E. P. MATOCHKIN
Anokhin National Museum of the Altai Republic

46 Choros-Gurkina str., Gorno-Altaisk, 649000, Russia

E-mail: pallady@ngs.ru

Introduction

Petroglyphic monuments, which are increasingly becoming the object of analytical research, are often underestimated as works of art that can "speak" in their own specific language of artistic images. Meanwhile, many cave paintings are not devoid of aesthetic advantages, which can not be fully expressed in verbal form. It should also be taken into account that the syncretic thinking of the primitive masters was not yet separated from the emotional sphere and concrete sensory images.

While admiring the way petroglyphs are created, we are somewhat aware of the essence of the pictorial context, and the harmony that connects the meaning of images with this "how". Conversely, by getting deeper into the symbolism, the pictorial language, and the way a work is embodied in composition and drawing, one can also gain a deeper understanding of the meaning of "what is said".

The" magic " of petroglyphs is felt when you work with originals, and not with their drawings or reproductions. Moreover, petroglyphs are not easel works; they were created in a certain spatial environment and are designed to be perceived precisely in this natural environment and often in a certain time interval, often associated with the position of the luminaries. An unusually strong impression is left, in particular, by the Okunev stelae with their strikingly rich symbolism of images, as well as the mysterious characters of the polychrome paintings of the Karakol tomb. Something similar is experienced from the petroglyphs of the Green Lake, and this should at least be briefly mentioned, since the mysterious meaning of the drawings is inextricably linked with the emotional and spiritual world, and with the subject that archaeology deals with.

Opening history

About ten years ago, local residents brought a plate with petroglyphs to the museum of the Station for Young Tourists in Ust-Koksy, Altai Republic (Matochkin, 2002). The slab was discovered among a complex of rock carvings near Green Lake in the very south-west of the Ust-Koksinsky district of the Altai Republic, in the upper reaches of the Krasnoyarka River (Fig. 1). Approximate coordinates of this place: 85° east and 49° 30 ' north.

The Green Lake sanctuary is in many respects a unique petroglyphic monument of Gorny Altai (Matochkin, 2004; Matochkin, 2004a, b, 2005). It is located above the upper border of the forest, so that sometimes even in the middle of summer, some plates with drawings lie under the snow. Here, on the northern slope of the mountain range, there are two lakes. What is called Green, Nameless, or Dead is western; they don't have an official name for the lake. Both reservoirs are fed by snowmelt from winter storms. The narrow isthmus between the lakes and the nearby pass determined the strategic position of these places, which were probably developed by humans in ancient times.

I would like to thank V. I. Molodin and V. D. Kubarev for their valuable comments and participation in the discussions.

page 104

The first attempt to enter the area in 2002 was unsuccessful; it was only in 2003 that we managed to reach an unknown petroglyphic monument. We studied it in 2003-2005. In 2004, the trip took place thanks to the participation of the Biysk Museum of Local Lore named after V. V. Bianchi.

Description of plates with petroglyphs

Between the snowfield and the lake, we found 20 plates with drawings. All but three of them (16, 19, and 20) are concentrated on an area measuring 22 × 7 m (Figure 2). Light gray slabs of dense fine-grained carbonate sandstone are mainly located on the right bank of the stream. Their length, as a rule, does not exceed 1.5 m, width - 1.2 m; thickness ranges from a few centimeters to 0.5 m, sometimes more. Slabs with a flat surface predominate. Drawings are made with the help of embossing; in most cases, it is quite clear and is especially clearly visible at sunset. The technique varies from tight-fitting small-point impacts to sparse and shapeless chipping.

The plates are numbered up against the stream's current.

Plate 1. Sub-triangular shape, approximately 1.5 x 1.5 m in size. A tailed anthropomorphic creature with crescent-shaped objects suspended from its elbows, with lush hands in its hands, and a high headdress. There are six animals around (fig. 3).

Slab 2. 5.2 m east of slab 1. Rectangular in shape. Measuring 1,2×0,9 m. Moose and moose walking to the east. There is a sloping line under the moose's feet. On the body of the moose - large holes up to 1 cm long and 0.5 cm wide.

Plate 3. 2,9 m south-west of plate 2. Maximum dimensions: 0,9×0,8 m. Anthropomorphic creature in a high and narrow headdress, with arms outstretched and bent at the elbows, holding long lush hands (Fig. 4).

Plate 4. 6.3 m upstream of the stream from plate 1. Sub-rectangular shape, measuring 1.1×0.5 m. Single image of an animal.

Slab 5. 0.3 m up stream from slab 4. Dimensions: 2.3×1.0 m. Two deer with large antlers and a horse figurine.

