Abstract
The article deals with the first experience of research of the dog theme in South Siberia and Mongolia peoples’ rock art (Bronze Age and Scythian period). The paper shows the diffi culty of genus determination for Canis and outlines the representative attributes to solve this issue. The analysis of the rock art sites and decorative metal allowed concluding that it is possible to determine the type of animal, mainly based on the materials from petroglyphs, where there are images of dogs in the composition. The probability that certain breed of ancient dogs living with Taiga and forest-steppe peoples of Northern periphery of Central Asia is noted. Having carried out the research the author highlights the remarkable popularity of the dog theme in Mongolia, Sayan-Altai and Middle Yenisei art; the images belonging exclusively to the compositions; the predominant role of dogs in production scenes. It is noticed that since the Bronze Age the most numerous are the images of dogs in the rock art of Central Asia, where they are represented in bright dynamic scenes. They are less common on the petroglyphs of Sayano-Altai and in the art of the Middle Yenisei population. The images of dogs (second person character), are often included not only in the scenes of active assistance to the human, but also in mythological compositions and domestic scenes. Depending on it, it’s necessary to perceive the semantic meaning of the image. The absence of Neolithic dog representations in this subregion and chronological determination of petroglyph dogs still requires the explanation.
Keywords
Dog, art of Scythian Period, animal style art, petroglyphs, South Siberia and Mongolia, Bronze Age and Scythian period, early nomads’ culture
Bogdanov, E.S. 2006: Obraz khishchnika v plasticheskom iskusstve kochevykh narodov Tsentral’noy Azii (skifo-sibirskaya khudozhestvennaya traditsiya) [The image of invader in the plastic art of the nomadic people of Central Asia (Scythian-Siberian artistic tradition)]. Novosibirsk.
Grach, A.D., 1980: Drevnie kochevniki v tsentre Azii [Ancient Nomads in the Center of Asia]. Moscow.
Derevyanko, A.P., Petrin, V., Tsehvehehndorzh, D., Mylnikov V.P. 2008: Svyatilishche s naskal’nymi risunkami Bayanlig khad v Mongolii [Rock art sanctuary Bayanlig had in Mongolia]. Novosibirsk.
Devlet, E.G., Devlet, M.A. 2005: Mify v kamne [Myth in stone]. Moscow
Devlet, M.A. 1976: Bol’shaya Boyarskaya pisanitsa [Big Boyarskaya Pisanitsa]. Moscow.
Devlet, M.A. 1998: Petroglify na dne Sayanskogo morya [Petroglyph on the bottom of the Sayan See]. Moscow.
Devlet, M.A. 2013: Utes pod Eniseem. K yubileyu Nikolaya Vladimirovicha Leonteva [The cliff under Yenisei. For the anniversary of N.V. Leontyev. Scientifi c survey of Sayan-Altai]. Nauchnoe obozrenie Sayano-Altaya [Scientifi c survey of Sayan-Altai] 1 (5), 17–27.
Kovaleva, O.V. 2013: Risunki na plitakh i stelakh kurgana Barsuchiy Log [Representation on the slabs and steles of Barsuchiy Log kurgan]. Nauchnoe obozrenie Sayano-Altaya [Scientifi c survey of Sayan-Altai] 1 (5), 91–112.
Kubarev, G.V. 2012: Petroglify Syrnakh-Gozy [Syrnakh-Gozy Petroglyphs]. In: Problemy arkheologii, etnografi i, antropologii Sibiri i sopredel’nykh territoriy. Materialy itogovoy sessii IAiEH SO RAN [Problems of archeology, ethnography, anthropology of Siberia and adjacent territories. Materials of the fi nal session of the Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology of the Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences] XVIII, 195–199.
Kubarev, V.D. 2007: Paleoekonomika naseleniya mongol’skogo Altaya (po petroglifam i ehtnografi cheskim istochnikam) [Paleo-economics of the Mongolian Altai population (for petroglyphs and ethnographic sources)]. In: V.E. Larichev (ed.), Altae-Sayanskaya gornaya strana i sosednie territorii v drevnosti [Altai-Sayan mountain country and border territories in ancient time]. Novosibirsk, 275–285.
