Abstract:
This article for the fi rst time reproduces and comprehensively interprets the data of
excavated memorial enclosures of the early Middle Ages on the territory of Semirechye –
southeastern part of Kazakhstan. Two memorial complexes of Karakystak 18 and Ulken
Kakpak essentially complement the corpus of similar excavated monuments of Semirechye.
The analysis of both constructive features of the memorial monuments and accompanying
inventory is undertaken. Finds of ceramic fragments from three different vessels near
the enclosure No. 2 of Ulken Kakpak may indicate intentional damage of vessels after
the memorial ritual in honor of the deceased. Using the comparative study with similar
archaeological objects from the territory of Sayan-Altai and Mongolia we assume the dating
of these memorial enclosures in Semirechye in 8th–10th centuries. The authors concluded
that the memorial enclosures on the territory of Semirechye have a much smaller variety of
constructive features than similar objects in South Siberia and Central Asia. The memorial
complexes in Karakystak and Ulken Kakpak could have been created both by the Turks of
the "ten arrow’s" Western Turkic Qaghanate and more probably by the Turgesh or Karluks.