Plate 6. 0.3 m upstream of the stream from plate 3 and 1.7 m from plate 5. Sub-rectangular shape, measuring 1.5×0.9 m. Two anthropomorphic creatures, similar to the bird-man on plate 3 (Fig. 5). The upper image has been preserved fragmentary due to a chip on the plate.

Plate 7. Next to plate 6 upstream of the stream. Dimensions: 1.0×0.75 m. Two animals.

Plate 8. 0.2 m upstream from plate 7. Dimensions: 0.5×0.7 m. Anthropomorphic bird-like creature on Plate 3 (Fig. 6).

Slab 9. 0.3 m upstream of the stream from slab 8. Dimensions: 1.2×1.0 m. Five animal figures made in a silhouette and silhouette-contour manner (Fig. 7).

Plate 10. 0.3 m upstream from plate 9. It is rectangular in shape, measuring 1.3×0.5 m. It is split into two parts. Image fragments that protrude along the edges are not readable. Eight animals and three anthropomorphic characters; one of the latter overlaps the figure of a hoofed animal (Figure 8).

Plate 11. Next to plate 10 upstream of the stream. Maximum size: 1.1×0.8 m. Six animals. One image is partial: only the head and neck are cut out.

Plate 12. 1 m from the slab 11. Maximum dimensions: 0.5×1.3 m. A maral and a woman giving birth (Fig. 9). The surface on the right side of the slab is chipped.

Plate 13. 1 m away from the stream. Maximum dimensions: 1.0×0.8 m. The surface layer is partially lost. Only a silhouette image of a maral deer has been preserved. The remaining images are fragmented.

Plate 14. 0.3 m from the stream. Maximum dimensions: 1.1×1.0 m. Four maral figures, two of them fragmentary.

Plate 15. 5.6 m west of plate 14; washed by a stream. Maximum dimensions: 1. 8x0. 9 m. Three hoofed animals.

Fig. 1.Map of the Altai Republic. The circle and arrow mark the location of the Green Lake petroglyphs.

page 105

Fig. 2. A section of a hill slope near a stream with slabs on which drawings are stamped.

3. Plate 1. Composition with figures of an anthropomorphic creature and animals.

4. Plate 3. Figure of a bird-man.

5. Plate 6. Figures of birdmen.

Fig. 6. Plate 8. Figure of a bird-man.

Fig. 7. Plate 9. Images of animals.

Fig. 8. Plate 10. Complex of drawings.

page 106

9. Plate 12. Figures of a maral deer and a woman giving birth.

10. Plate 18. Composition with four anthropomorphic figures.

Fig. 11. Plate 19. Images of an anthropomorphic creature, moose and other animals.

12. Plate 21. Complex of drawings with an anthropomorphic figure.

13. Plate 2. Images of elk and moose.

Plate 16. 5 m upstream from plate 14 and 7.3 m to the right of the stream. Maximum dimensions: 1.5×0.5 m. Single image of a maral deer.

Slab 17. Next to slab 15. Most of it is buried in the muddy soil of the stream. You can't read a fragment of the punch-out.

Slab 18. 5.4 m from slab 14 and 2.1 m from slab 15 up the creek. Rectangular shape, measuring 1,4×0,4 m. The right edge of the plate is chipped off. Round dance of four anthropomorphic figures (Fig. 10). At the end of the slab with traces of chipping, fragments of the figure of a woman with her legs spread apart (in the position of a woman in labor) and a maralukha next to her were preserved.

page 107

Plate 19. 40 m north of the stream. The maximum size is 1.2×1.0 m. Moose, bear (?), anthropomorphic figure, six smaller animals, several small holes (Fig. 11).

Plate 20. On the other side of the stream, 24 m south of plate 18 and 4 m above it on the slope. Maximum dimensions: 2.0×0.8 m. Single goat figure.

Plate 21. Location among the plates is unknown (currently located in Ust-Koks). Under a rectangular shape, measuring 0.9×0.2 m. An anthropomorphic figure and two maral deer. Palimpsest. Fragmentary images on the edges of the slab are unreadable (Figure 12).

Images of petroglyphs. Stylistics and semantics

The repertoire of petroglyphs of the Green Lake is quite uniform. There are practically no sign forms in it, with the exception of holes and lines that are compositionally isolated or connected to other elements. The main attention of the ancient masters is focused on zoo-and anthropomorphic images. Among 74 separate images, anthropomorphic characters make up approx. 22 %.

Zoomorphic images are most often represented by maral figures; there are also goats, moose, horses, and a fox. There are images of animals of a strange appearance - with a large rounded body (plates 1 and 11).

On multiple tiles (2, 7, 9, 10, 14, 19, 21) a female and a male are depicted standing side by side (41 % of all animal images). These paired figures of animals of different sexes indicate their cult-genealogical character, the eternal dream of fertility and the revival of the animal world.

