Perhaps the most exotic ancient burial complex of Khakassia — Safronovsky Burial Mounds
… as well as the mystical mysterious “Stone Goddess of Fertility”, radiating the power of life.
For the vast majority of Russian tourists, especially from the nearby regions of large cities, holidays in Khakassia are primarily beach affairs near large Khakassia lakes, such as Shira, Bele, and Itkul. All of them are located in approximately the same area, and many tourists do not even get out of the tourist villages around the beaches.
However, the real beauty of Khakassia, in my opinion, lies primarily in the historical heritage of these expanses, primarily traces of the Scythian era. The Tagarian culture belongs to the Scythian-type cultures, i.e. it is identical to the culture of the Black Sea Scythians-those that the ancient Greek historian Herodotus wrote about, and those that Alexander the Great could not conquer.
According to the well-known cultural historian S. V. Kiselev, the Tagars are known in Chinese chronicles as “ding-ling”, and their country is “ding-ling-go”. “Go” — in Chinese — the state. The recognition of the Tagar country as a state by the highly developed Chinese civilization testifies to its high political position in the region.
The natural conditions of the region, the limited area of the steppes, protected from the neighboring steppe regions by massifs of mountain ranges and impenetrable forests, allowed the local Karasuk population to remain on their former lands, not to switch to a nomadic lifestyle, but to develop their economy and culture, borrowing everything useful from their neighbors, without breaking their centuries-old traditions. So within the region there was a peculiar culture, known in the archaeological literature as Tagar period.
The Tagar culture left the largest number of archaeological monuments in Khakassia. Almost all the mounds that are clearly visible in the steppe, small and large, without which it is difficult to imagine the landscape of the Khakass steppes, were built by Tagars. Probably, there is no hollow and valley in Khakassia where you will not find these mounds. They can stand one at a time, especially large ones, or they can make up entire grave fields. The burial mounds of the Tagar period are distinguished by their large size and high stone steles at the corners and walls of the fence.
The very first scientifically excavated mound was a monument of Tagar culture (excavations by D. G. Messerschmidt in January 1722). The impressive cemeteries of the Tagars are the highlight of the Khakass cultural and historical landscape. Unfortunately, today only a few people know about the greatness of the Tagar culture that once existed here. People take for a miracle the statues on Easter Island, the Egyptian pyramids, when literally under their feet are monuments just as monumental and just as mysterious. The” Royal “ burial mounds of the Tagars at the time of construction probably reached 15–20 meters (today-11–12 meters) in height and 70 meters in width. The south-eastern corner stele of the Great Salbyk Mound (Khakassia) is estimated to weigh 50 tons, and to be more than 5 meters high. Other vertically installed steles are from 20 to 30 tons in weight, and up to 5 meters in height. Fence plates — from 5 to 20 tons. The entire structure has 83 massive stone slabs. For comparison, the Easter Island statues range in weight from 5 to 30 tons, the largest statue of “Patro” stands out — its weight is 82 tons.
The nearest mountain range is located at a distance of at least 60 kilometers. Think about how in ancient times the Tagars delivered an 82-ton stone rock to the center of the steppe for the construction of a mound?
But today I want to tell you not about the world-famous burial mounds of the “Valley of Kings” in the area of the Minusinsk depression, but about a more modest, but perhaps one of the most picturesque and interesting burial mounds in Khakassia — Safronovsky mounds.
In general, of course, in the steppe of Khakassia, ancient burial mounds are literally at every step. And a much larger number of them were destroyed by a man who was economically developing Siberia. Safronovsky burial mounds are unique even by the standards of the entire variety of ritual burials in Khakassia. They are distinguished by high corner steles with clear mysterious stone paintings, much richer than in the vast majority of burial mounds.
Safronovsky mounds are known to many and at the same time are not known to the tourist mass. They are located slightly away from the main tourist routes in Khakassia, and despite the short distance to the object, despite the easy transport accessibility, most tourists just drive along the highway past, without turning in the direction of the mounds. Perhaps this has allowed these monuments of ancient culture to still be preserved in a relatively good form, almost without desecrating inscriptions of unconscious tourists such as “I was here”. Access to the object is absolutely free, which is surprising given the obvious historical value of the mound complex with unique nakamennoy symbols. I think this object should definitely be protected by the state! But while this is not the case, I strongly recommend all tourists to visit the Safronovsky mounds and see this unique monument of Tagar culture in its natural form.
