Kyrgyzstan Museum of Petroglyphs, Issyk Kul

7 images 1 contributors Shoot with care

Ilya Melnik

Shoot with care
Sadly this site is not yet stewarded or protected in anyway. You may see visitors behaving inappropriately and standing on the rocks. Do your bit and make sure you do all you can to leave no negative impact here as you photograph.

About this spot
Cholpon-Ata’s petroglyphs lay at the north-west of the city. This open-air museum, sometimes nicknamed “the stone garden”, is a very important historical site. It is located on a territory of 42 ha (104 acres) that includes both petroglyphs, images carved on stones, and prehistoric structures and monuments.

Some of these petroglyphs date back to the end of the Bronze Age (around 1500 B.C.), but most of them were carved by the Saka-Usun tribes (from the 8th century B.C. to the 1st century A.C.). This was before the Kyrgyz people arrived in the region. For the Saka, this territory, nowadays turned into a museum, was considered sacred. Their shaman priests practiced sacrifices and other rituals in honor of the sun god. They lived in colonies now covered by the waters of Issyk Kul Lake.

The most recent petroglyphs are dated back to the Turkish era (between the 5th and 10th centuries).

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