The history of the study of dune monuments in the Ryn Sands of Western Kazakhstan

Abstract

This article provides information about the Stone Age of Ryn-Sands in Western Kazakhstan. The sand sands located in the Volga-Ural interfluve are a transit zone between such regions as the Caucasus, East European Plain, Southern Urals, Western Kazakhstan, and the Middle East. Since the late 40s, and then in the late 60s, early 70s, in the 80s, the Ryn-Sands became an object of study to address the issues of the settlement of ancient cultures from the Stone Age until the Middle Ages. As a result, extensive material was accumulated on the Mesolithic-Eneolithic of Ryn-Sands, which formed the basis for distinguishing the Seroglazovian Mesolithic culture, the Kairshak-Tenteksor Neolithic culture, and the Caspian culture of the Eneolithic era. The article analyzes archival materials of the Astrakhan, Volga-Ural expedition led by A.N. Melentyev, L.L. Galkin related to the study of dune monuments of the Ryn-Sands of Western Kazakhstan. The results of archaeological work of the Institute of Archeology named after A.Kh. Margulan in the vicinity of Lake Soraydin. Materials about the studies of the Stone Age of the region are systematized and areas of concentration of the Stone Age monuments are highlighted, as well as the territories that are still poorly or not studied at all for the Stone Age.