The Ustyurt plateau is located on the territory of the republics of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. To this day, this place remains one of the most unexplored on the planet.

The area of ​​Ustyurt is more than 200 thousand km, and the height of the plateau is 180-300 meters. The ground here is dotted with breaks and cracks everywhere, and the cliffs (chinks) bordering the plateau, up to 300 meters high, evoke awe and are reminiscent of pictures of deserted planets from science fiction films. You can climb the plateau only in a few places. The territory is a continuous desert without ponds or permanent rivers. The climate of Ustyurt is extremely harsh and inhospitable: in winter the air temperature drops to - 40 degrees, and in summer sometimes reaches + 60. Local residents say about Ustyurt: “this desert is so empty that you won’t even find an enemy here,” and one expedition of scientists in the sixties 20th century got lost on the plateau and could not be found for 10 days.

In ancient times, the plateau was not deprived of people's attention. Scientists have discovered 60 sites of ancient people of the Neolithic era here, as well as traces of the presence of Scythian and Mongolian tribes. The ancient trade routes connecting Asia with Europe passed through the plateau, including one of the most important branches of the Great Silk Road. Architectural monuments of the ancient period have been preserved here to this day, such as the ancient dilapidated arch of the Beliuli caravanserai, the ruins of the once impregnable Alan-Kala fortress disappearing into the sands, a huge number of burial grounds and cemeteries of an older period with mausoleums, minarets and underground temples.

The main mystery of the plateau is the so-called “arrows of Ustyurt”. These are ancient structures that archaeologists have never encountered anywhere before. They are displays of crushed stone up to 80 cm high. The base resembles a bag from which two arrows with pronounced tips emerge. Each arrow is 800-900 m long and 400-600 m wide, and they are all directed to the northeast. Their exact purpose is still unclear, because due to their gigantic size, the arrows cannot be seen from the ground by a person on foot or a rider on a horse or camel. These arrows were discovered only in 1986 during aerial photography.

According to one version, these structures were intended to collect water in these arid regions, according to another, to corral livestock, but there are also more interesting versions.

Thus, archaeologists have established that the arrows were erected much earlier than the emergence of the first human settlements in this area, and the settlements were located south of the mysterious complex. During archaeological excavations, fish skeletons were discovered in this area, which gives reason to believe that there was once a sea here, the waters of which went to the northeast, where the arrows point. Perhaps the arrows indicate the direction of outgoing water. But for whom are these giant signs that cannot be seen from the surface of the earth?

Not far from the arrows, scientists discovered stone figures of animals similar to giant turtles, which were also directed to the northeast, as well as many small pyramids made of rough stone, reminiscent of Egyptian pyramids. Moving further in the indicated direction, an absolutely straight road of the same stone was found, laid out in the vast expanses of the desert.

There is a bold opinion that this entire stone complex, built by unknown builders from ancient times, is nothing more than a cosmodrome. Science cannot prove whether this is true or not, but even today inexplicable phenomena often occur on the Ustyurt plateau, such as bright glows in the sky, mirages appearing during the day and at night, which have been repeatedly observed by local residents and lovers of everything mysterious and flocking here. inexplicable.

The famous Ustyurt plateau is located in Central Asia and occupies a huge territory of almost 200 thousand square meters. m. Moreover, the borders of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and a small section of Turkmenistan pass through it. Actually, the name “Ustyurt” in the Turkic translation sounds like “plateau”.

A wonderful natural creation

Geologists suggest that at least 20 million years have passed since the appearance of the plateau. However, only at the end of the last century, in the 80s, the scientific world became interested in Ustyurt. Expeditions to the Ustyurt plateau were organized several times. People wanted to collect as much information as possible about this magnificent place.

The neighbors of this giant natural creation are:

• on the western side - the Mangyshlak Peninsula and the Kara-Bogaz-Gol Bay (translated as “Black Mouth”);
• in the east - the irrevocably drying Aral Sea and the Amu Darya.

