushed granite
and/or gneiss and animal
dung (Kuznetsova 2000:
164). Forty per cent of the
bowl fragments consisted of
red wares with crushed granite
and/or gneiss, sand, and
animal dung (Kuznetsova
2000:164). These typical
ceramic vessel forms found
Figure 4 Tseganka: Pit house 6.
throughout Semirechy’e were
present: bowls with flat, angled rims, shallow bowls, storage vessels, jars, and kettle fragments.
Imported ceramics such as grey wares, burnished and polished black-slipped and red-slipped
ceramics from Central Asia proper and the Syr Daria area were noted.

Zooarchaeological and Palaeoethnobotanical research at Tuzusai and

Tseganka 8: some preliminary results
The excavations at Tseganka 8 and Tuzusai yielded large collections of animal remains that
provide some insights into the pastoral economy of these Iron Age settlements. Both
assemblages consist mainly of domestic mammal remains – sheep and goat being the most

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frequent species according to 90

NISP, followed by cattle and 80
horse (Table 2). The 70

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proportion between the four
60
domestic mammals shows no

Percentage
significant changes during the 50
long period of occupation at 40
Tseganka 8 and Tuzusai 30
(Figure 5). Remarkable
20
identifications are those of
camel (probably Bactrian) 10
and ass. The low number of 0
1 2 3 4 5
teeth and bones that could be
NISP Tseganka 8 and Tuzusai 1
assigned to these animals
Sheep/Goat Cattle Horse
point to the fact, that
presumably both species were Figure 5
primarily exploited for
purposes of transport, i.e. as pack animals and for riding. The dog completes the inventory
of domestic species. Wild animal remains include that of deer, pig, fox, hare and vulture.
Compared to the domestic species, their numbers are very low. Obviously, hunting was only

Table 2 Fauna remains from Tseganka 8 (excavations 1999–2000) and Tuzusai 1 (excavations 1994–
1996), quantified in terms of the number of identified specimens (NISP) and bone weight (in grams).
A dog skeleton found at Tuzusai 1 has not been included here.
Tseganka 8 Tuzusai 1
Species NISP Weight NISP Weight
Domestic Mammals
Sheep/Goat 1619 11839 890 7292
(Sheep) (66) (1206) (68) (1639)
(Goat) (22) (426) (20) (284)
Cattle 570 15013 492 18296
Horse 107 6056 90 10413
Ass 2 73 4 1154
Camel 6 561 19 1457
Dog 7 65 8 69
Wild Mammals
Red deer 3 70 2 59
Roe deer 1 2 3 41
Wild pig – – 1 4
Fox – – 2 9
Hare 1 1 – –
Wild Birds
Vulture 2 10 – –
Unidentified 1280 2462 1288 2593
Sum 3598 36152 2799 41387

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 Claudia Chang, Norbert Benecke, Fedor P. Grigoriev Arlene M. Rosen & Perry A. Tourtellotte

of marginal significance for providing food and raw materials at both sites. Various facets of
zooarchaeological evidence imply that the pastoral system at these sites was probably sedentary
village-based animal husbandry. The assemblages display the full complement of main
domestic taxa, including sheep, goats, cattle, horses, asses, camels and dogs, which is in
accordance with the diversity of domestic species maintained by small scale mixed farmers to
provide the optimal range of products and as insurance against stock losses and disease
(Halstead 1996). In contrast, nomadic herders tend to specialise in a single species, due in
part to the difficulty of providing for the needs of a number of species with diverse nutritional
and watering requirements during migration. Relative species abundance of the main
domesticates may also be used to assess the degree of animal mobility in the economy. The
relatively high representation of cattle within the assemblages argues that at least a portion of
the pastoral economy at both sites was sedentary. Numerous ethnographic accounts highlight
the unsuitability of cattle herding for nomadic systems in dry and/or mountainous regions
(see Barth 1965). Indeed, a large representation of bovine stock has typically been linked
with more intensive agriculture (Khazanov 1984). Dental eruption and attrition data from
Tseganka 8 and Tuzusai
8
suggest the presence of
neonatal and juvenile 7
ovicaprids, and thus a range 6
of age cohorts, implying the
5
presence of animals
Number

