

The Earliest Petroglyphs of Rashaan-Khad, Mongolia: New Observations
https://doi.org/10.17746/1563-0110.2025.53.3.045-052
Abstract
We present preliminary findings relating to the Rashaan-Khad (Arshan-Khad, Mongolia) petroglyph site studied by the Russian-Mongolian expedition in 2016 and 2023. Special attention is paid to petroglyphs that, in A.P. Okladnikov’s words, appear archaic and those that can with various degree of certainty be interpreted as representations of Late Pleistocene mammals such as woolly rhinoceros or mammoths. Okladnikov wrote that six petroglyphs stand out mostly by their large size, carved outlines, «primitivism», and robustness. Our study has revealed eight figures that could be interpreted as those of large Upper Paleolithic animals or archaic-looking ungulates, but one of the figures published by Okladnikov has not been found. We discuss the correlation of such images with wavy lines, groups of intertwined lines, and what can be seen as a representation of a «bear paw print». Despite the limited time for fieldwork, we were able to identify panels especially relevant to the chronology of the site, refine the trace-drawings, obtain new data on already known images, and detect new ones. Comparison of petroglyphs published by Okladnikov in the 1980s with 3D-models and curvature maps based on them demonstrated yet again the need for and efficiency of advanced digital documentation in the study of rock art and the re-documentation of already known sites.
About the Authors
Y. M. SvoiskiyRussian Federation
Svoiskiy Y.M., Engineer; Head
Staraya Basmannaya 21/4, bldg. 3-L, Moscow, 105066;
Proezd Rusanova 9, Moscow, 129323
E. S. Levanova
Russian Federation
Levanova E.S., Head of the Palaeo Art Centre; Associate Professor
Miusskaya pl. 6, Moscow, 125047
E. V. Romanenko
Russian Federation
Romanenko E.V., Specialist
Proezd Rusanova 9, Moscow, 129323
D. Uranchimeg
Mongolia
Uranchimeg D., Associate Professor, Director
Sukhbaatar district, 11th subdistrict, MNUAC bld. 2, Ulaanbaatar, 14180
G. Amarsanaa
Mongolia
Amarsanaa G., Senior Lecturer, Head of the Department of Painting and Sculpture
Sukhbaatar district, 11th subdistrict, MNUAC bld. 2, Ulaanbaatar, 14180
D. Ulziibayar
Mongolia
Ulziibayar D., Scientifi c Secretary
Sukhbaatar district, 11th subdistrict, MNUAC bld. 2, Ulaanbaatar, 14180
References
1. Ankhsanaa G., Mijiddorj E., Davaatseren B., Taylor W.T.T. 2023 Rock art and early cultural dynamics in Eastern Mongolia. Asian Perspectives, vol. 62 (1): 2–20.
2. Burovsky A.M. 2010 Pervaya antropogennaya perestroika biosfery. Biosfera, No. 1: 29–45.
3. Garutt N.V., Boeskorov G.G. 2001 Sherstistye nosorogi: K istorii roda. In Mamont i ego okruzheniye: 200 let izucheniya: yubil. sbornik nauch. trudov, A.Y. Rozanov (ed.). Moscow: GEOS, pp. 157–167.
4. Mara H. 2012 Multi-Scale Integral Invariants for Robust Character Extraction from Irregular Polygon Mesh Data: PhD thesis. Heidelberg.
5. Novgorodova E.A. 1983 Arshan-Khad – drevneishiy pamyatnik izobrazitelnogo iskusstva vostochnoi Mongolii. In Istoriya i kultura Tsentralnoi Azii. Moscow: Nauka, pp. 306–310.
6. Novgorodova E.A. 1984 Mir petroglifov Mongolii. Moscow: Nauka.
7. Novgorodova E.A. 1989 Drevnyaya Mongoliya: (Nekotorye problemy khronologii i etnokulturnoi istorii). Moscow: Nauka.
8. Nowgorodowa E. 1980 Alte Kunst der Mongolei. Leipzig: E.A. Seemann Verlag.
9. Okladnikov A.P. 1981 Petroglify Mongolii. Leningrad: Nauka.
10. Okladnikov A.P. 1983 Drevneishiye petroglify Arshan-khada (Mongoliya, Khentei). In Plastika i risunki drevnikh kultur, R.S. Vasilievsky (ed.). Novosibirsk: Nauka, pp. 27–33. (Pervobytnoye iskusstvo).
11. Okladnikov A.P., Vasilievsky R.S. 1982 Novye issledovaniya na Arshan-Khade v Mongolii. Izvestiya SO AN SSSR, Ser. obshchestv. nauk, No. 6 (2): 105–110.
12. Perlee H. 1975 Mongol tumniy garlyg tamgaar khaij sudlakh n: Tuukh- ugsaatny zuin turshits sudalgaa [Study of the ethnogenesis of Mongolian nationalities by ancestral signs: Experience of historical and ethnographic research]. Ulaanbaatar: Shinzhlekh Ukhaany Akademii Khevlekh Uildvert khevlel.
13. Shishin M.Y. 2015 Novye petroglify v komplekse Rashaan-khad v Mongolii. Iskusstvo Evrazii, No. 1: 10–24.
14. Stuart A.J., Lister A.M. 2012 Extinction chronology of the woolly rhinoceros Coelodonta antiquitatis in the context of late Quaternary megafaunal extinctions in northern Eurasia. Quaternary Science Reviews, vol. 51: 1–17.
15. Svoiskiy Y.M., Levanova E.S., Romanenko E.V., Uranchimeg D. 2021 K voprosu ob atributsii i otnositelnoi datirovke petroglifov Rashaan-Khad (Mongoliya). In Drevniye kultury Mongolii, Yuzhnoi Sibiri i Severnogo Kitaya: Materialy XI Mezhdunar. nauch. konf., g. Abakan, 08–11 sent. 2021 g., A.V. Polyakov, M.T. Kashuba, A.D. Tsybiktarov (eds.). Abakan: IIMK RAN, pp. 310–316.
16. Tseveendorj D. 2012 Istoriya drevnego iskusstva Mongolii. Ulaanbaatar: Inst. arkheologii AN Mongolii.
Review
For citations:
Svoiskiy Y.M., Levanova E.S., Romanenko E.V., Uranchimeg D., Amarsanaa G., Ulziibayar D. The Earliest Petroglyphs of Rashaan-Khad, Mongolia: New Observations. Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia. 2025;53(3):45-52. https://doi.org/10.17746/1563-0110.2025.53.3.045-052