Karazhartas

Located on the left bank of the Taldy-Nura River, 13 km east of the village of Taldy in Shet district of Karaganda region. The monument was erected on a hill of a riverbank.

The burial ground contains 32 structures that are monuments of the Begazy-Dandybai culture. The central position is occupied by a large stone mausoleum with a pyramidal step structure, around which burials of the ordinary population are located in the form of small fence-boxes. In 2016-2017, under the leadership of A.Z. Beisenov and I.A. Kukushkin excavations of the mausoleum and burial structures were carried out, as well as restoration work.

The dimensions of the pyramidal step mausoleum are 14 × 13.5 m, the height is 3 m.

A man is buried in the center of the mausoleum, covered with large slabs. The bones of a sheep and horse found at different levels of filling the grave are possibly associated with sacrificial food.

During the study, numerous fragments of ceramics of the Late Bronze Age, bronze arrowheads and a gold ring were noted.

Karazhartas is currently one of the largest stone tombs of the Begazy-Dandybai nobility by the size of the mausoleum. The mausoleum of Buguly-3 can be compared with its parameters. From this perspective, one can point out some similarities with the complexes of Northern Tagisken in the Aral Sea and Karaoba in the Irtysh, which had clay structures.

Given the complexity and laboriousness of construction work, it can be assumed that only leaders and the wealthy could afford such a luxury.

The construction of the elite mausoleums of Buguly-3, Begazy, Dandybai, Aybas-Darasy, Sangyru, Karazhartas indicates that Central Kazakhstan was the largest center of ancient Beguazy-Dandybai culture.

Not far from the Karazhartas burial ground there is a group of settlements of the Late Bronze Age Baibala, Akkezen, Akkezen-2, Shortandybulak, Shokpartas. These settlements and the Karazhartas burial ground, as well as several other monuments, were left by one large community, a tribal association that inhabited the Taldy-Nura valley in ancient times.

In the Taldy-Nura valley, not far from the Karazhartas burial ground, there is a significant number of elite mounds of Saka time.

Along with this, 4 km west of the Karazhartas burial ground there is a Mazar of the famous Batyr and Biy of the 13th century Senkibay Orazkululy.

Probably for the first miners and early nomads of Saryarka, the Taldy river valley was a large civilization center. Since a whole complex of monuments from the Bronze Age to the present day has been preserved here.

In the future, it is planned to create a single historical and archaeological park here, to protect and promote the historical heritage of the region. A comprehensive study of the monuments, as well as their reconstruction, is expected. In turn, this will allow tourists to plunge into the atmosphere of antiquity (up to 4 thousand years ago).