Some Results of the Study of Drawings on the Stones of the Tagar Barrows at the Foot of Mount Tepsei

Abstract

The article presents the results of field studies of the petroglyphic detachment of the Department of archaeology of the Kemerovo State University on the territory of the Tepsey archaeological microdistrict (Krasnoturansk district of the Krasnoyarsk Krai) from 2013 to 2023. Corpus of sources on rock art on the fence slabs of the Tagar barrows at the foot of Mount Tepsei is analyzed. The study revealed more than 60 stones with drawings. The current state of the monuments was evaluated: most of the slabs with drawings were destroyed and exposed to influences from the external environment. The optimal ways of documenting drawings on the fence slabs of the Tagar barrows (traditional contact methods of copying and innovative non-contact methods of documenting) were identified. The images are made by different techniques: large and small pecking with elements of grinding, engraved lines. There are images of anthropomorphic figures, zoomorphic characters, signs. The chronological attribution of some drawings was determined: images of the Tagar, Tes, Tashtyk and modern era were revealed. It is concluded that most of the drawings on the stones of the Tagar barrows were created after the construction of the fence structures, and may not be related to the burial practice.

Keywords

• archaeology
• petroglyphs
• rock art
• tagar barrows
• minusinsk hollow
• tepsei
• documenting