Altyntobe

Altyntobe, the 'golden mound', rises above the left bank of the Karzhansu in the foothills south of Shymkent. From the tenth to the sixteenth century a fortified town stood here on the Silk Road: a square central mound 13 to 15 metres high, ringed by a ditch, with a platform of some 140 by 80 metres beside it, enclosed on three sides by an earthen rampart, and a steep drop to the river on the east. Jugs and ornamented bowls have been found among its buildings.