Single figures (41%) are usually static. Other animals are represented with anthropomorphic characters in rather complex compositions (plates 1, 12, 18, 19), which will be considered separately.

With great artistic taste, the images of an elk and an elk are stamped on plate 2 (Fig. 13). The animals have elegant thin legs, a slightly trapezoidal body, elongated paraboloid muzzles. The front legs are placed in a step, and the rear legs are shown as if in static and unfolded in full view.

The figures of ungulates on plate 1 are distinguished by a special skill of execution. Long legs, narrow necks, a lively drawing of the head and torso - everything is filled with extraordinary beauty. The artist used a special stylistic technique - an open contour, which leaves a gap in the outline of the upper and lower jaws of animals, conveys the open mouths, as it were. Some of the images are connected by lines. The high aesthetic and artistic qualities of the composition make it one of the absolute masterpieces of primitive art. Elegant images of animals are combined with a geometrized tailed anthropomorphic figure with a diamond-shaped head and a trapezoid torso in a suit of sharp-angled outlines and a high hat. The anthropomorphic creature is depicted with a characteristic tilt and in different projections: head in full view, legs and arms in profile (Fig. This character appears to be walking while waving his arms, holding lush brushes.

14. Plate 1. Composition with figures of an anthropomorphic creature and animals (drawing).

page 108

15. Ritual images of the Green Lake (7) and Okunevsky statues (2, 3). 2, 3 - according to: [Vadetskaya, Leontiev, Maksimenkov, 1980, Table LIII, 135].

Six animals run in the direction of the anthropomorphic figure's movement. They seem to fall from the sky (from the source of the stream) and, turning around, run wherever their hands point. Apparently, a female image is depicted here in some kind of ritual dance.

In a similar bent position, two characters are engraved on one of the Okunev statues [Vadetskaya, Leontiev, Maksimenkov, 1980, p. 144]. They also have some elongated objects in their hands (Fig. 15). Attention is drawn to the moon-shaped pendants on the elbows of the Zelenoozersky character. A similar image is recorded in the petroglyphs of Karataga (Semenov et al., 2000, Figures 23, 5, Tables 32, 10, 13). Moon-shaped stone products were found among the accompanying inventory in the Okunev burial grounds Chernovaya VIII [Ibid., Table XXIII, 3] and Ust-Byur [Kyzlasov, 1986, Figures 184, 188], in situ on the head of a Krotovo culture carrier buried in the Sopka-2 burial ground in the Barabinsk forest-steppe [Molodin, 1985, fig. 18, 6 - 9, 11 - 13], and also on the settlement of Samus IV (Matyushchenko, 1973).

A. Nagler compared lunnits with knives for cutting millet from the territory of China and Korea [2002, p. 154]. However, G. A. Maksimenkov interpreted them as cult objects [1980, p. 24]. V. I. Molodin considers lunnits rather an attribute of a cult headdress [1985, p. 43-44]. According to Yu. N. Esin, such items played an important role in the ritual practice of native Samus and other Siberian cultures [2004, p. 15]. The drawings we found confirm this statement.

Half - disks, half-rings, rings and circles made of white-milk greenish jade discovered in the materials of the Glazkov culture of the Baikal region were suggested to be interpreted as symbols of the moon (Khlobystina, 1978, pp. 156-160). Apparently, the moon-shaped pendants connect the depicted plot with the widespread cult of the fertilizing moon in Eurasia and the ideas formed in the Paleolithic era about the month as the embodiment of the masculine principle. The ancient zoomorphic symbol of the moon god was a bull, so the anthropomorphic characters of the Green Lake are depicted holding in their hands, possibly bull tails, - this is how V. D. Kubarev interpreted the magnificent brushes on Karakol paintings [1988, p. 101].

As a close iconographic analogue of the petroglyphs on Plate 1, we can cite the composition from Tsagaan-Salaa IV in the Mongolian Altai (Jacobson, Kubarev, Tseveendorj, 2001, fig. 331). There is also a female character in the center, waving her arms, with pendants on her elbows, in a high headdress. Animals are depicted around the figure. Nearby, an image of an archer with a hypertrophied phallus is engraved. These images, which correspond to traditional ideas about successful hunting, suggest that the female figure should be seen as the mythological mistress of animals. It is possible that the Zelenoozersk composition is dedicated to the same subject, and the strange syncretic figure on plate 1 is one of the earliest images of a female shaman or the mistress of animals.

Anthropomorphic figures of human birds with a vertical line instead of a head among the petroglyphs of the Green Lake (plates 3, 6, 8) are quite original. In appearance, they resemble cranes during the mating dance. Straight legs with unfolded feet, turning into a geometrized torso, are typical for images on the slabs of stone boxes of the Bronze Age near the village of Ozernoye (Pogozheva and Kadikov, 1979, p. 84) and the Karakol tomb (Kubarev, 1988, p.59).