Safronovsky burial mound in the Askizsky district of the Republic of Khakassia on the left bank of the Es river, a kilometer north of the Safronov aal. Safronovsky burial ground belongs to the Tagar culture of the Bronze Age and Early Iron age and is about 2.5 thousand years old.
In total, the burial ground includes about 50 burial mounds. The mounds are mostly pyramidal in shape, square at the base, with a fence of standing stones. On the low terraces there are mounds of the ordinary population. Dominating the rest of the burial ground, large mounds up to 20–25 meters in diameter are located at the edge of the high terrace. It is here that there are 4 mounds that attract special attention. They are surrounded by stones of bizarre shape, the height of which reaches almost 7 meters. The four main mounds are located in a straight line, starting from the bottom of the hill, gradually rising up the slope.
Almost all the stones are covered with carved drawings, 564 images are recorded here. Most of the images are believed to be related to shamanism: figures of people and animals, tambourines, mysterious “cosmic” symbols and magical attributes. Some researchers believe that these drawings are a kind of encyclopedia of Siberian shamanism. According to experts, this burial ground can be considered one of the most valuable objects of cultural heritage of Khakassia.
It is noteworthy that the drawings of the Safronovsky burial ground are not similar to the drawings that are found in other places of Khakassia. Researchers distinguish among the mounds of the Safronovsky burial ground large mounds of 5–6 generations, clearly belonging to the same genus. If the early burial mounds have the features of a standard burial ground of the ancestral nobility, then the subsequent burial mounds have larger dimensions. In principle, this trend can be traced throughout the Minusinsk basin, which indicates an increase in the influence of the highest elite within the entire region.
It was during the construction of the “princely” mounds of this period that the Tagars first began not just to build large mounds, but, within the accepted canons, to create bright, deeply individual architectural images by playing with proportions and shapes.
Early Tatar (Podgornovo) cemeteries are extensive and may number more than a hundred mounds, but, as a rule, their number varies from 30 to 60 mounds. The designs of the tombstone structures show us the genetic connection of the burial tradition with the previous Karasuk culture. The Podgornovsky mound is a rectangular fence made of vertically embedded “overlapping” sandstone slabs, reinforced with buttresses, with vertically installed steles at the corners of the fence; the tradition of installing additional vertical “wall” steles is gradually developing.
In the center of the fence of the Tagarsky kurgan, one, much less often, two graves were built, which are a stone box covered with one or two massive stone slabs, or a small log house made of thin logs. Often there are tombstone structures in the form of a stone shell bookmark. Inside the fence of the Podgornovsky mounds, a low embankment was built, up to one and a half meters, although there are often mounds without visible earthen structures.
The grave is usually buried by one person, laid out on his back, with his head to the south, or in the opposite position. At the head of the buried person, a flat-bottomed ceramic jar-shaped vessel with liquid food was installed. In the legs of the deceased, a standard set of meat food was placed — the left shoulder blade, ribs and thigh of a sheep or cow, sometimes a horse. Very often in the area of the belt of the deceased there are bronze products — a knife of a plate shape with a small hole at the end of the handle, an awl and a mirror. In the male graves, at the level of the abdomen and thighs, you can also find bronze weapons — an akinak dagger, a chisel, a battle axe, and vtul-shaped arrowhead.
You can get to the burial ground on the Abakan-Askiz road to the ulus of Poltakov, from there about 15 kilometers north to the ulus of Safronov. The mounds are visible from afar, just before the descent to the bridge over the Es to Safronov, but it is not easy to find the way to them on your own. A barely visible path rises from the village and goes into a valley covered by low mountains.
If you look up from the lower mound, you get the impression of a corridor. To this, according to many visitors to this place, there is also a feeling of someone’s invisible presence, which makes it creepy.
Object coordinates: 53°3 ‘ 13 “s. w. 90°3’36” w. d.
In general, near the Safronovsky mounds there are still interesting objects for tourists interested in ancient history. And I would recommend visiting them on the way to the Safronovsky burial complex. In fact, to visit the sights of this area by car, you can safely allocate a whole day.
