Case file · Folklore / legend
The sun-headed figures of Tamgaly
Bronze Age petroglyphs in Kazakhstan show figures with rayed, disc-like heads, which ancient-astronaut writers present as helmeted visitors.
1,400 BCE · 43.80, 75.53 · status: claim
The account
The gorge holds thousands of carvings of animals, dancers and solar deities around an ancient ritual site, and is a World Heritage Site.
The sceptical view
Archaeologists read the sun-heads as solar deities or priests in headdresses, part of a widespread Bronze Age imagery.