Considering the images of people of ornithomorphic appearance, it is appropriate to recall those found in ancient China.-

page 109

16. Anthropomorphic images of the Bronze Age in Southern Siberia. 1-Green Lake; 2-Karakol (according to [Kubarev, 1988, fig. 19]); 3-Sagan-Zaba (according to [Okladnikov, 1974, Table 9]); 4-Samus VI (according to [Matyushchenko, 1973, Fig. 63]); 5 - Manzya (according to: [Okladnikov, 1966, Table 168, 2]).

In burials on the Yenisei River, masks with crane beaks are found [Vadetskaya, 1996, p. 48], as well as in some Oku Neva graves, bird skulls are found along with objects of a clearly ritual nature [Vadetskaya, Leontiev, Maksimenkov, 1980, p.68-69]. All these findings, according to researchers, confirm the assumption about the presence of shamanism among the Okunev people [Ibid., 1980, p. 76].

Characters shown in a ritual pose, with arms outstretched and bent at the elbows, with pendants are also found in the decor on Samus ceramics and in petroglyphs of the Baikal region (Fig. Many figures are depicted with pendants decorated with symbols of luminaries. M. F. Kosarev suggested a close connection between the Samus images and the solar cult [1981, pp. 97-99]. A. N. Lipsky considered anthropomorphic figures with bird heads inscribed on the slabs of the Tas-Khazaa burial ground to be images of "deities" (1961, p. 274).

You should pay attention to the fact that the tails in the hands of the bird people are not lowered, as in the characters on the Karakol tomb, but are raised, which is possible when flapping or rotating. The second is more likely when you consider that bird people have their feet turned around. For example, the figures on plate 6 can be interpreted as an image of a single creature, captured in the process of walking in a circle against the sun's motion (see Figure 5). In this context, the images on the three tiles can be perceived as a picture of a certain action. Bottom plate 3 represents the initial state of the character who flapped his "wings" and started moving to the right, in this case up the stream. Plate 6 shows the process of rotation in two extreme positions, when the feet are deployed in opposite directions. Plate 8 shows the end of the ritual dance. It should be noted that the "tail" in the right hand is raised up to the sky, and in the left hand it is lowered down and something is spilling out of it (see Figure 6). This "something", knocked out with rare dots, is a cloud stretched out to the side, with which the master wanted to convey, perhaps a rotation effect. However, the rotation is already in one place, and not in a circle, since people's feet are not deployed here.

The only known analog of the Green-Lake characters with "wings" can be called the image from Tsagaan-Salaa II (Jacobson, Kubarev, Tseveendorj, 2001, fig. 133). True, there is an anthropomorphic creature with a round head and a round body, but with the same, even with even longer wings-"tails". Interestingly, this figure is surrounded by a" swarm " of small dots and accompanied by animals whose silhouettes are framed by the same dots. Don't these dots symbolize the embryos of animals that are delivered by the cult face? If this is so, then the composition depicted on a rock in the Mongolian Altai can be interpreted as a scene of the appearance of animals as a result of some shamanic action.

Anthropo-ornithomorphic characters depicted on the Zelenoozersk plates can also be interpreted in the same way; the animals depicted on the surrounding plates (with the same points on the silhouettes as on plate 1) should probably be considered as offspring. Thus, the meaning of this series of petroglyphs echoes the composition on plate 1, which was probably created somewhat earlier. Actually, all the considered cult characters have a lot in common, for example, "tails" in their hands. The differences appear only in the iconography: the Green Lake figures of bird-men are shown not with the characteristic "Okunev" slope and not in different projections, but strictly in full-face. Perhaps these are the spirits-assistants of the lady of animals and their ritual dance reflects the same cult of fertility-the fertility of animals.

page 110

A close story is captured on plate 19, which is located at a distance from the stream. It is made in silhouette and not as clear as on other stones, beaten out; moreover, the size of the anthropomorphic figure here is much smaller than on the slabs near the stream. The image is completely static. Around the head is seen something like a jagged crown. In the hands of the anthropomorphic creature are, it seems, the same long and thin objects as the human birds on plates 3, 6, 8. The animals surrounding the central figure move away from it in different directions.