The Beltir burial site is located in the so-called Grave Steppe in the vicinity of the village of Beltirskoye in the Askiz district of Khakassia.
This is the largest burial site in the Askiz district. It includes more than 1,000 mounds, divided into 50 mound groups, and a chaa-tas type mound group.
Mounds with steles stand on both sides of the Abakan-Tashtyp road. Most of the mounds, divided into mound groups, are concentrated within a radius of 3–4 kilometers from the village of Beltirskoye and the station of Beltiry.
The mounds date back to the XII-I centuries BC. The bulk of the mounds belong to the period of the VII-I centuries BC and belong mainly to the Tashtyk archaeological culture.
There are monuments of previous and subsequent eras. So in 1982, near the village of Beltirskoye, Professor of Moscow State University L. R. Kyzlasov found a three-faced stone stele belonging to the monuments of the Afanasievka archaeological culture. According to Kyzlasov, the image of the three faces on the Beltyrskaya stele is associated with the idea of people about the vertical axis of the Universe and about the three worlds — heavenly, earthly and underground.
Also opposite the Beltyry ulus is the Tagar mound, on the slabs of which are carved images of animals: a camel harnessed to a watermelon, a deer walking, a roe deer crouching on its front legs, a tamgo-shaped sign in the form of a crossed oval.
Many finds of the Beltir burial ground are unique.
So in 2013, scientists discovered a bronze mirror with the image of a predator, presumably a wolf, dating from the first millennium BC. The mirror, like other discovered bronze objects, was covered with a thin gold foil. According to Alexander Poselyanin, a senior researcher at the Khakass branch of the All-Russian Society for the Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments, the finds belong to the Scythian period and are unique for this area, although their analogues are found in northern China, in the Kansk-Achinsk steppe.
The condition of the burials is deplorable. Grave graves are in danger of complete destruction, some of them have been dug up, and others are threatened by a nearby railway, highway, and irrigation canal. Therefore, many finds are exported for the purpose of their preservation.
Archaeological excavations are regularly carried out at the Beltir burial ground to study and preserve the crumbling monuments.
Looking at a disappearing archaeological relic is both simple and difficult. Mounds in varying degrees of preservation constantly come across on both sides of the Askiz-Abaza highway on our way. But the area of this “grave steppe” is simply huge. There are no pointers to the most interesting objects, motorists share signs with each other, according to which you can stop at something interesting. For example, this stone menhir, nicknamed “elephant” by tourists, is located 40 meters from the highway.
If you wander around here, you will probably find a lot of interesting things in the vast territory of the steppe. And so we can say about the whole of Khakassia.
The stone statue “Ulug-Hurtuyakh-Tas” is located in the center of the 35-kilometer Askiz burial ground, in the Askiz district of the Republic of Khakassia. The program for the development of tourism in Khakassia has introduced signs to the most important tourist sites of Khakassia along the highways. These brown signs with the name of the object and the direction and distance are translated into English. “Ulug-Hurtuyakh-Tas “is also located right next to the Abakan-Askiz highway, so it will not be difficult to find the object. For example, there is no pointer to the Safronovsky mounds and it is much more difficult to search without a map.
Khurtuyakh-Tas is a three-meter stone stele that was dug into the ground about 6 thousand years ago at the site of a geological fault, where a powerful radiation of special energy was noted. Researchers have not been able to solve the mystery of this mysterious phenomenon.
Today, the Hurtuyah Tas stele is a place of pilgrimage and is considered one of the most revered stone statues. In translation, the Ulug-Hurtuyakh-Tas stele is a “big stone old woman”, with a roughly carved face, a bulging belly and breasts. This idol in female form, childless women pray for the appearance of children.
