Koshkar Ata

Koshkar Ata is a necropolis on the Mangyshlak peninsula near the Caspian coast. Tradition associates it with a Sufi holy man, while some monuments at the site are older than his supposed lifetime. Its graves include simple sheep-shaped stone markers known as koytas, upright carved stones and mausoleums. The ruined mausoleum associated with Koshkar Ata dates from the seventeenth or eighteenth century, showing how the burial ground continued to grow around a revered local shrine.