throughout the year. For 4

example, dental attrition for 3
the deciduous fourth
premolar from the ovicaprid 2
assemblages indicates 1
permanent occupation
0
through the continuous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
range of wear stages NISP Tseganka 8 and Tuzusai 1
represented. This is in Tseganka 8 Tuzusai 1
contrast to the discrete
Figure 6
groupings of wear, which
would result from a seasonal occupation at the sites (Figure 6).
Phytoliths recovered from samples taken from cultural horizons at Tseganka 8 (see above)
also clearly represent an agricultural component to the Iron Age Saka and later Saka-Wusun
economy. The most important cereal represented at the site is foxtail millet (Setaria italica),
with barley and wheat forming a part of the phytolith assemblage as well. Although there
have only been a small number of samples analysed from each level at the site, there appears
to be some interesting trends in cereal cultivation which can be tested by further analyses. In
the two earliest levels (Level 7 and Level 6), all cereal phytoliths are low in number relative to
later phases at the site. In these early levels the phytolith assemblages are dominated by wild
grass husks, possibly derived from the burning of animal dung at the site. The grass husks
indicate occupation at least during the spring and early summer flowering seasons at the site.
There is a significant jump in millet phytoliths beginning with Level 5. After this time,

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 Iron Age society and chronology in South-east Kazakhstan

millet also generally continues to dominate the grass husk counts. Although barley is the
most abundant cereal in the one sample from Level 7, both wheat and barley maintain a
minor presence throughout most of the samples with a possible trend towards diminishing

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numbers in later periods at the site.
Apart from the cereals and weed grasses, other plants represented at the site include large
quantities of reeds (Phragmites sp.) and sedges (Cyperaceae). The reeds were very likely to
have been used for roofing or flooring the pit-houses, and the sedges might have been used
for basketry or matting. These plants would have been found close to the site along the water
course of the Tseganka River. One of the unique findings of the phytolith study at Tseganka
8 was the presence of phytoliths remarkably similar to the complex hair cells from Cannabis
sativa leaves. These were located only within a hearth at the site (Fireplace 1, Floor 4, Unit
D-13). This might indicate that the space associated with this hearth was used for ritual or
medicinal purposes.
The phytolith assemblages from Tuzusai are somewhat different from those at Tseganka 8,
possibly a result of the later time periods represented at the site. Cereal in the early stages at
Tuzusai (Phase IV) are characterised by a dominance of foxtail millet (Setaria italica) with an
additional presence of wheat, barley, and rice. Through time, the millet decreases and rice
phytoliths increase. Wheat phytoliths appear to maintain steady counts throughout the
occupation phases. It is also interesting to note that in the earlier levels, wild weed grasses
appear to enter the site independently from those of the cereal grasses, primarily wheat. This
suggests that the pathway of weeds into the site was primarily in the form of animal dung. In
the later time periods at Tuzusai the weed grasses co-vary with the wheat phytoliths. This
implies that weeds later begin to enter the site as field weeds with the cereals, perhaps suggesting
a more intensive agricultural regime. The presence of rice at Tuzusai is unique to this area to
date, and points to a much more intensive type of agriculture than has been traditionally
assumed for Iron Age populations in this region (Rosen et al. 2000; Rosen 2001).
The differences in the phytolith assemblages at Tseganka 8 and Tuzusai are quite significant.
At Tseganka 8 millet is much more prominent than at Tuzusai. Millet is a cereal that is
favoured by semi-sedentary and nomadic peoples since it has a rapid growing season and is a
hearty crop. It requires little attention throughout its growth and indicates a much less intensive
type of agriculture which can be conducted in an opportunistic fashion during good years
with abundant rainfall. It is possible that the abundance of millet at Tseganka 8 indicates
phases of occupation in which the site was inhabited only on a semi-sedentary basis. This is
in marked contrast to the phytolith evidence from Tuzusai which indicates a progression to
more intensive cultivation and a larger investment in an agricultural economy.

