Discovered an Ancient Megalithic Relief and Stele in Akmola Region
On July 16, 2024, researchers from the A.Kh. Margulan Institute of Archaeology, S.A. Yarygin and S.K. Sakenov, who were conducting archaeological excavations in the Zerenda District of the Akmola Region, were informed by the director of the local history museum in Balkashino, Mendibai Kopobayev, about a unique find: an image resembling a human face on a granite boulder in the Kabany Klyuch dam area.
During a field visit involving Askerbek Zh. Tulebaev, the team was able to document a relief image and a stone stele that was found nearby in a fallen state. The face is well-crafted, with all details clearly visible—large eyes, a long straight nose, and wide lips. The forehead is slanted. The relief is located at the top of a low rock outcrop and is oriented west-southwest. The overall dimensions of the face are 27 × 21 cm. The nearby stele is over 2 meters tall and about 1 meter wide. On one side, in the area of a faintly outlined head, there is a poorly preserved image of a deer with large, branched antlers.
The object is associated with one of the types of megalithic monuments of the Kokshetau Highlands and indicates the developed forms of culture and art of its creators. It appears that the relief and the stele were part of a complex intended for ritual practices, the meaning and purpose of which, as well as the dating of the object, researchers still need to determine.
