Abstract
This article examines rock art from various periods of the Big Karatau Range,
a northwestern spur of the Tian Shan extending across three southern regions of Kazakhstan
(Zhambyl, Turkestan, and Kyzylorda). The study aims to identify connections between the
visual traditions of the Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age. To address issues of archaeological
contextualization, stylistic, iconographic, comparative-historical, semantic analyses were
employed. The article explores the semantic meanings of narrative compositions and images
found in the Karatau rock art, as well as stylistic changes in their representation across
different periods. The formation of these images is examined through a comparison of the
worldview and religious beliefs of the region’s ancient inhabitants with mythological texts
and ethnographic materials preserved in written sources. The themes of “twins” and “ritual
battle,” frequently depicted in the rock art, are associated with the concept “endless struggle”
reflected in binary images of a dualistic nature. Some themes that originated in the Bronze Age
underwent stylistic transformations during the Early Iron Age and evolved into established
narrative forms. These forms make it possible to trace the distribution of certain images and to
identify continuity in worldview and material culture between the two periods.
01 Introduction
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