Since time immemorial, the inhabitants of the steppes with a bow approached the “stone old woman” and begged to be cured of infertility. Women who go to worship the Khakass Mother of God are sure that she will help them. According to legend, the statue has a special healing power for infertile women, and according to eyewitnesses, appeals to the miraculous relic sometimes brought much more benefit than treatment by specialists. This impersonal force was feminine in nature (the cult of the Mother) and was the source and creator of all things. After years of diligently smearing her face with milk or sour cream to thank or appease the spirit, she turned black. All attempts to wash it were in vain. It is said that the “old woman” stands and does not hear anything that happens nearby, however, as soon as the woman makes three circles around her, the statue “comes to life”. Science has not yet found an explanation for the phenomenon of the “stone old woman”, experts attribute the creation of Hurtuyakh-Tas to the time of the emergence of shamanic cosmology, which assumed the ultimate unity of all things in a single force.
The first records of the Stone Baba were made only in the 18th century. It happened in 1722, when, on behalf of Peter I, the Russian Academy of Sciences began its research in the vast expanses of Siberia. Hurtuyakh Tas was first visited and described by the” German academic “ Daniel Gottlieb Messerschmidt. The tsar-innovator was known for looking for scientists in Europe and sending them to the territory of the Russian Empire to study not only minerals and natural resources, but also to study the language, history, ancient culture, national customs, rituals, customs, artifacts and medicinal herbs.
On August 18, 1722, Messerschmidt entered the Askiz steppe, where he met Hurtuyakh Tas. Here is what he wrote in his diary :
“After an hour’s ride, I finally reached the well-known statue of Hurtuyah, which is located in the hilly steppe, and I immediately sketched it and later attached the drawing to the present notes. It was carved out of gray sandstone and sunk into the ground obliquely. From behind, one could see the thick braids, woven from hair, suspended in the form that they are now worn by Kalmyk and Tatar (Khakass) women. No inscription on the statue could be found.
The pagan Tartars from Es-Beltyr, who provided me with horses, paid great honor to this statue; each of them rode around it three times, after such a ceremony they made an offering of food to it, or placed food in the grass, close to the pedestal, so that it could use the food according to its appetite. When I asked them why they were so unanimous in their belief that this lifeless stone deserved such worship, they replied that they had heard from their ancestors that this Curtiac statue had once been a famous matron, and that Khayrahan, or the almighty God himself, had turned it into stone.
15 years after Messerschmidt, another German historian, G. F. Miller, left reports about Ulugh Hurtuyah Tas. Miller also visited Khakassia and could not pass by one of the most revered places among the local population. He’s writing :
- At a distance of about one verst from Abakan, we met a real Tatar Ulug Khurtuyakh. It is a round statue in the human growth in the image of a woman. Her mouth is painted red inside and smeared with grease on top. On this occasion, the Tartars explained to us that this is done by them as a sign of gratitude and devotion, when they have a successful hunt for deer, roe deer or elk, because they believe that the Hurtuyakh shows interest in those who make such a sacrifice to her. And the red paint is from Chinese tobacco, which they rub into their mouths along with the fat for veneration. Below on the ground lay many river pebbles of different colors, brought here also by the Tatars for worship.
The third historical report belongs to the pen of the no less famous researcher of Siberia, Academician P. S. Pallas, who in the 70s of the XVIII century visited Ulug Khurtuyakh Tas. In his work “Travels in different provinces of the Russian state (1786–1788)” he writes the following :
Grave grave grave, several hundred fathoms from this stone to the west, is furnished with large slabs and surrounded by many other graves, which has one large and belly-rounded downwards already, and upwardly pointed, the height of a man sunk into the beam, which its sharp top and carved side stands to the east and, moreover, inclined to the grave. At its sharp end there is an extremely large female image, much larger and more clearly carved than on other stones, the mouth is open. On the belly of the stone on the same side, some lines and beautiful paintings are drawn across, which, however, do not seem to mean anything. This bar is called by the local pagan Tatars Kurtuyak Tash, or Ulu-Kurtuyakh. When they go to the sable fishery in the autumn, they pray with a blessing to him for happiness, and when they pray, they anoint their open mouth with fat or put a little oil in it.
This first evidence makes it clear to us what the statue looked like, how it stood, and for what purpose it was used 300 years ago. Its appearance has not undergone almost any changes, even its sloping position was not the result of subsidence of the soil, as I initially assumed. Apparently, the stone Woman was placed in a kind of bow to the Ground.
The tradition of rubbing” white food “ on the mouth of Hurtuyah Tas apparently took its origins long before even those times. In addition to forcibly offering gifts, river stones were also used as offerings.
