Abstract
Today a big amount of data on the culture of the early Iron Age population of Jetysu has been gathered. This chronological horizon is represented by various monuments — settlements, mounds, petroglyphs, treasures and accidental finds. Systematic studies of the early Iron Age monuments of the region are connected with the name of K. A. Akishev. Jetysu («Seven Rivers» from Kazakh «jety» — «seven», «su» — «water») is a vast region in the historical and cultural aspect, located in the southeast of Kazakhstan. Jetysu is surrounded by steppes and foothills of Saryarka, Kazakh Altay, Central Asia and Eastern Turkestan. In the ancient times Jetysu was one of political, administrative and religious centers of the early states of the Scythian-Saka time. This is vividly evidenced by numerous burial mounds, including so-called royal burial mounds as well as settlements. Some astonishing similarity of a number of elite burial elements of the steppe belt of Eurasia before 1 thousand BC can be explained by the fact that the elitist character of the burials most clearly reflects the main features of the mytho-ritual complex, which s clearly expressed in the funeral-memorial ritual. Further studies of the early nomadic monuments of Jetysu — the most important region, without archaeological materials of which it is impossible to solve the problems of Scythian culture development, are topical.