Iron Age chronology at Tuzusai and Tseganka 8

Table 1 is a chronology established for these two Iron Age sites based upon stratigraphic
sequences and radiocarbon dates derived from charcoal samples taken from archaeological
contexts. The first column, labelled ‘Stratigraphic Sequence’ represents the cultural horizons
or phases determined on the basis of artefact and/or feature horizons. The second column,
labelled ‘Radiometric date’ is the actual measured radiocarbon dates obtained from the
laboratory. The third and final column, ‘Calibrated Result,’ are dates obtained statistically at
the laboratory using the INTCAL98 Statistical Measurements and represent 2 sigma limits

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 Claudia Chang, Norbert Benecke, Fedor P. Grigoriev Arlene M. Rosen & Perry A. Tourtellotte

at 95 per cent probability (Stuiver et al. 1998). The calendar age (BC/AD designations) are
considered approximations since they can be subject to ‘old wood effect’ or the potential
inclusion of younger or older material into the archaeological context or matrix. For example,
we are of the opinion that the radiocarbon sample from Tseganka 8, placed in Phase II, does
not fit into the chronological framework, possibly because it represents charcoal from a
mixed context. Phases V and VI are the two periods when both Tuzusai and Tseganka 8 are
occupied.

Cultural change
Table 3 lays out the chronological framework for both sites, the features found for each
phase, and the possible evolution of architecture and features. Under each phase designation
there is a floruit, or range of calibrated radiocarbon dates that correspond to the samples
dated in each of these phases. The architectural house features in the Talgar fan evolved from
deep subterranean, rectangular features with walls that ranged from 0.5 to 1.0 metres in
height with centre ridge poles to above-ground structures that were either sub-rounded or
rectangular with centre posts and a thatch or waddle and daub super-structure (no longer
visible in the archaeological record). The analogies to the subterranean and semi-subterranean
house structures can be found in the Soviet period literature on Bronze Age houses from
Central Asia. At the Oshskoe settlement in the Sulaiman-Too, a late Bronze Age site in the
Ferghana Valley of the Republic of Kirghizstan, zemlyanka (pit-houses) XI and IX appear to
be rectangular and dug into the side slope (Zadneirovskii 1997). At the settlement of Yakke-
Parsan in the Choresmia region of Central Asia, a large rectangular zemlyanka (measuring
about 7.1 metres by 6 metres), date to about the ninth to eighth century BC during the Late
Bronze Age (Etina 1963). A round or sub-rounded house (approximately 4 to 4.5 meters in
diameter) was found at Kuyusai 2, Excavation B, House 1 in the Choresmia region of
Turkmenistan, and dates to approximately seventh century to sixth century BC (Vainberg
1979).
Why did architectural forms tend to evolve from subterranean and semi-subterranean
forms to above-ground structures from the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age to the Turkic
period? The winter houses of the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age were replaced by semi-
permanent, above-ground structures perhaps only used seasonally. In the later periods, plastered
floors above the earlier floor and fill levels could indicate that these subterranean and semi-
subterranean houses were now utilised by the ancient inhabitants as above-ground structures.

A brief chronological comparison of the Talgar Radiocarbon

Sequence with other Eurasian Sequences
Eurasian chronology for the Iron Age has been muddled by the convention of assigning
cultural and ethnic identifications to the nomadic peoples of the first millennium BC based
upon the textual references made by Herodotus and others to the Scythians of the Pontic
Region, the inscriptions of Darius I at Bisutun in Persian, and the Chinese chroniclers who
referred to the ‘Sae’ and ‘Dahae’ (see LIU 2000 for the Chinese usage of these terms; see
Yablonksy 2000: 3–8 for detailed discussions on current views of the Scythian world and a
re-evaluation of the Eurasian chronology for the Iron Age). We prefer to follow the current

