CENOTAPH OF THE GOLDEN HORDE TIME AT THE TOMBSTONE OF KOTYRTAS (Central Kazakhstan)

Abstract

The small number of the XII–XV centuries monuments studied on the territory of Central Kazakhstan, the introduction of any new materials into the scientific circulation is being updated. In the framework of this article, the authors highlight the results of the studies of the Golden Horde mound at the Kotyrtas burial ground (Shet district of the Karagandy region), which contained an adobe brick fence with an annex in the form of a “peshtak portal” under the earthen mound. Noteworthy are the traces of two fireplaces, pillar pits, the entrance chamber with a masonry threshold, the facade side of the building and the coating of the inner-city space with a thin layer of clay. The burial chamber was laid in the upper part with raw bricks and resembles a sagan (brick tombstone of Muslim graves), the masonry of which rested on a wooden floor. No burial was detected, which allows determining the object as a cenotaph. Some criticisms have been made to the well-known chronology of raw fences, based on the presence or absence of a number of structural elements. In the conclusions, the authors come to the need to date the investigated structure of the Kotyrtas burial ground in the XIII–XIV centuries.