Spatial Organization and Cave Paintings of Toleubulak Large Grotto in Mugodzhar

This article introduces the material on the Mugodzhar petroglyphs for scientific discussion. For the first time, full-fledged copies of cave paintings obtained during the continuous fixation of the flat surfaces of the Toleubulak large grotto are published, which allows attracting a wide range of researchers to study and analyze the earliest rock art of Kazakhstan. A comparative and narrative-stylistic study and an analysis of the technique of cave paintings in the Toleubulak large grotto helped to identify three main chronological layers with cave paintings: petroglyphs of the pre-Paleometallic epoch (Neolithic), petroglyphs of the transition period from the Stone Age to the Bronze Age (Eneolithic–Early Bronze) and petroglyphs of the Late Bronze Age. The new interpretation of cave paintings of mushroom-shaped figures of the late Bronze Age is proposed. Thus, parallels are drawn with the images of the labyrinths of Dagestan, the drawings on the Northeastern Caspian sanctuary, the labyrinths of the White Sea and the arrow-shaped structures of Ustyurt.