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 Iron Age society and chronology in South-east Kazakhstan
Table 3 A Comparison between Features and Architecture at Tseganka 8 and Tuzusai.
Phase Designation
Phase VIII: Floruit AD
1650 to 1950
Phase VII: Floruit
AD 1275 to 1410
Phase VI: Floruit
BC 180 to AD 75
Phase VIa: Floruit
BC 400 to 40
Phase V: Floruit
BC 335 to 40
Phase IV: Floruit
BC 415 to 115
Phase III: Floruit
BC 775 to 370
Phase II: Floruit
BC 350 to 40
Phase I: Floruit
BC 710 to 80
*Floruit generally means the range of the calibrated date (see Hall 1997 for a precise definition).
Tseganka 8 – features
Pit house 3, floor 2;
Pit house 4, floor 1;
Pit house 6, floors 4a/b;
Pit house 7, floor 2;
Oven 1
Pit house 2, floor 2;
Pit 13, bottom
Pit house 3, Floors 3a/b
Pit house 3, Floor 4,
Pit 1 (perhaps this
represents an intrusive
pit): Pit house 7,
Stratum 6
Storage pit; Pit house 5,
Stratum 1; Pit house 7,
Stratum 6
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Tuzusai – features
Unit V-11, Fire pit 1;
Eastern half of yurt outline; possible yurt structure
Nicholas II 20 kopeck
piece (19th century);
Shaft burial with bronze
mirror (Han-copy): young
adult female supine body
with head in north
direction, silk brocade fragment
Pit 24 fill; Pit 17 fill;
pit used to hold spherical architecture: plastered
bottom storage vessel;
in Unit V-10 a plastered
floor with a stone-lined
post mould – fragments
of three vessels
Pit 24B; Pit 26; Pit 27A;
Pit 27B; Pit 28A; Pit 28B; storage pits
Pit 29; Pit 30A; Pit 30B;
Pit 31; Juvenile dog burial
Pit 8; Pit 19; Pit 21;
Pit 22; Pit 24A; Pit 25
Evolution of
Architectural forms
Research
Outside fire places and
– historical Kazakh
component
Above-ground
floor surfaces associated
with upright post
placed in a stone-lined
post mould
Above-ground
architecture of
rectangular and sub-
rounded houses. The
walls are generally no
more than 50 cm. in
height.
Rectangular and round
Rectangular storage pits
Semi-subterranean
rectangular pit houses
with two stone lined
post moulds along the
north south axis
Semi-subterranean or
subterranean
rectangular pit houses
(wall heights are 75 cm.
in height or more) with
centre ridge pole
supports
Semi-subterranean or
subterranean
rectangular and oval pit
houses.
 Claudia Chang, Norbert Benecke, Fedor P. Grigoriev Arlene M. Rosen & Perry A. Tourtellotte

Table 4 The Relationship of the Talgar Chronology derived from Tuzusai and Tseganka 8 with the
Local Chronology for Archaeological Periods in South eastern Kazakhstan
Standard Chronology for South eastern Kazakhstan Phase Designations at Tuzusai and Tseganka 8
Historic Kazakh Period (1500 AD to present) Phase VIII
Mongol Period (1210 AD to 1500 AD) Phase VII
Medieval Islamic Period (750 AD to 1200 AD) (not present)
Turkic Period (600 AD to 900 AD) (not present)
Wusun Period (200 BC to 500 AD) Phases II, III, IV, V, and VI
Saka Period (700 BC to 100 BC) Phases I, II, III, IV, V, and VI

practice of the local Kazakhstani archaeologists who use the terms Saka/Scythian and Wusun
to describe chronological time periods, and not specific ethnic groupings of Iron Age
populations (Ludmilla Koryakova, personal communication). A correlation between the Talgar
chronology and the historical sequence is given in Table 4.
The most intensively occupied time period of the Talgar alluvial fan occurred during Phases
V and VI (fourth century BC to first century AD), and this coincides with the erection of
large burial mounds. Recently, the ‘Golden Warrior’ burial excavated in 1969, and located
about 15 km east of Tuzusai and Tseganka 8, has been re-evaluated to date from the fourth to
the third century BC, The ‘Golden Warrior’, a high status individual, was buried with ceramic
vessels, a dagger, and a silver bowl with an undeciphered script (Akishev 1978). The Issyk
tomb thus suggests the presence of social stratification among the indigenous populations of
Talgar and Issyk.
According to the Iron Age chronologies re-evaluated by Hall (1997), our Iron Age
settlements span the early Saka/Scythian culture through the Wusun and Yuezhi time periods
(Hall 1997). According to this chronology, Bashadar Kurgan, Tuekta Kurgan, the Pazyryk
Kurgans and Yustyd Kurgans 21–23 all fit within the Saka/Scythian period. Hall makes the
intriguing suggestion that the Katanda Kurgan and Shibe Kurgan (also found in the Altai-
Sayan complex) date slightly later in time (c 410 BC to 50 BC) and could possibly belong to
the Yuezhi rather than the Saka (Hall 1997: 867).
There are several very important points to be made about Hall’s tentative conclusions. If his
suggestion is correct and can be verified by more radiocarbon dates from the Altai-Sayan sites,
then the chronological break in the Semirechye (Ili Valley) sequence that the Kazakh
archaeologists have made between the Saka/Scythian burial mounds and cultural affiliations (c
700 BC to 200 BC) and the Wusun burial mounds and cultural affiliations (c 200 BC to 500
AD) might also have existed in the Altai-Sayan sequence. There was also a chronological, stylistic,
and cultural break in the Iron Age sequence, demonstrating that local, indigenous nomadic
cultures were influenced in the first half of the Iron Age (c 700 BC to 200 BC) by the Saka/
Scythian traditions to the west and then in the second half of the Iron Age (c 200 BC to 100
AD) were influenced by the Yuezhi/Wusun traditions to the east or Central Asia proper.
With regard to the Talgar material, such chronological comparisons are extremely important
because art historical representations of ‘animal style’ art from such finds as ‘Golden Warrior’
burial from the Issyk Mound show much closer affiliations with the Ili Valley material from
China, than from the Altai. The more data that can be summoned to build reliable chronologies
in these three regions – Semirechye, the Altai-Sayan, and the Chinese sites in north-western

