Botai culture and other eneolithic monuments of Central Asia

In order to implement the tasks set in the program article of the first president of the Republic of Kazakhstan N.A. Nazarbayev's «Seven Facets of the Great Steppe» in the framework of the VI international «Farabian readings» at the al-Farabi Kazakh National University international scientific-practical conference «Botai culture and other eneolithic monuments of Central Asia» started by the research institute «Archeology and steppe civilizations» faculty of History, archeology and ethnology.

The purpose of the conference is to discuss the main results of many years of research of the Botai monuments in the light of the equestrian culture of the steppe civilization.

The conference was attended by well-known scientists - archaeologists, ethnographers, genetics, biologists, cultural scientists and other specialists from the countries of the near and far abroad (Great Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China, Lithuania and Kazakhstan).

The Botai Settlement is an archaeological monument of the Eneolithic (IV-III millennium BC), located on the territory of Aiyrtau district of North Kazakhstan region. The origins of the steppe civilization (the Botai culture) reflect the earliest processes of domestication of the horse, the transition from walking to equestrian transport communication, the formation of a productive economy and the beginning of the cultural genesis of the Kazakhs.

The importance of studying the Botai culture was emphasized by the First President of the country N.A. Nazarbayev in his article “Seven Facets of the Great Steppe”, noting its historical role for the composition and development of horsemanship in the context of the history of the Kazakh people.

The creative connections of Kazakhstan archeologists with foreign colleagues allowed the use of innovative methods in studies of the Eneolithic era of Kazakhstan, expanded information on the nature and richness of the cultural layer in various zones of the unique in scale settlement with its specific remnants of human activity and animals.

During the conference, scientists discussed the results of the study of the Botai and other Eneolithic cultures of Kazakhstan. Interdisciplinary research by scientists from various fields, in particular, geneticists, zoomorphologists, and osteologists, allowed the use of new scientific methods, such as isotope analysis, lipid and proteomic residue analysis, AMS dating, geophysical and geochemical studies, archeobotany and soil micromorphology, as well as new approaches to zooarchaeology.

During the discussion of the outcome of the conference, scientists noted the need to incorporate the information blocks of the Botai culture into the historical fabric of Kazakhstan and Eurasia, through complex studies of archaeologists, geneticists, linguists, historians, ethnologists and culturologists.

For modern poly-ethnic Kazakhstan society, first of all, applied programs of historical, cultural, ethno-cultural and patriotic education of citizens are needed. Today it can be an open-air museum-archaeological and ethnographic complexes, where the unique history of the country is demonstrated by visual attractive innovative methods.

The results of many years of international research on the Botai culture (IV-III millennium BC) showed that for the first time the horse was domesticated in Kazakhstan, and the passionate steppe horseman opened a new era of equestrian transport communication, which he improved and spread throughout the world over the centuries.

Botay people laid the foundation for the process of cultural genesis of the Kazakhs and other ethnic groups of Eurasia. We developed calendar business cycles, life support systems and spiritual and sacred values. The equestrian culture significantly accelerated the course of world history, and its first settlers were innovators and distributors in the Old World of the most advanced, promising discoveries in all spheres of steppe life.

That is why the Steppe civilization, transformed into the early history of the Kazakh ethnos and the state of the Kazakh Khanate, did not know abysses and periods of oblivion in its history. Kazakhstan was not a transit territory as it was written about in recent times, but a space where world historical and cultural processes took place, which had a fateful role in the history of many nations of the planet.

Following the conference, a resolution was adopted to further study the Eneolithic cultures of Kazakhstan as a whole, and memorandums of cooperation were signed in the field of training young scientists to conduct joint research.

By the decision of the Academic Council of the Al-Farabi Kazakh National University for an enormous contribution to the study of the Botai culture and development of national science, Professor of Archeology, co-director of the Center "Human-Animal-Environment" of Exeter University (Great Britain) Outram Alan was awarded the title of honorary doctor of the Al-Farabi Kazakh National University.

Faculty of History, archeology and ethnology

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