Geotechnical and structural investigations of historical monuments of Kazakhstan

摘要

Currently, a total of about 25.000 monuments—basically archeological structures—exist in the territory of Kazakhstan. Such monuments include the ruins of ancient settlements, barrows, burial grounds, as well as constructions dating back to the Middle Age and representing the typical religious architecture of Kazakhstan—mausoleums, necropolises, ancient mosques, madrasah, etc. This paper presents some historical sites in the Southern and Central part of Kazakhstan, describing their typical foundations and the main geological ground features. Some useful survey methods, and an example of technical diagnosis on a historical monumental structure such as the mausoleum of Arystanbab, Hodzha Ahmed Yassaui are also described in the paper. It is argued that geotechnical and structural investigations are important for the conservation of historical culture heritage in Kazakhstan and other territories with similar archeological structures and geological environment as Syria and Egypt.