Generate QR code
Open Access
Subscription Access
Stylistic Parameters of Minusinsk Rock Art Style
https://doi.org/10.17746/1563-0110.2025.53.3.064-073
Abstract
This study focuses on the formal typology of petroglyphs belonging to the Minusinsk tradition. While these are widely distributed, we analyze only zoomorphic images from the Minusinsk Basin, because the earliest rock art in Southern Siberia and Central Asia, we believe, refers to a definite chronological stage, whereas the Minusinsk Style is its regional manifestation associated with the local cultural tradition. The purpose of the study is to identify the specific features of the classic regional Minusinsk Style, distinguishing it from other manifestations of the earliest rock art, peripheral relative to it. We present the results of the stylistic analysis based on formal typological criteria mentioned by various specialists in Minusinsk zoomorphic images. Representations of animals fall in several groups in terms of species, and a set of characteristics has been proposed for each. Because they are highly variable both in the Minusinsk tradition and in the earliest rock art in general, criteria specific for the Minusinsk Style alone (fi rst-order criteria) have been separated from those relevant to other traditions (second-order criteria). The core of the classic Minusinsk Style is defined by a stable combination of formal typological features. Another group of the earliest petroglyphs is nominally described as peripheral, because it doesn’t show this combination.
Keywords
Rock art,
Minusinsk rock art tradition,
Minusinsk Style,
formal typological analysis,
core and periphery of style,
Minusinsk Basin
Supporting agencies: The collection of materials, formal typological analysis, and the article concept development were supported by the Russian Science Foundation, Project № 22-18-00070 «The Earliest Figurative Stratum in the Chronology of Rock art of the Minusinsk Basin: Interdisciplinary Research of the Minusinsk Style» (https://rscf.ru/project/22-18-00070/); the statistical processing of the materials was carried out with the support of IAET SB RAS Project «The Application of Digital Technologies in the Analysis of Archaeological Data and the Reconstruction of the Ancient History» (FWZG-2025-0007). The authors express their deep gratitude to the reviewer for important comments that helped them to clarify the argumentation.
About the Authors
I. V. Abolonkova
«Tomskaya Pisanitsa» Museum-Reserve
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Abolonkova I.V., Department Head
Tomskaya 5a, Kemerovo, 650000
L. V. Zotkina
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Zotkina L.V., Leading Researcher
pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090
K. A. Kolobova
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Kolobova K.A., Professor, Leading Researcher
Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090
References
1. Atlas de la grotte Chauvet-Pont d’Arc. Monographie de la grotte Chauvet-Pont d’Arc. 2020 Vol. 1. Paris: Éditions de la Maison des Sciences de l’Homme.
2. Aubert M., Lebe R., Oktaviana A.A., Tang M., Burhan B., Hamrullah J., Abdullah A., Hakim B., Zhao J., Geria I.M., Sulistyarto P.H., Sardi R., Brumm A. 2019 Earliest hunting scene in prehistoric art. Nature, vol. 576 (7787): 442–445.
3. Aubry T., Dimuccio L.A., Bergadà M.M., Sampaio J.D., Sellami F. 2007 Palaeolithic engravings and sedimentary environments in the Côa River Valley (Portugal): Implications for the detection, interpretation and dating of open-air rock art. Journal of Archaeological Science, vol. 37: 3306–3319.
4. Blednova N., Francfort H.-P., Legchilo N., Martin L., Sacchi D., Sher J., Smirnov D., Soleilhavoup F., Vidal P. 1995 Sibérie du Sud 2: Tepsej I–III, Ust’-Tuba I–VI (Russie, Khakassie). Paris: Diffusion de Boccard. (Repertoire des Pétroglyphes d’Asie Centrale; fasc. 2).
5. Bourdier C., Pinçon G. 2016 Norme et individualité au Roc-aux-Sorciers (Vienne, France): Approche des “mains” de régistre animalier au travers de la forme. In Styles, techniques et expression graphique dans l’art sur paroi rocheuse. Oxford: British Archaeol. Reports Ltd, pp. 17–35. (BAR; S2787).