In 1954, the statue was taken from the territory of the Askiz district to the Abakan Museum of Local Lore. For many years, the monument stood in the museum building. In the late nineties, when many national and historical topics sounded in a new way, both local historians and specialists outside the republic began to talk about Ulug-Hurtuy-Tas. Therefore, soon, on the initiative of the Khakass intelligentsia and the national council of elders, it was decided to return the monument to its former place. In 2003, the head of the administration of the Askiz district of the Republic of Khakassia signed an order on the establishment of the Ankhakov Municipal open-air Museum “Ulug-Hurtuyakh-Tas”. Today, the stone statue stands in its former place.
To preserve the unique stele from environmental influences, a glass yurt was built over the stele. Now it is the historical and cultural museum “Ulug-Hurtuyakh-Tas”. A green lawn is laid out around the statue. The floor of the yurt is covered with beautiful modern ceramic tiles. Along the walls of the yurt, electric heating radiators are installed to maintain a constant temperature.
In addition to the Stone Grandmother statue itself, there are two more traditional yurts on the side of the object, where there is a souvenir shop and a very interesting museum of Khakass life with many items of ancient utensils. The guide in this yurt was simply incomparable. The woman is clearly with a higher archaeological and ethnographic education, told a lot of interesting things, showing things inside and answered in detail literally every question I asked.
To see the stele, you need to take the A-161 road from the city of Abakan to the village of Askiz, then 15 km to the aala of Ankhakov. Ulug-Hurtuyakh-Tas Historical and Cultural Complex is 1 km from the aal. The statue is located on 113 km of the highway.
“Aal” in translation from Khakass is a village. This word is definitely related to the Turkic “aul”, which also means a settlement. In Khakassia, these words are often synonymous with “ulus”. So do not be surprised, local residents, pointers on maps and so on can call the settlements this way and that. In general, the exact meaning of the word Ulus is a tribal association with a certain territory, subject to the khan or leader of the peoples of Central and Central Asia, Siberia. And since historically, for centuries, the settlements of the Khakass people were formed precisely on the basis of the clan, almost always the use of the name “ulus” in relation to the village is correct.
On the way to the Safronovsky mounds, the tourist passes by the ulus of Poltakov. In this village there is an interesting museum, which many do not even know about. This is the Open-air Stellarium Museum “Haya Hoos”. The 93 plates show rock carvings from different eras, starting from the Early Bronze Age, and the latest ones were created at the beginning of the XX century.. The stones were collected by enthusiasts in the 80s of the XX century. during the development of virgin land. In 2003, the museum was officially opened. The museum of rock art stellarium “Haya khoos” is located in the village of Poltakov, at the address:Republic of Khakassia, Askizsky district, S. Poltakov, ul. Pervomayskaya, 8, Near the building of the Yessinsky House of Culture.
The oldest images belong to the period of the early Bronze Age (Afanasiev culture), the latest ones were created in the early XX century. The largest number of drawings belongs to the Bronze Age (II-I century BC). On the subject, almost all the most common subjects and images in Central Asia are presented: fantastic and anthropomorphic creatures, disguises, domestic and wild animals, magical attributes, runic inscriptions and tamgas.
On the stone slabs there are images of deer, horses, mountain sheep, birds. Deer with long branching horns, entering into fierce battles with each other, look very picturesque. The most interesting steles in the Poltakov museum belong to the Okunev culture (the end of the III-beginning of the II millennium BC), but most of the embossed drawings belong to the work of Tagars who lived on the territory of the Khakass-Minusinsk basin in the VII-III centuries BC. The museum’s exposition presents many anthropomorphic images characteristic of this culture.
Unfortunately, the museum has absolutely no developed infrastructure, in fact, it is just a platform behind the building of the local House of Culture, on which paths are laid, along which ancient burial slabs are displayed, but this does not detract from the value of the collected rock art monuments. I am very glad that in Soviet times someone came up with the idea to collect and store the most interesting stone tables with drawings and writings, while the mounds were simply destroyed in the vast territories plowed for agricultural needs. As a result, humanity has not lost these historical relics completely. There are really collected plates with a very interesting and rich ancient graphics.
