Chronology of Rock Art of the Russian and Mongolian Altai: From the Paleolithic to the Late Middle Ages
https://doi.org/10.17746/1563-0110.2023.51.4.065-077
Abstract
This study attempts to elaborate a chronology of rock art in the Russian and Mongolian part of the Altai Mountains, from the Paleolithic to the Late Middle Ages. We focus on the style and themes of rock art and on petroglyphic palimpsests. The earliest representations date to the Upper Paleolithic. On certain palimpsests, images of horses in the Kalguty style are overlaid by Bronze Age petroglyphs. The key challenge is to identify Neolithic petroglyphs. Among the huge number of Bronze Age representations, some follow the traditions peculiar to the Afanasyevo and Chemurchek cultures. The key feature of the latter is so-called “Chemurchek anthropomorphs”. Bronze Age petroglyphs, representing animals, humans, weapons, wheeled vehicles, etc., are chronologically and culturally diverse and must be subdivided respectively. Early Iron Age ones require attribution to either the initial stage or to the mid-1st millennium BC. We discuss the difficulties of analyzing rock art of the Xiongnu-Sarmatian age, the expressive Turkic style, that of the early medieval rock art, and recent petroglyphs of the southern Russian Altai.
Keywords
Mongolian Altai,
petroglyphs,
palimpsests,
Kalguty style,
Chemurchek culture,
Early Iron Age,
Middle Ages
Supporting agencies: The study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation, Project No. 23-18-00424.
About the Authors
V. I. Molodin
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Professor, Department Head, Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences.
Akademika Lavrentieva pr. 17, Novosibirsk, 630090
D. V. Cheremisin
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Senior Researcher, Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences.
Akademika Lavrentieva pr. 17, Novosibirsk, 630090
Y. N. Nenakhova
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Researcher, Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences.
Akademika Lavrentieva pr. 17, Novosibirsk, 630090
N. Batbold
Institute of Archaeology, Mongolian Academy of Sciences
Mongolia
Mongolia
Department Head, Institute of Archaeology, Mongolian Academy of Sciences.
Peace Avenue, MAS building-1, Ulaanbaatar, 13330
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Review
For citations:
Molodin V.I., Cheremisin D.V., Nenakhova Y.N., Batbold N. Chronology of Rock Art of the Russian and Mongolian Altai: From the Paleolithic to the Late Middle Ages. Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia. 2023;51(4):65-77. https://doi.org/10.17746/1563-0110.2023.51.4.065-077
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