6. Cheremisin D.V. 2000 Petroglify Uzungura (Gorny Altai). In Obozreniye rezultatov polevykh i laboratornykh issledovaniy arkheologov i etnografov Sibiri i Dalnego Vostoka v 1994–1996 godakh. Novosibirsk: Izd. IAET SO RAN, pp. 52–56.
7. Domingo Sanz I., Fiore D. 2014 Style: Its role in the archaeology of art. In Encyclo- pedia of Global Archaeology. New York: Springer, pp. 7104–7111.
8. Esin Y.N. 2010 Problemy vydeleniya izobrazheniy afanasievskoy kultury v naskalnom iskusstve Minusinskoy kotloviny. In Afanasievskiy sbornik. Barnaul: Azbuka, pp. 53–73.
9. Fortea P.J., Fritz C., Garcia M., Sanchidrian Tori J.L., Sauvet G., Tosello G. 2004 L’art parietal Paléolitique à l’épreuve du style et du carbone-14. In Actes du colloque de la commission 8 de l’UISPP (Paléolitique supérieur, Liège, 10–12 déc. 2003). Liège: Université de Liège, pp. 163–175. (ERAUL; vol. 106).
10. Guy E. 2000 Le style des fi gurations paléoitiques piquetées de la vallée du Côa (Portugal): Premier essai de caractérisation. L’anthropologie, vol. 104: 415–426.
11. Hammer Ø., Harper D.A.T., Ryan P.D. 2001 PAST: Paleontological statistics software package for education and data analysis. Palaeontologia Electronica, vol. 4 (1), Art. 4.
12. Kolobova K.A., Tyugashev I.E., Bocharova E.N., Kharevich V.M., Kharevich A.V. 2025 Prakticheskoye primeneniye seriatsii dlya analiza arkheologicheskikh dannykh. Stratum Plus: Arkheologiya i kulturnaya antropologiya, No. 1: 301–314.
13. Kovtun I.V. 2001 Izobrazitelniye traditsii epokhi bronzy Tsentralnoy i Severo-Zapadnoy Azii: Problemy genezisa i khronologii ikonografi cheskikh kompleksov severo-zapadnogo Sayano-Altaya. Novosibirsk: Izd. IAET SO RAN.
14. Le Brun E. 2012 La parenté entre Lascaux et les grottes du “Groupe de Pech-Merle”. Bulletin de la Société Préhistorique Ariège–Pyrénées, vol. LXVII: 49–60.
15. Leontiev N.V., Pankova S.V. 2012 Petroglify gory Georgievskoy (tashtykskiye rezniye risunki). In Pamyatniki naskalnogo iskusstva Minusinskoy kotloviny: Georgiyevskaya, Lnishchenskaya, Ulazy III, Sosnikha. Kemerovo: Kuzbassvuzizdat, pp. 5–27. (Trudy SAIPI; iss. X).
16. Malikov D.G., Zotkina L.V., Davydov R.V., Malikova E.L., Miklashevich E.A., Petrozhitskiy A.V., Ershova O.V., Cherezova A. 2025 Geological dating of the earliest Minusinsk Depression rock art, the Maydashy site, Southern Siberia. Quaternary Research: 1–14.
17. Matochkin E.P. 2011 Red marals at Satakular in the Altai. Archaeology, Ethnology and Anthropology of Eurasia, No. 4: 107–112. (In Russian and English).
18. Miklashevich E.A. 2015 Drevneishiye naskalniye izobrazheniya Minusinskoy kotloviny: Problemy i perspektivy issledovaniya. Ucheniye zapiski muzeya-zapovednika “Tomskaya Pisanitsa”, iss. 2: 66–78.
19. Miklashevich E.A. 2020 O skhodstve drevneishikh naskalnykh izobrazheniy Yuzhnoy Sibiri i Tsentralnoy Azii i probleme ikh atributsii. KSIA, iss. 261: 82–98.