Dear traveler, do not be surprised if you find a gate near the local House of Culture — the entrance to the territory of the museum-stellarium, and it will be closed. In fact, judging by the reviews of tourists, there is always so. On the gate there is a sign with the director’s phone number, but this person no longer works there and it is useless to call. In this situation, I went into the building of the House of Culture itself, asking about the museum from all the people I met. The staff there are friendly, soon got through to the new director, But unfortunately, he was not in the village, it was either necessary to wait 3–4 hours. until the person returns and conducts a personal tour for me (the cost is very low even for a budget tourist), or just watch the exhibition for free on your own. Understanding the difficulties of implementing the first option, I asked to open the museum for self-inspection. I spent almost two hours inside, then just left, closing the gate, as I was instructed by an employee of the House of Culture, who had the keys to the backyard. It was very interesting even without the tour.
And now you can go directly to the Safronovsky mounds. about 20 km on a good gravel road from the aal of Poltakov. In fact, if you do not know about this burial ground, then it is not quite easy to find it. The area in the area is hilly, and the village is located lower in the valley of the river Es, and if you look from the extreme street, it is difficult to see it.
I remember my first visit-I returned three times behind the bridge to the beginning of the village, to see the direction of movement to the mounds, from there they can be seen on the hill. But when I went to Safronov, I lost my direction again and again, as if the spirits of the mounds did not want to let me in and deliberately confused me. Here it seems that I look at the village behind the bridge — everything is simple, I go inside and immediately lose direction. In addition, no one really speaks even Russian inside. The children on the street do not understand me, I met a grandfather in a very fair degree of alcoholic intoxication, who told me a lot and incoherently about the mounds somewhere beyond the village (pointing with a wide gesture at half the horizon), said something about his great ancestors and dragged him by the sleeve to his house to drink to his health. Barely got rid of it. Then I was followed by a grim, stern-looking rider on a black horse with a completely stony expression on his face. He followed me at a distance of about 30 to 40 paces, just watching my actions. And when I tried to ask him a question, he just drove away from me as soon as I started moving in his direction. He fell behind only when I got on the right road behind the village and began to climb into the hills to the mounds. By God, this is still one of the strangest things that ever happened to me in my travels! :)
The next times I visited the Safronov mounds without any difficulties. Perhaps the spirits of this area already recognized me.
In general, you can not leave the car in the village and come to the mounds directly on it, there is a dirt track, accessible even to city cars. just the first time I was there in the spring of 2009, after the rain, the ground was slippery and on a car with a monoprivod I did not try to climb it in the ascent.
Looking at the photos, someone will think well, stones and stones, well, stick out of the ground. But not everything is so simple, it seems in the distance that just stones. The age of these burial grounds is about 2500 years, just imagine, these stones have been standing here for 3 thousand years!
The scale of some burials is striking. Vertically placed stones with a height exceeding several times the human height, and all this was erected by man thousands of years ago.
Among all the burial mounds, the most remarkable are the 4 mounds, the fence of which consists just of the highest stones of a bizarre shape. It is immediately clear that this is not an ordinary burial. By the size of the mound, the height of the menhirs surrounding the burial, one can judge the nobility, honor and respect of others for the person buried here.
But just the same, the “simpler”mounds stretch to the left and right. In those days, the burial rites of the deceased were given great attention, because a person did not die, but passed into another world, where you had to take with you everything necessary to accompany the status.
Khakass burials have been repeatedly looted over the centuries. In the 18–19 century, there was even a special profession of a mound robber — “Hillbiller”, although of course they began to dig up ancient graves in search of valuables much earlier.
In fact, all the mounds here are completely excavated. In its original state, the stone sides of the mound and even the stelae themselves at the corners are completely or partially buried under the earthen rampart. But three hundred meters to the east there is a mound that has preserved an earthen rampart, it is clearly visible on the Google map.
See the green circle in the upper-right corner of the Google Maps image? This is the mound with an embankment. In the lower part, you can also see at least 3 such mounds. If you bring the maps even closer, it will be noticeable that the entire space between these mounds is almost filled with stone blocks of mounds that have not preserved the earthen embankment.