Bozzhira

The size of the Ustyurt plateau is impressive; in different places its height ranges from 180 to 300 meters. Sometimes you come across steep 350-meter ledges - ledges that rise above the adjacent plain.

The southwestern part of the plateau called Bozzhira is considered the highest. It consists of rocky ridges, hills (ridges) with almost even outlines. The Bozzhiry area is incredibly beautiful, it can compete with the famous one (USA). The only thing that distinguishes these amazing corners of the planet from each other is the number of tourists. Unfortunately, few of them have heard about the existence of this pearl of Ustyurt. It is worth studying Kazakhstan on a map of mountain ranges to appreciate the scale of this place.

Distant past of the plateau

More than 21 million years ago, the plateau was deep underwater. In that distant era, there were two huge continents on Earth - Laurasia and Gondwana. They were separated by the Tethys Ocean. The disappearance of the ancient sea, which was an integral part of the ocean, occurs in the first half of the Cenozoic. The pace of this process accelerated approximately 2 million years ago, after the Caspian and Black Seas separated.

They find in the limestone of Ustyurt that confirms the hypothesis. In addition, there are a huge number of ferromanganese nodules, which are similar in size and shape to billiard balls. Not everyone will guess that the spherical formations scattered across the entire surface of the plateau were formed under sea conditions. The water gradually eroded the dolomite and limestone rocks, but the ferromanganese nodules emerged stronger and only acquired rounded outlines. I can’t believe that the Ustyurt plateau is located in Kazakhstan. Local residents are proud of this landmark.

Indescribable beauty

The relief with a flat surface is a desert. In some places the soil is dominated by clay, in others there is a clay-rocky surface. In addition, there are areas that are sandy or with small gravel. The desert gives way to cracks or rocks consisting mainly of chalk. You involuntarily feel as if you are on the surface of a lifeless planet or are present on the set of a Hollywood film of the same format. The Ustyurt plateau attracts the attention of many tourists and photographers who photograph landscapes.

The true beauty of the chalk cliffs comes when the sun rises or sets. At these moments, a wonderful sight opens up: the rays usually give reddish tints. At noon they become slightly bluish. If you appreciate natural attractions, then be sure to visit the Ustyurt plateau (Kazakhstan).

Representatives of flora and fauna inhabiting the plateau

Regarding flora and fauna, it is worth noting the following. There is nothing here that could surprise a tourist. Representatives of the plant world such as wormwood and saxaul dominate. In the more favorable spring period, which does not last long, flowers appear and the picture becomes brighter.

The fauna is more diverse. All those species that have adapted to life in steppes and deserts are present. The climatic conditions on the plateau are favorable for reptiles, which are represented by lizards, snakes and turtles. Small rodents (jerboa, gopher, marmot, gerbil), hedgehogs and hares have settled well. This is despite the fact that each of them is potential prey for a wolf, fox or caracal. The cheetah, which is a rare species and therefore protected by law, is doing well. The shy saigas are considered the pride of Ustyurt. Unfortunately, their population is in critical condition. Of the artiodactyls, argali are also found.

On the Chink rocks, vultures and eagles froze in majestic poses, proudly watching everything that was happening below on the plain. There are birds familiar to Europeans - pigeons and sparrows. Snakes inhabit the Ustyurt plateau to a greater extent. Therefore, tourists should exercise caution when walking on rocky terrain.

Another feature of the Ustyurt plateau is the large population of feral horses. Once upon a time, nomadic Kazakhs bred these domestic animals on local farms.

Water and winds

Water on the plateau is considered scarce as natural reservoirs have long disappeared. All rivers and lakes had dried up. Dry riverbeds and salt marshes testify to their existence in ancient times. The winds in Ustyurt have complete freedom, because on the plateau there are no natural barriers in the form of mountains and forests.

This affects the state of karst rocks and leads to soil erosion, which, in turn, leads to a gradual change in the boundaries of the Ustyurt Plateau itself.

