General information
The ancestors of the Turks have long lived on the vast territory of Eurasia. They were engaged in hunting, farming, animal husbandry, especially horse breeding. In particular, the nomads tamed the horse, which is considered the best achievement of human civilization. The production of polymetals has increased. Various household products were made from metal. The desire of nomads to understand the world and reveal the secret of creation influenced mythical beliefs.
As a result of this, syncretic “works of art”, memorial and ritual monuments appeared, such as “deer stones” - with the image of a person, the sun, the moon, etc. XIV-VIII centuries BC In addition, the emergence of the social institution of leaders led to changes in tribal relations and property differences (representatives of the Botai, Andronov, Begazy Dandebai cultures). All these events marked the birth of nomadic civilization in the Eurasian space.
Written texts on the territory of Eurasia recognized in history as “proto-Turkic” have not reached us. To date, indications regarding language and writing have not been established. Due to the lack of writing and drawing during this period, its primitive forms were widely used - the first pictorial drawings, petroglyphs, pictograms, ideograms and symbols.
They contained many semantic representations, such as the sun, moon, stars, horses, deer, people, carts, weapons. Consequently, almost all of these artifacts can be considered as the first signs of the manifestation of writing. They are especially found in the territory of Eurasia, in the mountains and foothills of Hyangan, Khentii, Khangai, Altai, Sayan, Tengri (Tien Shan), Alatau, Karatau, Ulytau, etc.
Currently, their number is not fully recorded. For example, more than 100,000 petroglyphs and drawings were found in the mountains of Shiveet Khairan, Baga Oigor, Tsagaan Salaa Aral Tolgoi of the Mongolian Altai. Their chronology is 4000 years. 2000 petroglyphs and drawings were found in the Tamgaly gorge in Kazakhstan. 10,000 drawings were found on the rocks of Saimaly in Kyrgyzstan and 3,500 in the Gobustan Nature Reserve in Azerbaijan.
Literature
Монголын археологийн сонгомол өв. Archaeological selected relics of Mongolia. II. -Монгол улсын ШУА, Түүх археологийн хүрээлэн. -Улаанбаатар, 2016.-15, 18.