However, it is also looted. At the top of the hill, the crater of an old excavation is clearly visible, overgrown with bright vegetation. Most often, the first treasure hunters tore the mound from above in the place directly where the crypt with the most valuable finds is arranged. The next searchers are already tearing through the remaining embankment in search of what the first robbers missed. In addition, the Tagarians in the late era began to arrange fake crypts, slipping a deception on top of possible robbers and hiding the main crypt deeper and to the side under a deceptive burial.
In fact, the discovery of a non-looted mound is a huge celebration for archaeologists. Last year, during the rescue archaeological work on the territory of the Askiz district of Khakassia as part of the expedition of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, during the study of a large burial mound, archaeologists found untouched by robbers burials of the Tagar culture (the Early Iron Age).
The skeletons of four Tagars were found in the burial grounds in the same position as it was at the time of burial, as well as all the equipment was intact: bronze weapons, a round mirror and a miniature comb made of horn. Near each buried person, the scientists found large ceramic vessels with wide corollas in good condition.
Archaeologists are very lucky, as most often scientists find repeatedly looted Tagar burials with a minimum number of things. One of the interesting finds is a set of weapons next to the female skeleton, including an axe and a dagger-akinak, which indicates the involvement of women in the military class. In another burial ground, four people were buried at once: two men, one woman and a child. Axes and daggers, apparently bronze, were found near the men.
The complex of Safronov mounds has strict geometric shapes, just like they themselves. This is clearly visible from the height of the eagle’s flight, in our case — photos on Google maps.
I found a very interesting thing-in front of the strict line of the main ridge of the mounds, a slab is dug into the ground, on which” trampled “ completely distinct traces of two feet. If you stand on these tracks, it becomes clear that this plate is also strictly oriented in the same direction as the ridge of the main mounds. Maybe this is a place for some kind of prayer service for the dead? I wonder how many hundreds of years someone’s feet have rubbed this slab so much that there are obvious and obvious marks on it. I had never read about such a thing anywhere, and this discovery caused a surge of emotions of the discoverer in me. Interestingly, I have not found any detailed analysis or research on the Safronovsky burial ground anywhere on the Internet. It’s a pity, I would like to read something about the history of this place.
The landscape around is typical for Khakassia — a hilly steppe, and somewhere in the distance you can see hills, and trees on them. Below, where the village is located, in the valley of the river, everything is in a thicket of bushes, and here it looks like velour fields.
Another feature of these steles is the presence of images on them. In general, almost all the stones have drawings, there are more than 500 of them (drawings) here.
Scientists believe that most of the drawings are related to shamanism: figures of people and animals, tambourines, mysterious “cosmic” symbols and magical attributes. Some researchers believe that these drawings are also a kind of encyclopedia of Siberian shamanism. According to experts, this burial ground can be considered one of the most valuable objects of cultural heritage of Khakassia.
Safronovsky mounds during my first visit, I was very impressed. Although I had previously observed very large mounds in the Valley of the Kings, here I was waiting for some unique feeling of touching something secret and mystical. A mysterious aura seemed to emanate from the mound stones. No, I’m not a superstitious person at all. Most likely, the reason for my special feelings was the evening, the light from the setting sun, the long shadows, the quiet breeze and the complete loneliness-I was traveling alone then. Yes, and I am ready to confirm the stories of other travelers — indeed, on the Safronovsky mounds there is a feeling as if someone is watching you all the time.
If you followed my plan — you slept well, had a good breakfast, looked at the mounds of the Beltir burial ground next to the highway, visited the “Ulug-Hurtuyakh-Tas”, had a snack, then drove and thoughtfully examined the museum-stellarium in Poltakov, then you will arrive at the Safronovsky burial ground closer to 5 pm, which will have a very positive effect on the quality of your photos, if that is important for you ;)
Dear reader, if you are planning a tourist trip to Siberia, I recommend that you pay attention to Khakassia. This is, in my opinion, an underrated tourist region with a lot of interesting things! And be sure to visit the Safronovsky Mounds here. This is a unique monument of ancient culture, giving the opportunity to literally touch the time, which can still be viewed in good preservation. And I would hurry up with a visit, as access to the historical site is free, the object is not protected by anyone and there is a risk of losing this historical heritage of ancient eras.
in conclusion, a small photo-bonus — night Safronovsky mounds in winter:
