In 2023, an archaeological expedition led by Marina Bedelbaeva, Candidate of Historical Sciences, conducted field research in the Aktogay district of the Karaganda region. The expedition studied numerous arrays of petroglyphs that the Zheltau mountains are rich in. It is a complex archaeological landscape, where each slab may hold a message from the distant past. Researchers found hunting scenes, images of wild bulls, horses, deer, symbolic figures of the sun and moon, geometric patterns — everything characteristic of Bronze Age rock art. But among the familiar motifs, the team’s attention was drawn to an unusual image — a depiction of a flower with a bulb, a long slender stem, and two elongated leaves. Scientists immediately realized that this was neither a decorative element nor a random line. The drawing was astonishingly precise. After comparative analysis, it became clear: this was Tulipa schrenkii — Schrenk’s tulip, the wild ancestor of all cultivated tulip varieties found in the world today. For botanists and archaeologists, this was a true breakthrough — for the first time, a plant had been recorded in monumental stone art of such ancient origin. It is remarkable to realize that even in the Bronze Age, humans depicted not only everyday scenes, but also complex images connected with the cosmos and with their understanding of the world. The petroglyph served as a language of belief — a form of spiritual communication with the universe. In many regions of the country, tulip festivals are now held as a form of ecological education. People come to the steppe to witness the blooming season and understand that natural beauty is part of cultural heritage — something that must be protected.