The petroglyphs in the upper part of plate 10 represent a palimpsest: the silhouette of a hoofed animal with a long neck and a small head is partially superimposed with the figure of an anthropomorphic character. He is wearing short, leg-less clothing with an apron and two cross straps. Near the feet - an incomprehensible figure. In the left hand - a narrow long object (due to a chip on the plate, it is impossible to determine whether a similar object was in the other hand). This anthropomorphic image is iconographically close to the Karakol paintings (Fig. 17) [Kubarev, 1988, Fig. 46]. Like the Karakol characters, it is shown with long thin legs, a tapering rectangle of torso, arms outstretched and bent at the elbows, forming a single broken line with the shoulders. The conical headdress with a high pommel resembles the tall caps on little men on slabs in Tas-Khazaa and mummies from burials of the early Bronze Age in the Gumugou burial ground in Xinjiang (Mallory and Mair, 2000, p. 212-213).

To the right of this anthropomorphic image is a much smaller figure of another character. He is depicted without any signs of clothing, in profile. His legs are half-bent, and in his left hand is a staff, apparently with a side insert, like the pole-shaped figures of the Onega petroglyphs. The right arm with the hanging object is raised above the shoulders as if the person is ringing a bell. Recall that the bell is used in shamanic practice, and by its ringing, as A.V. Anokhin wrote, the Kama protect themselves from evil spirits [1994, p. 39]. The artist captured a man climbing a mountain. This image, probably of an elder, can to some extent be compared with the figure of a bent man from Mughur-Sargol [Devlet, 1980, p.180], as well as with characters from Kalbak-Tash [Kubarev and Jacobson, 1996, N 255, 259]. Interestingly, they are all shown with a staff. According to M. A. Devlet, a staff or stick could be attributes of cultic persons endowed with certain sacred powers, for example, shamans (1999, p. 228).

The most mysterious plot that has not been seen before on petroglyphs is engraved on plate 18: anthropomorphic characters with long objects in their hands, with pendants on their elbows, in strange masks and costumes with moonlit faces are depicted as if holding hands (Fig. 18). Currently, only a few very general assumptions can be made about the semantics of composition. The four characters undoubtedly reflect certain mythological ideas. The number 4 is an image of statistical integrity, a perfectly stable structure. Hence the participation of the four gods and the four cardinal directions

17. The composition in the upper part of plate 10 (7) and the character of the painting on the Karakol tomb (according to [Kubarev, 1988, fig. 46]) (2).

page 111

18. Drawings on plate 18 (drawing).

in the myths about the creation of the universe and its orientation [Toporov, 1982, p. 630]. Regarding the temporal orientation in the space of the Universe, we proposed a decoding of the calendar time counting by the phases of the moon, "recorded" with the help of lunnits on the elbows and clothing of characters and reflecting the three-year lunisolar calendar [Matochkin, 2004a, Fig. 3]. As for the myth of creation, two partially preserved images on the slab help to unravel it - a maraloukha and a woman depicted above it preparing to give birth - a canonical image that is quite close to the Okunevsky petroglyphs [Vadetskaya, 1970, p. 262, fig. 1]. Probably, the ritual performed by the four deities was intended to ensure a safe birth. This interpretation is also supported by the calendar of pregnancy of women in 9,5 lunar months, which is encoded in the iconic record of lunnits suspended from the elbows and clothing of characters [Matochkin, 2004a, Fig. 4].

The story of a maral and a woman giving birth is presented on a nearby slab 12, the inclined plane of which "looks" at slab 18 (see Figure 9). Both characters are connected by one idea, dating back to the Paleolithic myth of the hoofed animal and the woman in labor. The noticeable stylistic discrepancy between the images of a woman in labor and a woman on plate 18 may be explained by canon requirements, and not by a significant difference in date. Both images have their own iconographic counterparts. For example, the figure of a woman in labor on plate 12 is close to the image of a woman with the fruit of the Karakol culture from Ozernoye (Kubarev, 1998, p. 282, Figs. 3, 2).

Plate 12 probably shows the finale of the ritual performed by the four divine characters: the woman in labor was delivered from the burden, and the fetus was born. And the symbolism of the appearance of the fetus could be the highest-up to the birth of the world. All this, together with the calendar plots on plate 18, allows us to support V. D. Kubarev's conclusion about the solar-astral essence of the female character [Kubarev, 2002, p. 91].

We must assume that the ritual drawings near the Green Lake were created based on the sacred power of the elements. Plates with petroglyphs are located here near a stream that originates in a snowfield and flows into the lake. Water was perceived by ancient man as "the medium, agent and principle of universal conception and generation." Where, if not here, under the dome of the blue sky at the slabs washed by water, should the marriage of Heaven with Earth and Water take place? The sky symbolized the masculine principle, and the Earth and Water acted as analogs of the mother's womb and womb (Averintsev, 1982, p. 240).

