The Tamgaly petroglyphs, located in a gorge some 170km north-west of Almaty, are an amazing testament to the long history of human habitation in this isolated corner of Kazakhstan.
The area has been inhabited for around 5,000 years since the late Bronze Age and the thousands of rock carvings trace human development from hunter-gathers who worshipped the sun, via the domestication of horses and camels and the use of bows and arrows, to later inhabitants who led a more settled, pastoral way of life and up to more recent visitors in the twentieth century.
The site is one of three places in Kazakhstan included on the UNESCO World Heritage List – the others being the Khoja Ahmed Yaswai Mausoleum in Turkestan and the Saryarka – Steppe and Lakes of Northern Kazakhstan.
To find out more about the history of these fascinating rock carvings click here.
Kazaxia 
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