There are about fifty places in Zhetysu where you can find rock drawings, or petroglyphs, most dating ick to the Bronze Age. The st-known petroglyphs are at nigaly the Koksu river valley .d the Sholak, Kindyk-Tas and irakhai mountains. Near the icient drawings are archaeological finds such as settle-cnts, burial grounds, religious ructures and altars.
    In the late 1950s a unique sanctuary with rock drawings was found at Tamgaly in the Anrakhai mountains (170 km north-west of Almaty). Tamgaly is truly a gallery of ancient art. It reflects several periods of history, possibly more than twenty centuries. Over 4,000 drawings have been discovered, dating back to the Bronze Age, the early nomadic era and the Turkic period.
    There are low slate cliffs on both sides of the gorge, and these sheer, flat surfaces arc decorated with individual animals and entire scenes, carved with a metal chisel. The petroglyphs include both .single and group images of mountain sheep, goats, Przhevalsky's horses, deer, aurochs and steppe antelope, as well as domestic animals -camels, horses, bulls, dogs. 'I here are sun-headed gods; scenes depicting hunting, religious rituals and animal sacrifices; compositions of people and animals, female forms, archers and so on; prayer inscriptions; and images of discs, chariots and tam-gas (Kazakh for "clan sign", from which the name Tamgaly derives). Not far from the gorge are burial grounds dating back to the Bronze Age (11-1 Oth centuries ÂÑ) and the early nomadic period (3rd century BC-2nd century AD), and an early nomadic settlement. The Tamgaly gallery of petroglyphs is one of the world's treasures and is protected bv Fnesco.