The marriage of Heaven with Earth and Water is probably represented by the two central characters depicted on plate 18, whose hands are tightly clasped. The right one is in a male form, with wide-spread legs, a powerful head in a mask, and the left one looks more like a female character. In the East, since the deepest antiquity, the Earth and Sky were personified in myth by two great spirits opposed to each other, who personified the feminine (Mother) and masculine (Father) principles in nature, respectively. Perhaps the image of Mother Earth, the majestic and fruitful progenitor, in the petroglyphs of the Green Lake is embodied in an anthropomorphic figure with a small head, dressed in a suit of rectangular outlines.

Images of the Bronze Age mother-grandparents, to some extent close to Zelenoozerskaya, are found on petroglyphs of Kalbak-Tash, [Kubarev and Jacobson, 1996, fig. 194, 311], the Mongolian Altai [Jacobson, Kubarev, Tseveendorj, 2001, fig. 587, 664, 891], Xinjiang [Gai Shanlin, 1986, p. 423]

page 112

Fig. 19. Images of mothers-progenitors of the Bronze Age. 1-Xinjiang (according to [Gai Shanlin, 1986, p. 423]); 2-Baga-Uygur II (according to [Jacobson, Kubarev, Tseveendorj, 2001, fig. 891]); 3-Kalbak-Tash (according to [Kubarev and Jacobson, 1996, fig. 311]); 4-Green Lake.

(Figure 19). Chinese archaeologists interpret the Xinjiang image based on its formal similarity to a turtle [Ibid.]. V. D. Kubarev, analyzing such plots, comes to the conclusion that all of them, despite some local differences, convey a generalized image of a female deity, a female shaman and the mistress of animals in many characteristic features [Kubarev, 2002, p. 90]. He also noted a particularly interesting semantic connection of the shaman with sacred birds-inhabitants of the celestial sphere, primarily with the eagle [Jacobson, Kubarev, Tseveendorj, 2001, p. 67]. (In the Green Lake composition, two ornithomorphic characters are shown next to the female deity).

On plates 12 and 18, near the woman, an image of a maralukha is stamped. It is a kind of zoomorphic marker of the beginning of a woman's pregnancy cycle. On the days of the autumnal equinox, when nature, having nurtured its gifts, is preparing to die, a new life is born. It is announced by a trumpet voice, which is carried far around in the echoing silence of the golden autumn. It is during these days that the intense rut of marals and pregnancy of females begins in Altai. September 21 can be considered the beginning of the "Maralego" new year.

The birth of a woman who conceived on September 21 falls at a time close to the summer solstice. In these days of late June, the Alpine meadows are freed from snow and quickly covered with lush greenery and flowers that glorify the great luminary. Ancient man, of course, could not fail to note the coincidence of these two significant astronomical events-the autumn equinox and the summer solstice - with the pregnancy cycle. This very rebirth of nature was perceived as a periodic birth of the world, occurring due to the union of Mother Earth with a male celestial deity.

Image history

All the analogs of the Zelenoozersk anthropomorphic images, although they belong to very different regions, date back to the Bronze Age. The absence of drawings in the Scythian-Siberian animal style and ancient Turkic graffiti allows us to narrow the chronological framework of the petroglyphs of the Green Lake to a certain period. The undoubted and closest connections with the drawings of Karakol and Ozernoye most of all indicate that the petroglyphs of Green Lake belong to the Karakol culture, and in time - to the first half of the II millennium BC. Earlier, we proposed to connect the anthropomorphic figure overlapping the images of animals on plate 21 with the Early Iron age. now it seems that the date should be increased (Matochkin, 2002, p. 113). It is known that the palimpsest often connects drawings created within small chronological intervals, and may well relate to the same epoch (Molodin, 1993, pp. 13-16).

In the image of animals, there are also many landmarks that indicate the time of the paleometal. Thus, the moose on plate 19 fits into the pictorial series given by V. I. Molodin for the Siberian scribbles of the Bronze Age [Ibid., p. 19, Fig. 2]. Some of the animals on plate 11 and the moose on plate 2, drawn with their hind legs motionless, show parallels with the images on the second Turochak scribble discovered by us [Matochkin, 1986; Molodin and Matochkin, 1992]. According to V. I. Molodin, such a stylistic device is characteristic for the present time.-

page 113

The full-face view of the back part of the body is typical only for images of the Okunev culture of the Bronze Age of the Minusinsk Basin [1993, pp. 10-11]. The repertoire of petroglyphs of the Green Lake is distinguished by the absence of images of bulls characteristic of the Bronze Age. Here, in the snowy highlands, they could hardly exist, so the main ungulate hero was the maral. Nevertheless, the presence of many converging elements in the Okunev and Karakol cultures indicates the relative synchronicity of these cultures and the interrelationships of their carriers. Visual analogies with other cultures of the Bronze Age of Western Siberia, in particular with the Samus culture of the Tomsk Ob region and the Baikal region, are also relevant. If, as is commonly believed, the schematization indicates later artistic processes, then the images of less conventional Green-lake characters should be attributed to the manifestations of earlier periods of culture.

