Secondary use of Turkic aristocratic memorials (Archaeological notes on the margins of the Orkhon atlas published in Kazakhstan)

Abstract

In 2005-2006 in Astana, professors of the L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University
Myrzatay Zholdasbekov and Karzhaubay Sartkozhauly published an atlas of memorials of the Turkic
Khaganates of the 6th-8th centuries, preserved on the lands of Mongolia. It included not only stelae
with inscriptions carved on them, but also their archaeological and landscape surroundings. Such
a consolidated edition created new opportunities for scientific work. In particular, it turned out
that these monuments were repeatedly visited by contemporaries and descendants, and also reused
by them. At the memorials of Kul-tegin and Kosho-Tsaidam III, statues taken from other memorial
complexes that belonged to the previous time were reused. True, they did not belong to the culture of
the Turk people and in the new place did not depict the deceased or his entourage, but served as simple
balbals. However, at Erdenemandal V’s commemoration, the building material was a slab with a runic
inscription, taken from an early Turkic monument. When rebuilding for a new memorial in Ungetu, the previous one was not destroyed and its statues were used. The steles of the Ongin complex, bearing
inscriptions and family tamgas, testify that it was used to perpetuate the memory of a grandfather,
father, and grandson. The slab with the scene of the funeral feast in Askhete was later supplemented
with a runic inscription on the side, then with a personal tamga carved in the corner. Visits to the
memorials of the Second Eastern Turkic Khaganate later than their creation prove family and personal
tamgas, but this is a topic for a separate study.