Raw Materials Sources and Technical and Typological Characteristics of the Zhalgyz-agym Site in the Northern Aral Sea Region

Abstract

Purpose. In 2020, an expedition of the Korkyt Ata Kyzylorda University under the leadership of A. A. Tazhekeev and Y. S. Kurmaniyazov has examined the surface of the Zhalgyz-agym parking lot and collected archaeological material. Also in the local history and Local lore museum of the Aral Siti, Y. S. Kurmaniyazov has processed a previously unexplored collection of stone artifacts, storing in the funds, from the Zhalgyz-agym site.Results. The Zhalgyz-agym Site is located on the border of the territory of the Aral Karakum Desert and the Aral Sea in the vicinity of Saryshyganak Bay. Like most of the early sites of the Celteminar culture located in the vicinity of Aralsk Siti and st. Saksaulskaya, the Site are confined to the surface of somewhat compacted and humified soil, the layer of which is now exposed by terraces on the slopes of sandy mounds. On the surface of this layer, one can find vertically standing core, piles of flakes, ash residues and osteological materials.The collection of the Zhalgyz-agym Site, both collected and provided by the museum fund, is represented by 547 stone artifacts.The technology of primary knapping contains a number of features that allow these atrifacts to be attributed to the Mesolithic tradition. This is evidenced by both the shapes of the core – end, wedge-shaped, pencil-shaped – and the technology of their production and knapping.Conclusion. The Zhalgyz-agym site can be attributed to the Celteminar culture, but since the collection of archaeological material took place from the surface of the site, its chronological and cultural characteristics were determined only by applying a technical and typological analysis of stone artifacts.