Conclusion

In connection with the discovery of petroglyphs of the Green Lake, the idea of the Karakol culture, known for its unique tomb paintings, has significantly expanded. A lot of single and paired images of animals have become known, the style and execution of which are very diverse. Some images of animals are similar to the drawings of other petroglyphic complexes of Altai. The opposite conclusion also becomes important: images of animals of the Bronze Age can be found analogs among the petroglyphs of the Green Lake. In this context, the exclusivity, characteristic stylistic originality of Karakol culture is removed. Nevertheless, in the main compositions associated with anthropomorphic characters, this originality of Karakol culture still remains. The images of bird-people and ritual scenes on plates 1 and 19, 10, and 12 and 18 should be considered unique. Their grouping according to certain subjects allows us to express the idea of the existence of a sanctuary near the Green Lake with a special spatial organization. Perhaps, in the lower part of the stream, in the area of plates 1, 3, 6, 8, a ritual related to the cult of fertility was performed, in which the main role was assigned to the mistress of animals and supernatural helpers in the form of bird people. In the middle part, in the area of plate 10, there was probably a border beyond which the possession of the great mountain spirits came. And higher up the stream, between plates 12 and 18, there was a particularly sacred place where the myth of creation was performed by the four deities.

The role of the natural context in creating petroglyphs of the Green Lake should be emphasized in particular. The breadth of the surrounding panorama, the amazing luxury of alpine meadows with their lush flowering after a long winter, the special psychophysiological state of a person who climbed the Altai highlands-all this sharpened the perception of beauty, created an emotional boost, which could not but affect the artists ' performing skills. Striking in its artistic perfection and spiritual fullness, the drawings will rightfully enter the treasury of ancient world art.

List of literature

Averintsev S. S. Voda [Water] / / Myths of the peoples of the world: In 2 volumes-Moscow: Ros. encikl., 1994-Vol. 1. - p. 240.

Anokhin A.V. Materials on shamanism among the Altaians. - Repr. playback 1924, Gorno-Altaisk: Ak-Chechek Publ., 1994, 152 p. (in Russian)

Vadetskaya E. B. Zhenshchiekh konetty na plitakh iz okunevskikh mogilnikov [Female silhouettes on slabs from Okunev burial grounds]. Novosibirsk: Nauka Publ., 1970, issue 3, pp. 261-264.

Vadetskaya E. B. Attributes of cult servants on ancient burials of the Yenisei / / Priestcraft and shamanism in the Scythian era. St. Petersburg: Project "Scytho-Sibirika", 1996, pp. 46-50.

Vadetskaya E. B., Leontiev N. V., Maksimenkov G. A. Pamyatniki okunevskoy kul'tury [Monuments of Okunev culture].

Devlet M. A. Petroglyphs of Mugur-Sargol, Moscow: Nauka Publ., 1980, 271 p.

Devlet M. A. Images of shamans and their attributes on the rocks of the Sayan canyon of the Yenisei River // International Conference on Primeval History. art. Kemerovo, 1999, vol. 1, pp. 224-231.

Esin Yu. N. Iskusstvo samusskoi kul'tury: Avtoref. dis. ... kand. ist.nauk [The art of Samus culture]. Novosibirsk, 2004, 22 p. (in Russian)

Kosarev M. F. Bronzovy vek Sibiri [The Bronze Age of Siberia], Moscow: Nauka Publ., 1981, 278 p.

Kubarev V. D. Ancient paintings of Karakol. Novosibirsk: Nauka Publ., 1988, 173 p. (in Russian)

Kubarev V. D. Ancient paintings of Ozernoye. Karakol culture of Altai / / Siberia in the panorama of millennia. simp. Novosibirsk, 1998, vol. 1, pp. 277-289.

Kubarev V. D. Ob odnom zazhylete iz petroglyphov xinjana [About a story from the petroglyphs of Xinjiang]. Istoriya i kul'tura Vostoka Azii: Mat-ly Mezhdunar. nauch. konf. (Novosibirsk, December 9-11, 2002). Novosibirsk, 2002, vol. 2, pp. 88-92.

Kyzlasov L. R. Drevneyshiaya Khakasiya [Ancient Khakassia]. state University, 1986, 295 p. (in Russian)

Lipskii A. N. Novye dannye po afanas'evskoy kul'tury [New data on the Afanasiev culture]. Novosibirsk: SB of the USSR Academy of Sciences, 1961, pp. 269-278.

