Introduction Altai is known for its unique archaeological sites, but a special place among them is occupied by numerous rock carvings. The location of petroglyphs along the ancient nomad trails and at high mountain passes through the snow-covered ridges of the Altai, their concentration in certain places once again confirms our hypothesis about the existence of open-air mountain "temples" in ancient times. Their dominant center was often a kind of animal "iconostasis", on which the largest images of different-sex animals were stamped (Fig. 1). A characteristic feature of such monuments is their location on elevated places, drawing drawings on the vertical planes of individual rocks that stand out in shape and are clearly visible from a long distance (Kubarev, 2001, p. 77]. At their base there are stone-paved areas, round and square-shaped layouts of boulders or shale slabs placed on the edge - "stone boxes". These structures were undoubtedly used for sacrifices and performing rituals in front of sacred, perhaps totemic, images of animals. One of these rare complexes, discovered by us in the 1970s. It is located near the village of Kosh-Agach, on the right bank of the Chagan-Burgazy river. It is noticeable on a single mountain Zhalgyz-Tobe, which stands out sharply in the southern part of the Chui steppe. The rocky sandstone remains of the mountain resemble a pyramid from afar with their triangular shape. However, when approaching the mountain from the south side, it is clearly noticeable that the rocks are not so uniform; they form a kind of amphitheater created by nature itself. Inside it, until recently, there was a modern winter house, well protected from wind and bad weather at any time of the year. Of course, this convenient place was chosen by nomads in all respects in ancient times, as evidenced by the fragments of ceramic dishes and Neolithic stone tools that we picked up around the mountain. Rock carvings, one ancient Turkic runic inscription, several stela ... Read more