On August 6, 2025, in the Katon-Karagay district of East Kazakhstan region, a scientific seminar “Symbolic Altai: Past and Present” was held. The event was organized on the basis of the results of the grant scientific project “AP23486716 – The Sign System and Tamgas of the Kazakhs of Altai”, implemented with the support of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

The seminar was dedicated to the issues of interdisciplinary research on historical and contemporary tamga signs of the Kazakhs of Altai. During the meeting, participants discussed the terminological accuracy of the concepts “tañba” and “nyshan”, their social, legal, and sacred functions, the preservation of historical tamgas in the ethnographic environment, regional features, and problems of ethnic identification. In addition, the seminar addressed the issues of introducing tamgas into scientific circulation and modern methods of digital documentation.

The main goal of the seminar was to present to the scientific community the results of archaeological and ethnographic expeditions, as well as the materials collected within the framework of the project.

Main presentations:

• Brief Report on the Implementation of the Scientific Project AP23486716 “The Sign System and Tamgas of the Kazakhs of Altai” – Samat Kairollaevich Samashev, PhD, archaeologist. State Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve “Berel,” Katon-Karagay district, East Kazakhstan region, Kazakhstan;
• Tamgas of the Kazakhs of Altai – Shynarbek Seitkhanuly, PhD, tamga researcher. Institute of History and Ethnology, Academy of Sciences of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia;
• Kazakh Tamgas of Altai According to Archival Data – Gauhar Askarovna Kaldybaeva, Researcher, A.Kh. Margulan Institute of Archaeology, Almaty, Kazakhstan;
• The Cultural and Social Significance of the Terms “Tañba” and “Tamga” in Turkic Societies – Botakoz Yerbolkyzy Sataeva, PhD student, Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University, Ankara, Turkey;
• The Sphere of Application of Tribal Tamgas of the Kazakhs – Otelbek Rizabekuly Shnanov, PhD student, L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Astana, Kazakhstan;
• The Study of Kazakh Tribal Tamgas: Historiographical Aspect – Baurzhan Berkanuly Besetaev, Senior Lecturer, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, Almaty, Kazakhstan;
• Depictions of Scenes of Birds of Prey Fighting Snakes in the Kurgans of the Early Saka Period of Eastern Eurasia – Dr. Emre Sevinç, Ankara Hacı Bayram Veli University, Ankara, Turkey;
• The Sacred Meaning of Kazakh Tamgas – Oraz Sapashev, Istanbul University, Center for Eurasian Studies, Istanbul, Turkey.