INVESTIGATION OF THE MOST ANCIENT PETROGLYPHS ON THE COASTAL ROCKS OF THE OGLAKHTY (KHAKASSIA) IN 2014

Abstract

The paper presents some results of recent field investigations of the rock art complex located in the Oglakhty mountains (RepublicofKhakasia, the left bank of theYeniseiRiver). In 2014, the authors had surveyed rocky outcrops along the coastline of the Yenisei (Krasnoyarskreservoir). A major part of the earlier known rock art is now flooded. However, using a boat, we managed to find a whole series of compositions and separate images on the rocks above the water level. All of them were not previously known. Probably, when the complex had been investigated before the flooding, these petroglyphs on the upper stages of the steep cliffs were inaccessible and hardly visible from below. Newly discovered images are related to the most ancient stratum in rock art of the Minusinsk basin; they are definitely earlier than the Bronze Age, although their absolute age is under discussion. The assemblage of animals depicted (elks, red deer, wild horses, aurochs, bighorn sheep, wild boars, bears, which do not inhabit the area now or even are extinct), as well as the state of panels’ preservation and their topography – all this argues for the very ancient age of this imagery.

Keywords

• petroglyphs, oglakhty, khakassia, most ancient rock art, minusinsk style