The landscape indication of archaeological sites of the valley of the river Dzhazator (Altai mountains)

Abstract

The paper analyzes the landscape indication of archaeological sites, located in the valley of the river Dzhazator (Altai mountains). As an example, a key area is selected in the valley of the river Dzhazator, which is located 2.5 km southeast from the village Belyashi (Dzhazator). For the key area the landscape map and scheme of location of the archaeological sites were created. Landscape map is based on field research, which were conducted during the summer season 2015, the digital elevation model, the satellite image with the high resolution, the geomorphological map, and the map of quaternary sediments and topographic maps of scale 1:50000. On the landscape map 35 taxa were allocated. The mid-mountain slopes of the mountain ranges of middle steepness (with slopes from 10° to 25°) with northern exposure, covered by deluvium, colluvial and glacial deposits with larch and spruce forests dominate in the valley of the river Dzhazator. In the valley of the river Dzhazator 134 archaeological sites were mapped, presumably 65 % of which belong to the Scythian period, 31 % of the Turkic period, 4 % are difficult for dating. Most of the monuments are mounds, fences and balbals (stone pillars). More than 90 % of the archaeological sites are located on the high ancient river terraces, composed of alluvial deposits with sedge, fescue and sagebrush steppe. Visibility of snowy mountain peaks played a major role in the selection of places of creation religious sites. In those places where the peaks are not visible, there are no archaeological sites, and vice versa, where the peaks are clearly visible, the concentration of archaeological sites is high.