Mysteries around the area

During the Middle Ages, Ustyurt was located on the route of caravans that departed from the city of Khorezm, and then moved to settlements on the shores of the Caspian Sea and the lower reaches of the Volga River. In other words, a lot of artifacts passed along it, confirming that trading people visited the plateau very often. These are, for example, the remains of cemeteries and underground temples. Settlements were established, even cities with visiting yards and all the infrastructure. The ruins of one of these cities called Shahr-i-Wazir remained in good condition.

At the end of the 70s of the last century, an airplane flying over the plateau carried out aerial photography. On the surface of the plateau, mysterious images were revealed, something like arrowheads directed to the northeast. The triangular figures are quite impressive in size; their sides reach 100 meters in length. Unknown craftsmen used crushed stone to create giant “arrows” on the ground. Apparently, they contain some kind of sacred meaning. Scientists have not yet given a clear and unambiguous answer to this question.

There are holes dug in the ground near each corner. They may have stored water. In addition to these “arrows,” other figures were later discovered, in particular warriors, pyramids and turtles, which were also made of stone. “Arrows” on the plateau can be safely classified in the same category of historical mysteries as the famous images in

Be sure to visit Ustyurt when arriving in Kazakhstan. The map of the area shows exactly where this natural attraction is located.

The geological age of the Ustyurt plateau is approximately 21-23 million years. Serious scientific study of it began only with the onset of the 1980s.
Usually the territory of the Ustyurt plateau is defined as follows: between the peninsula (Mangistau) and the bay in the west, the Aral Sea and the delta in the east. Geographically, it belongs mainly to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Other scientists believe that this definition is incorrect: in a small part of the plateau it also belongs to Turkmenistan. There are two reasons for this disagreement. Firstly, it is insufficiently studied. Secondly, one part of the scientists considers the plateau to be only a tableau, that is, an elevated part of it, limited by cliffs - cliffs with a height of 150 to 400 m, while others reasonably object to this: even beyond the cliffs, the geological structure of the territories adjacent to the perimeter is exactly the same, like on a table plateau; So can they be considered not related to Ustyurt? Logically, no. Hence the different figures in determining the area of ​​the plateau - from 180,000 to 200,000 km 2, and perhaps it is even larger if the former water area is included in it. Cartographic surveys alone are not enough; it is necessary to take into account many physical and geographical characteristics that are not always found on the ground surface. On the contrary, everything is very clear about the origin of the name: the Turkic word “Ustyurt” means “plateau”.
The most common physical characteristic of Ustyurt is a clayey and clayey-stony desert with groups of outliers or isolated low calcareous karst formations, as well as shallow cracks in the soil, grabens, local areas of fine rubble and, separately, sand. In scientific language, this is formulated as follows: the Ustyurt plateau is composed of Neogene sedimentary rocks, from the surface - Sarmatian limestones, under which marls, clays, limestones, sandstones, and gypsum lie. Geologists divide the plateau into the following large structural and relief components: the North Ustyurt syneclise (a large, smooth depression), the Central Ustyurt uplift, the South Mangistau-Ustyurt depression (a system of troughs), the Kuanysh-Koskalinsky swell, part of the Aral system, which includes also located to the east are the Sudochy trough and the Takhtakair swell. In tectonic terms, Ustyurt is part of the Turanian, or Scythian-Turanian, plate. At the beginning and middle of the Cenozoic era, the plateau was the bottom of the ancient Tethys Ocean, which existed between the ancient supercontinents Gondwana and Laurasia, two parts of the protocontinent Pangea that broke up in the Mesozoic era. The limestones of Ustyurt have many inclusions of shells, and some of their layers represent real, continuous shell rock. Other witnesses to ancient geological processes are the so-called stone balls, most often partially destroyed, similar to bitten apples - iron-manganese spherical nodules, usually formed on the seabed at great depths.
The flora and fauna of the Ustyurt plateau have species characteristic of other similar regions of the Earth. The grasses are mainly different types of wormwood, but most of them are subshrubs, and saxauls are quite common. However, in the spring, in a very short period (and not every year), if you are lucky, you can see Ustyurt in bloom. Among the mammals, rodents predominate, mainly small ones - gerbils, ground squirrels, jerboas, marmots. There are several species of snakes, lizards, and the Central Asian turtle. There are argali, wolves, foxes, corsacs, tolai hares, hedgehogs, and jackals sometimes enter from the south. The plateau is also home to two rare and protected species of cats - cheetahs and caracals. The main beauty of the fauna of Ustyurt is the saigas, the safety of whose population is now under threat. The “kings” of the bird world are vultures and eagles; there are few other bird species, mainly different types of sparrows and pigeons.
