![]() 3) They have been found either standing alone or arranged in groups at burial grounds or sacrificial sites. More than 80 have been found in Ili prefecture. ![]() Deer stones ( lushi) are the name for engraved stelae often bearing distinctive deer motifs which have been found at Eurasian steppe sites dating from the 13th to the 7th and 6th centuries BCE. The stone age art in the Ili region blends with some of the Turkic rock art of later periods. 2) on the Kax River, an upper tributary of the Ili River. Since 1989, five microlithic sites have been found around Qideharen on the Ertix river, and in 2002 microliths were also found under the cultural layers of the Qiongkek site (Fig. 6 Bronze cauldron in Ordos style from the Saka period unearthed in Zhaosu county, in the collection of the Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture Museum, Yining.Įvidence has been discovered of microlithic cultures in the 3rd millennium BCE along the Ertix and Ili rivers which cross the steppe. The governor-general of Ili was effectively the governor of Xinjiang during the early part of the 19th century.įig. Alimali (Turkic for "place of apples"), now a ruin at a strategic border crossing north-west of today's Yining city, was the political centre during the Qaraqanid empire, Jaghatai Khanate and the Qing dynasty. Over the past two centuries the Ili River Valley has also been a major stage on which Qing, Russian, Soviet and Republican-PRC international politics have been played out, with Yining (formerly known as Khuldja) playing a pivotal role in the resurgence of both Turkic-Uyghur identity and Sino-Russian tensions. The Ili River Valley has been a centre of steppe cultures over the past three millennia and the area has seen the passage of many nomadic groups and polities – the Iranian Saka, the Xiongnu, the Wusun, the Turks, ancient Huihu (Uyghur), Mongols, Xibe, not to mention the colonising Han Chinese and Russians. Housing the offices of the Ili-Kazak archaeological team on its second floor, the museum's archaeological material is well presented, showcasing the many archaeological discoveries made in the Ili River Valley over the past half century. ![]() Since it opened to the public at the end of 2004, the museum has divided its exhibits between archaeological and folkloric displays respectively titled: "The Steppe, Heavenly Horses and Nomads" and "Ethnic Customs". The museum comprises three major exhibition areas for the display of pieces drawn from the museum's collection of approximately 2,700 items. 4 Sample of white matter ore from Nurasai copper mine, Nilka county, in the collection of the Kazak Autonomous Prefecture Museum, Yining. The steppe, which covers most of the prefecture, is ringed by the towering peaks of the Altai and Tianshan ranges.įig. Unlike the oases of southern Xinjiang, the Ili river valley district is lush and amenable to farming and pastoral economies. ![]() Driving through the countryside of the prefecture, one sees many yurts that belong predominantly to Qazaqs and Mongols, but the owners are generally eager to rent these out to tourists to supplement their incomes. There is also a perceptible Russian architectural influence in the city, and in the dacha-style housing in the city's environs. Yining today is little different from other northern Chinese cities, although the old town preserves a predominantly Uyghur heritage. Of the 47 national minorities now living in the Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture, thirteen can be described as original inhabitants: Qazaq, Han, Uyghur, Hui, Mongol, Xibe, Manchu, Daur, Russ (Russian), Qirghiz, Uzbeq (Ozbeq), Tartar and Tajik. The Qazaq (Kazak) ethnic group is the "main" ethnic group in the prefecture, numbering more than one million. The Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture covers an area of 350,000 sq k in the north-west of Xinjiang and has a population of more than 4 million. 2 Palaeolithic stone core from the Qiongkek site in collection of Ili Kazak Autonomous Prefecture Museum, Yining. ![]()
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