310
 Iron Age society and chronology in South-east Kazakhstan

China – the more likely archaeologists will be able to determine the extent and degree of
cultural influences.

Research
Conclusions
The most important insight gained from our surveys of the Talgar alluvial fan is the relatively
high density of burial mounds, and therefore the high number of settlement sites, that date
within the Iron Age. From a demographic perspective, this indicates that the Talgar alluvial
fan was well-populated during the Iron Age. The ancient agro-pastoralists of the Iron Age
farmed and herded along the ancient stream beds. It is entirely possible that the Iron Age
inhabitants did re-channel ancient streams in order to irrigate their crops of wheat, barley,
and millet (and perhaps rice). Semi-sedentary pastoralism also occurred in the Talgar Region,
although the pre-dominant herding was based upon sheep and goat husbandry. At Tseganka
8, the pit houses and above-ground structures suggest that either the inhabitants lived in
these settlements seasonally or year-round. However, the residents at Tseganka 8 continued
to use rectangular house structures throughout all phases of occupation.
During the most intensive period of occupation at Tuzusai and Tseganka 8 (Phases V and
VI, c 400 BC to 100 AD), such splendid tombs as the Issyk Mound were also constructed.
The Issyk Mound, only 20 km east of the Talgar alluvial fan, demonstrates the existence of a
hierarchical, stratified society – perhaps similar to the kind of hierarchical military confederacies
described for the Scythian cultures of the Black Sea area. What gave such military confederacies
their apparent strength and wealth? While scholars have tended to emphasise the ability of
groups such as the Saka to plunder and collect tribute from sedentary agriculture groups,
emphasising their military prowess and fierceness above all other aspects, what really gave
them a political and economic edge over other steppe groups was a dual economy based
upon farming and herding. The apparent population expansion during the middle of the
Iron Age (c 400 BC to 100 AD) was a result of the expansion of agro-pastoral production in
such areas as the Talgar alluvial fan. Control over this fan and ability to produce food surpluses
could have only added to the social, political, economic, and military clout of the ‘so-called
nomads’ of the Talgar Region. Finally the chronology of the Talgar area gives us reason to
believe that the relationship between the indigenous ‘nomadic steppe cultures’ and pan-
steppe cultural affiliations such as those of the Saka/Scythian groups maybe further explained
by the careful excavation of settlement sites as well as burial tumuli.

Acknowledgements
We wish to acknowledge these granting agencies for the sponsorship of our research: the Wenner-Gren Foundation
for Anthropological Research and the National Geographic Society for field and laboratory research from 1994
to 1996 and the National Science Foundation Grant No. BCS-9603661, for research conducted from 1997 to
2001. We especially wish to express our gratitude toward Karl M. Baipakov, Director of the Institute of Archaeology
(Almaty, Kazakhstan); Yuri M. Peshkov, Cultural advisor for UNESCO (Almaty, Kazakhstan); Murat Nurpeisov,
Researcher at the Institute of Archaeology; Alexi Mariashev, Senior Research Archaeologist of the Institute of
Archaeology; Olga V. Kuznetsova, Researcher, Institute of Archaeology; Boris A. Zheleznyakov, Researcher, Institute
of Archaeology (Almaty, Kazakhstan); and Victor Mair, Department of Middle Eastern and Asian Studies,
University of Pennsylvania. The authors wish to thank the two anonymous readers for their insightful and excellent
comments; although we have incorporated many of their suggestions we take full responsibilities for the contents
and opinions expressed here.

311
 Claudia Chang, Norbert Benecke, Fedor P. Grigoriev Arlene M. Rosen & Perry A. Tourtellotte
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