Even from the map you can imagine what the living conditions are on the Ustyurt plateau: there are no rivers or other bodies of water, only dried up river beds remain, salt marshes remain from ancient lakes, this territory, not protected by mountains or forests, is open to winds from all directions of the world . In creating the plateau, nature seemed to have edged it with an almost continuous winding strip of cliffs (steep limestone cliffs), with a height (in different areas) from 150 to 400 m. The cliffs are especially well expressed in the east and west of the plateau. In the north it is weaker; in the south there are almost no chinks. As a result of soil erosion and changes in karst, these guards of Ustyurt are slowly but surely “moving”, and the boundaries of the plateau are changing after them.
The pristine beauty of uninhabited and hard-to-reach territories can only be appreciated by those who work there or experienced extreme travelers. From the Ustyurt plateau they bring fascinatingly interesting messages.
The first thing that amazes everyone is the landscapes of rare beauty, which make a particularly strong impression at sunrise and sunset, when the bizarrely shaped chalk formations, dazzling white or slightly bluish under the midday sun, absorb, like screens, shades flowing into each other golden, yellow, pink, crimson colors.
The second most important discovery for travelers is that in ancient times these places were not deserted; part of the Great Silk Road passed here in the Middle Ages, from Khorezm to Emba, the Caspian Sea and the lower reaches of the Volga. An impressive number of abandoned cemeteries, which are identified by the mazars - tombstones towering above them, and underground temples indicate not only that the caravan workers experienced serious hardships on the way, but also that many, many of these people passed through here, and therefore, those who served the merchants also lived permanently on the plateau in small towns with caravanserais, mosques and camel pens. Of the ruins of such cities, the best known are the relatively well-preserved remains of the ancient Shahr-i-Wazir. Traces of other cities have already been discovered, although not yet explored. Much in these ruins, in particular the abundance of abandoned wells, indicates that living conditions on the Ustyurt plateau in ancient times were not as harsh as they are now. As for even more immemorial times, archaeologists have discovered more than 60 Neolithic sites and the remains of Scythian-Sarmatian settlements of the 3rd-4th centuries. Then, as we remember, there was the era of the Great Migration of Peoples (IV-VII centuries), and it also left its material traces on the Ustyurt plateau. It was not only time that destroyed the medieval cities; the Mongol hordes passed through here, which is also evidenced by archaeological finds.
And the most amazing and mysterious find on the Ustyurt plateau is its “arrows,” which many compare with the famous images on the surface of the earth in the Nazca desert. “Arrows” in this case is not a metaphor; these giant signs in the shape of triangles with sides of about 100 m, laid out from crushed stones on the ground, really resemble arrowheads. They are completely visible only from the air, which is why they were discovered recently, during aerial photography in the late 1970s. Perhaps the “arrows” also had some kind of sacred meaning, but most researchers are inclined to believe that, first of all, they have a practical meaning: they all point with their tip to the northeast, that is, to where one could find retreating from the plateau water. But why are they so huge? Maybe this is a message to the higher heavenly powers? No answer yet. There are two more interesting hypotheses. According to one of them, these are ancient irrigation structures: there are ditches along their perimeter, and the grass there is a little greener than around it, and at the ends of the sides of the triangles there are holes that presumably served as water reservoirs. According to another hypothesis, the “arrows” are cattle pens, and they date back to the 14th-12th centuries. BC e., like bronze tips of ordinary arrows found nearby, but these finds are evidence only that nomads were here at that time. There are also conventional figures of turtles and pyramids made of stones. In 1983, 70 stone figures of warriors ranging in height from one to almost four meters and heads carved from limestone were found near the Beite wells. Judging by some of the depicted details - weapons, decorations - these statues were created by the Scythian Massagetae in the 4th-3rd centuries. BC e. They were thrown to the ground and broken. Despite this, it was possible to establish that the statues once stood in formation.
Scientists are confident that Ustyurt can bring many more similar discoveries.

general information

Desert plateau in Central Asia.

Nationality: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan.

The largest cities and towns near the perimeter of the plateau: Kazakhstan - Aktobe, Aktau, Atyrau, Kulsary, Kulandy, Bozoy; Uzbekistan - Muynak, Kungrad, Nukus.

Languages: Kazakh, Uzbek, Turkmen, Karakalpak.

Ethnic composition: Kazakhs, Uzbeks, Karakalpaks, Turkmens and others.

Religion: Islam.

Currency: tenge (Kazakhstan), sum (Uzbekistan), manat (Turkmenistan).

Major airport: Aktau (international).

Numbers

Area: about 200,000 km2.

Population: the plateau itself as a whole is about 10,000 people. plus those people who work on a rotational basis at drilling sites, railway relay stations and maintain gas pipelines.

Population density: 0.05 people/km 2 .

Highest point: about 400 m.
Lowest point: 52 m.

Climate and weather

Mixed, desert and sharply continental, harsh.
Average January temperature: -2.5 - -5°C, but sharp drops in temperature are possible in places with reduced relief down to -40°C.

Average temperature in July: +26 - +28°C, but sudden temperature increases up to +40 - +60°C are possible, especially on the soil surface.

(IV-III centuries BC).
■ Karynzharyk Depression(5 remnant mountains), in the Bozzhira tract (ridge of remnant mountains).
■ Beket-Ata underground mosque(near the village of Oglandy).
■ Mount Sherkala(near the village of Shetpe).
■ Fields of spherical nodules.
■ “Valley of Castles” Airakty- remnant mountains.
■ Underground mausoleum of Shopan-Ata(near the village of Senek).
■ Underground mausoleum of Sultan-Epe.
■ Tuzbair plateau(chink).
■ Blue Bay of the Caspian Sea(Mangistau Peninsula).
■ (Kazakhstan): Kederlisor depression, Samal and Sazanbay gorges, Hanga-Baba tract, Hanga-Baba necropolis with a mosque; other ancients

Curious facts

■ Over the past 20 years, such a previously traditional type of livestock farming in Southern Kazakhstan as horse breeding has fallen into decline. And now the wild descendants of those horses that once grazed in herds obedient to humans are rushing across the expanses of Ustyurt. Wild horses on the plateau are doing well; Despite the fact that the vegetation here is sparse, they actively reproduce and, obviously, are accustomed to going without water for a long time, although in the lowlands water can be found, albeit brackish.

■ In 2010, a complex expedition of the Russian Geographical Society (RGS), based primarily on geomorphological and geophysical theories and various studies of a nature applied to these theories, carried out directly “in the field”, came to the following conclusion - the border between Europe and Asia in Central Asia should be adjusted (until now it was customary to carry it along the Ural River and further along the Emba River to the Caspian Sea). RGS scientists believe that the border in this region should be drawn further south - along the Mugodzhary (this is the southern spur of the Ural Mountains in Western Kazakhstan), along the edge of the Caspian Lowland, where the East European Plain ends and the western ridges of the Ustyurt Plateau pass. However, the International Geographical Union has not yet expressed a clear opinion on this innovation of our geographers.

The fourth day of our journey began at the Jipek Zholy hotel, where we checked in at three o’clock in the morning and prepared a report on the rally. After sitting at the computer until the morning, we went to the Ustyurt plateau. Due to the terrible off-road conditions, our guide recommended leaving the Suzuki SX4 in Nukus and driving a military Mercedes 290GD, which was “borrowed” from the ranks of Uzbek military equipment.
On the fourth day, we managed to go to a small market in Kungrad, visited several picturesque places in Ustyurt, looked at an abandoned fishing village, Lake Sudochye, canyons and the Aral Sea itself.

1. During the day we had to cover about 450 kilometers of road, of which 150 were of disgusting quality, in the end it took us about 12 hours to complete the entire route! Before the trip, we purchased food at the market in Kungrad.

2. Many residents happily took pictures and posed, but there were also those who began to wave their hands at us.

4. We hit the road. After Kungrad, we drove about 10 kilometers along the bottom of the Aral Sea, which left here in the 60s.

5. Then the ascent to the plateau began. With us in the second car were oceanologists - scientists from the Institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, who are working on the problem of the drying up of the Aral Sea and were going to take regular water samples. Among them was Doctor of Geographical Sciences Pyotr Zavyalov, who has been working on this disaster for more than 9 years. In stories about the Aral Sea, we used his materials and articles.

6. Today, the Aral Sea continues to dry up. There was once water at this level...

7. The Ustyurt plateau is located between Mangyshlak and the Kara-Bogaz-Gol Bay in the west, the Aral Sea and the Amu Darya delta in the east. The plateau is a desert with an area of ​​about 200,000 km².

8. From the Aral Sea side, the plateau is indented by hundreds of dirt roads, which can only be driven by a serious SUV. There is no connection here, and we didn’t meet anyone all day. Driving here in one car is extremely dangerous - in case of a breakdown, there will be no place to wait for help. There have been cases when people died of thirst in the summer or froze in the winter, the weather on the plateau is windy and peculiar, the temperature in winter can drop to -60 degrees!

9. Drying Lake Sudochye and the remains of the abandoned fishing village of Urga. This was one of the places of exile of the Old Believers. In the 60s, the village was abandoned due to the beginning of the Aral disaster, and now all that remains of it is a small Russian cemetery, ruins of houses and a small factory. Now there are trailers of an artel of fishermen who rent part of the lake from the state.

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11. Our transport. This is a three-door Mercedes Gelentvagen, an army version. In 1995, he was “written off” brand new from the army of Uzbekistan and now he brings his owner $200 a day.

12. Christian cemetery.

13. Some kind of scribbled stone on one of the hills near the village.

14. Fishermen's boats.

15. And here are the fishermen themselves, who gave us green tea and treated us to stew.

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20. In the 40s of the 20th century, the USSR began implementing an ambitious project to withdraw water for irrigated agriculture from the Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers. Very quickly, the economy of the Central Asian republics soared to unprecedented heights. But after 20 years, success turned into an environmental disaster. Today the amount of water in the Aral Sea is approximately 1/4 of its original volume.

21. According to Pyotr Zavyalov, now the Western Aral Sea is like a powerful chemical reactor. Under conditions of abnormally high salinity - in some parts of the sea it reaches 200 g/l (for comparison, the salinity of the Dead Sea is about 300 g/l) calcium and magnesium carbonates, gypsum and mirabilite fall to the bottom. Another serious problem is hydrogen sulfide contamination. The hydrogen sulfide zone occupies almost half of the entire Western Aral Sea. Gas fills almost the entire lower layer of water and lies only 10-20 meters from the surface. The concentration of this poisonous gas in the Aral Sea is 10 times greater than in the Black Sea.

22. When the sea retreated, the shores began to dry out and collapse, turning into bizarre canyons.

23. This is a small house that stands alone on the cliff of a plateau; anyone can stay there for the night. Inside there is everything you need: dishes, stove, blankets, Koran, carpets, firewood, tools.

24. This house saved the lives of many people.

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26. Salt crystals.

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30. After 450 km we reached our overnight stop - the shores of the Aral Sea.

Enlarge image

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32. Previously, there were Soviet-era barracks here. In the 80s, a coastal supply base for Vozrozhdeniya Island was located at this location. On this island, the Soviet Union tested bacteriological weapons: the causative agents of anthrax, tularemia, brucellosis, plague, typhoid, smallpox, as well as botulinum toxin were tested here on horses, monkeys, sheep, donkeys and other laboratory animals.