20. Miklashevich E.A. 2022 New rock art site at the riverside cliffs in the Oglakhty Mountains (Khakasia). Theory and Practice of Archaeological Research, vol. 34 (3): 39–53.
21. Molodin V.I., Geneste J.-M., Zotkina L.V., Cheremisin D.V., Cretin C. 2019 The “Kalgutinsky” style in the rock art of Central Asia. Archaeology, Ethnology and Anthropology of Eurasia, vol. 47 (3): 12–26. (In Russian and English).
22. Molodin V.I., Zotkina L.V., Cretin C., Plisson H., Geneste J.-M., Cheremisin D.V. 2021 “Kalgutinskiy” stil v naskalnom iskusstve i yego svoyeobraziye. In Drevneye iskusstvo v kontekste kulturno-istoricheskikh protsessov Yevrazii: K 300-letiyu nauchnogo otkrytiya Tomskoy pisanitsy: Materialy Vseros. nauch. konf. s mezhdunar. uchastiyem, 18–20 avg. 2021 g. Kemerovo: Izd. KRIPKiPRO, pp. 201–206.
23. Podolsky N.L. 1973 O printsipakh datirovki naskalnykh izobrazheniy. Sovetskaya arkheologiya, iss. 3: 266–275.
24. Ponomareva I.A., Taçon P.S.C. 2019 The Angara rock art style and the emergence of ethno-cultural identity. Oxford Journal of Archaeology, vol. 38 (1): 18–38.
25. Pyatkin B.N., Martynov A.I. 1985 Shalabolinskiye petroglify. Krasnoyarsk: Krasnoyar. Gos. Ped. Univ.
26. Rusakova I.D. 2005 K voprosu o khronologii drevneishikh petroglifov Minusinskoy kotloviny. In Mir naskalnogo iskusstva:Sbornik dokl. mezhdunar. konf. Moscow: Izd. IA RAN, pp. 214–218.
27. Sher J.A. 1980 Petroglify Sredney i Tsentralnoy Azii. Moscow: Nauka.
28. Sher J.A., Blednova N., Legchilo N., Smirnov D. 1994 Oglakhty I–III (Russie, Khakassie). Paris: Diffusion de Boccard. (Repertoire des petroglyphs d’Asie Centrale; fasc. 1).
29. Sovetova O.S., Miklashevich E.A. 1999 Khronologicheskiye i stilisticheskiye osobennosti sredneyeniseiskikh petroglifov (po itogam raboty Petroglificheskogo otryada Yuzhnosibirskoy arkheologicheskoy ekspeditsii KemGU). In Arkheologiya, etnografi ya i muzeinoye delo. Kemerovo: Kem. Gos. Univ., pp. 47–74.
30. Sovetova O.S., Shishkina O.O., Abolonkova I.V. 2021 Naskalnoye iskusstvo Tepseiskogo arkheologicheskogo mikrorayona. Kemerovo: Vektor-Print.
31. Zotkina L.V., Cretin C., Plisson H., Geneste J.-M., Molodin V.I. 2020 Technological parameters of rock art at the Kalgutinsky Rudnik site on the Ukok Plateau, Russian Altai region. Quaternary International, vol. 559: 188–197.
32. Zotkina L.V., Kolobova K.A., Sutugin S.V., Olsen J.W. 2023 What defines the “Minusinsk Style” in the earliest rock art of the Minusinsk Basin, southern Siberia? Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, vol. 49, Art. No. 104009.
33. Zotkina L.V., Tekhterekov A.S., Kharevich V.M., Plisson H. 2014 An experimental study of percussion technologies in the Minusinsk Basin: Percussion and tool types. Archaeology, Ethnology and Anthropology of Eurasia, No. 1: 55–65. (In Russian and English).
Review
For citations:
Abolonkova I.V., Zotkina L.V., Kolobova K.A. Stylistic Parameters of Minusinsk Rock Art Style. Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia. 2025;53(3):64-73. https://doi.org/10.17746/1563-0110.2025.53.3.064-073
Views:
20
Email this article 