PREHISTORIC STONE SCULPTURES OF THE ARCTIC AS ANTHROPOGENIC LANDFORMS AND WORLD HERITAGE SITES

Abstract

We consider stone statues widespread in the Arctic. It is proved that they are man-made landforms. The indicators of the aforesaid are the links to the ancient place-names and legends, confinement to the sea coasts, river valleys, and hills, i.e. locations, convenient for orientation and marking the path of movement of their creators. Three types of sculptures are distinguished such as anthropomorphic, zoomorphic and images of fantastic creatures (sphinxes and dragons). The existence of similar sculptures in other regions of the planet is discussed. Stone sculptures are significant monuments of the Heritage of the prehistoric exploration of the geospace of the Arctic.

Keywords

• stone statues
• indicators
• Arctic
• prehistoric development
• a man-made form of relief