33. Local residents talk about the sudden departure of the military from Vozrozhdeniya Island. In the mid-80s, something happened there, and one day all the personnel left the base. The sudden exodus was indicated by the fact that a large amount of equipment, equipment and food was abandoned. And on the runway (there was an airfield with four 3-kilometer runways in the shape of a compass rose) there were a large number of disposable syringes and gas masks lying around. As a consequence, the supply base was also abandoned.

34. The colorful shore of the Aral Sea is beautiful in its own way...

35. We were told that several years ago a famous Moscow photographer

An attraction that has been so little explored, and therefore remains one of the most mysterious on the territory of Uzbekistan, is a plateau called Ustyurt. You can also find another name - island. It becomes clear why it is called that, as soon as this amazingly large-scale spectacle appears. Huge stone walls, about 300 meters high, rise above the sandy desert. The rocks are a continuous vertical line; to climb to the top you need to find a suitable place, and this is not so easy. There are only a couple of suitable places for this within a few hundred kilometers.

Admittedly, the sight of a soaring stone wall can evoke a feeling of ecstatic horror. The color range of the stone is amazing - from snow-white to shades of pink and blue. This creates a fabulous atmosphere. But once you find yourself at the top, you immediately understand that this is not a fantasy world, where amazing fairy-tale unicorns graze on the silky grass and fairies fly. The landscape that reveals itself is more like a scene from a film about traveling through deserted distant planets. The surface is all covered with cracks and faults.

It is amazing that, despite the enormous size of the plateau, which is 200 thousand square kilometers, there is not a single reservoir or other source of water on its surface. The only way is to extract water from a well, the depth of which must be at least 50 meters. And then, the taste of the water leaves much to be desired, it is bitter and salty. Because of this, the flora in Ustyurt is not very rich; basically, only wormwood and solyanka can be seen here, but they also have the appearance of not lush greenery. But this did not at all affect the habitation of this place by people. The study of this place showed that in the Neolithic era there were about 60 sites of ancient people. Later, the Scythians lived on the plateau, and the Mongols also left their traces. Caravans heading from Asia to Europe passed through Ustyurt. Unfortunately, time mercilessly destroys evidence of past life, and only a few dilapidated ancient monuments remain. This is the arch of the Beliuli caravanserai, which has practically disappeared from the face of the earth, the ruins of an ancient fortress and several other buildings.

Archaeological excavations in Ustyurt began relatively recently, in 1983. The delay in research was due to the difficulty of delivering the team and equipment to the site, as well as difficult weather conditions. The first discovery on the plateau was the Baite Cult Complexes, which include ancient burial mounds and sacrificial tables surrounded by stone sculptures. Similar ensembles have not been found in Asia. Another interesting detail is that it was not typical for nomads to erect such complexes. Who built this place and why is still unknown.

But there is something on the plateau that is considered a mystery on a planetary scale. In 1986, when scientists flew over the area in a helicopter, they were surprised to find drawings on the surface. In appearance, it looked something like arrowheads, which is why the name “arrows” was assigned to them. Being on a plateau, it is impossible to see the drawings; this can only be done from a great height. A similar find, which stirred the minds of scientists, was discovered in Peru in the Nazca desert. Absolutely all images of arrows are turned with their tips to the north, and their length is up to a kilometer. The arrows are made of stone and are about a meter high. Why these strange stone structures were built remains a real mystery, as do similar lines in Peru. The researchers gave several guesses about the purpose of the buildings, including a cattle pen and special buildings for irrigating the soil.

Some experts are inclined to believe that the unsolved mystery of the appearance of cult complexes is associated with unknown “arrows”, and that all this has a mystical origin. No one will directly say that this is so, but it is a fact that inexplicable incidents periodically occur on the plateau. Local residents tell legends about a mysterious glow in the sky and clear mirages that appear both at night and in broad daylight. Sometimes tourists become eyewitnesses to incidents. A certain group of travelers specially come to these places to catch the chance to see the mysterious with their own eyes. But mostly people go to this natural giant to appreciate its grandeur and amazing landscapes.