Maksimenkov G. A. Mogilnik Chernovaya VIII - etalonny pamyatnik okunevskoy kul'tury [The burial ground of Chernovaya VIII - an etalon monument of okunevskaya culture]. Vadetskaya E. B., Leont'ev N. V., Maksimenkov G. A. Pamyatniki okunevskaya kul'tury [Monuments of Okunevskaya Culture], Nauka Publ., 1980. - P. 3-26.

page 114

Matochkin E. P. Novye petroglyphi Bii [New petroglyphs of Bii]. Novosibirsk: IIFF SB AS USSR Publ., 1986, pp. 20-23.

Matochkin E. P. The image of a bogatyr on the rocks of Altai // Istoriya i kul'tura Vostoka Azii: Mat-ly Mezhdunar. nauch. konf. (Novosibirsk, December 9-11, 2002). Novosibirsk, 2002, vol. 2, pp. 112-115.

Matochkin E. P. Lunno-solnechnye kalendari svyatilishcha "Zelenoe ozero" [Lunar and solar calendars of the Green Lake Sanctuary]. - 2004a. - N3. - p. 11-15.

Matochkin E. P. Antropomorfnye personakh Zelenogo ozero [Anthropomorphic characters of the Green Lake]. Gorno-Altaisk, 20046, issue 2, pp. 26-37.

Matochkin, E. P., Ancient characters of the Green Lake Sanctuary, Mir naskalnogo iskusstva: Sb. dokl. International Conference-Moscow, 2005. - P. 172-176.

Matyushchenko V. I. Ancient history of the population of the forest and forest-steppe Ob region. Tomsk: Publishing House of the Tomsk State University, 1973. Part 2: Samus culture. - 210 p. - (From the history of Siberia; Issue 10).

Molodin V. I. Baraba in the Bronze Age. Novosibirsk: Nauka Publ., 1985, 200 p. (in Russian)

Molodin V. I. Once again on the dating of Turochak scribbles (some problems of chronology and cultural belonging of petroglyphs of Southern Siberia) / / Culture of ancient peoples of Southern Siberia. Barnaul: Alt. State University Publ., 1993, pp. 4-25.

Molodin V. I., Matochkin E. P. Vtoraya Turochakskaya pisanitsa Gornogo Altay [The Second Turochak scribble of the Altai Mountains]. - 1992. - N 8. - p. 80-83.

Nagler A. K voprosu o tipe khozyaistva nositelei okunevskoy kul'tury [On the type of economy of native Okunev culture]. Man and art. Novosibirsk: Izd-vo IAEt SB RAS, 2002, pp. 151-155.

Okladnikov A. P. Petroglyphs of Angara, Moscow, Nauka Publ., 1966, 322 p.

Okladnikov A. P. Petroglyphs of Lake Baikal-monuments of ancient culture of the peoples of Siberia. Novosibirsk: Nauka Publ., 1974, 125 p., 41 ill.

Pogozheva A. P., Kadikov B. Kh. The Bronze Age burial ground near Ozernoye settlement in Altai / / New in Archeology of Siberia and the Far East. Novosibirsk: Nauka Publ., 1979, pp. 80-84.

Semenov V. A., Kilunovskaya M. E., Krasnienko S. V., Subbotin A.V. Petroglyphs of Karataga and Cedar Mountain (Sharypovsky district of the Krasnoyarsk Territory). - St. Petersburg: IIMK, 2000. - 66 p, 33 tables.

Toporov V. N. Chislya [Numbers] / / Mifi narodov mira: V 2 t. - Moscow: Sov. encikl., 1982. - Vol. 2. - pp. 629-631.

Khlobystina M. D. Totem-cosmogonic images in the art of South Siberian bronze // Primitive art. At the origins of creativity. Novosibirsk: Nauka Publ., 1978, pp. 155-163.

Gai Shanlin. Petrogliphs in the Winhan mountains. -Beijing: Wenwu, 1986. -441 p.

Jacobson E., Kubarev V., Tseveendorj D. Mongolie du Nord-Ouest: Tsagaan Salaa/Baga Oigor. Repertoire des petrogliphesD'AsieCentrale. - P.: DeBoccard,2001. - T 5,6. - 132 p., 346 taf., 399 photogr.

Kubarev V. D., Jacobson E. Repertoire des petroglyphes D'Asie Centrale. Fascicule N 3: Siberie du sud 3: Kalbak-Tash I (Republique de L Altai). - P.: De Boccard, 1996. - 68 p., 662 taf., 15 photogr.

Mallory J. P., Mair V. H The Tarim Mummies. - L.: Thames Hudson, 2000. - 352 p.

Matochkin E. P. Petroglyphs of the Green Lake in the Altai mountains // International newsletter on rock art. - 2004. - N3. - P 13 - 16.

The article was submitted to the Editorial Board on 8.12.05.

page 115

Permanent link to this publication: