Abstract
In the archaeology of Kazakhstan, the controversial issues of the Xiongnu-Sarmatian era include the ethnic origin of sites, the origin of cultures, as well as the periodization and chronology of various complexes. There are difficulties with ethnocultural interpretation in the study of funeral and memorial complexes that were spread in the territory of Zhetysu and the Upper Irtysh region in the second half of the 1st millennium BC. Currently, the researchers believe that the first state formation on the territory of ancient Kazakhstan, in particular, in the Zhetysu region, was a political organization, founded by the Wusuns. Soviet researchers for the first time linked written sources about the Wusuns with specific archaeological sites based on excavations in Zhetysu. Although more than 70 years have passed since the Wusun sites were found, they continue to be relevant. As for the study of the sites of the Kulazhorga culture of the Upper Irtysh region, which began in the middle of the 20th century, they still remain at the database source extension level. In this work the authors consider various points of view on this issue and give their assessments of the events that occurred.