Kubarev, V.D. 2010: Istoriya izucheniya svyatilishcha Kalbak-Tash (respublika Altay) [History of Kalbak-Tash sanctuary research (Altai Republic]. Drevnosti Sibiri i Tsentral’noy Azii [Antiquities of Middle and Central Asia] 3 (15), 44–60.
Kubarev, V.D., Cheremisin, D.V. 1987: Volk v iskusstve i verovaniyakh kochevnikov Tsentral’noy Azii [The wolf in the art and beliefs of the nomads of Central Asia.]. In: I.N. Gemuev, A.M. Salagaev (eds.), Traditsionnye verovaniya i byt narodov Sibiri [Traditional believes and everyday life of Siberian peoples]. Novosibirsk, 98–117.
Kubarev, V.D., Tsehvehehndorzh, D., Yakobson, E.H. 2005: Petroglify Tsagaan-Salaa i Baga- Ojgura (Mongol’skiy Altay) [Petroglyphs of Tsagaan-Salaa and Baga-Oygura (Mongolian Altai)]. Novosibirsk–Ulaanbaatar–Yudgin.
Kubarev D., Yakobson, E. 1996: Sibérie du sud 3: Kalbak-Tash I (Republique de l’Altai). Repertoire des Petroglyphes d’Asie Centrale. Fascicule №3. Paris.
Kuznetsov, N.A. 1998: Pogrebenie sobak na srednem Enisee kak arkheologicheskiy istochnik [Dog burial in the Middle Yenisei region as an archaeological source]: PhD Thesis. Novosibirsk.
Miller, A.A. 1922: Izobrazheniya sobak v drevnostyakh Kavkaza [Dog representations on ancient objects from Caucasus] Izvestiya Rossiyskoy akademii istorii material’noy kul’tury [Proceedings of Russian Academy of Material Culture History] II, 287–324.
Moor, N.N. 2017: Isobrazheniya volka v dekore tagarskikh nozhey oruzhiya [The image of a wolf in the decor of Tagar knives]. Vestnik Novosibirskogo gosudarstvennogo universiteta [Bulletin of Novosibirsk state University] 16–7, 106–116.
Novikov, A.V. 1995: Pogrebeniya sobak v materialakh novosibirskogo varianta kulayskoy kul’tury (k voprosu interpretatsii) [Burials of dogs on the materials of the Novosibirsk version of Kulai culture (on the question of interpretation)]. In: V.I. Molodin (ed.), Arkheologiya vchera, segodnya, zavtra [Archaeology yesterday, today, tomorrow]. Novosibirsk, 63–71.
Novikov, A.B. 1997: Sobaki v sisteme pitaniya naseleniya Azii [Dogs in the Asian Nutrition System]. In: L.M. Kadyrova, N.L. Tomilov (eds.), Integratsiya arkheologicheskikh i etnografi cheskkih issledovaniy [Integration of archaeological and ethnographic research]. Omsk–Ufa, 112–115.
Okladnikov, A.P., Zaporozhskaya, V.D. 1969: Petroglify Zabaykal’ya [Trans-Baikal petroglyphs]. Pt. 1. Leningrad.
Okladnikov, A.P., Okladnikova, E.A., Zaporozhskaya, V.D., Skorynina, E.A. 1979: Petroglify doliny reki Elangash (yug Gornogo Altaya) [Petroglyphs of Elangash River valley (South of Altai Mountains]. Novosibirsk.
Perevodchikova, E.V. 1994: Yаzyk zverinykh obrazov. Ocherki iskusstva evraziyskikh stepey skifskoy epokhi [Language of animal images. Essays about the art of Eurasian steppes of Scythian Period]. Moscow.
Savinov, D.G. 1980: Izobrazheniya sobak na olennykh kamnyakh [Images of dogs on deer stones.]. In: D.G. Savinov (ed.), Skifo-sibirskoe kul’turno-istoricheskoe edinstvo [Scythian- Siberian cultural and historical unity. Materials of the First All-Union Archaeological Conference]. Kemerovo, 319–328.
Sergin, V.Ya. 1971: Ob odnoy gipoteze odomashneniya sobaki [On one idea of domestication of a dog]. Sovetskaya arkheologiya [Soviet archaeology] 1, 195–200.
Sher, Ya.A. 1980: Petroglify Sredney i Tsentral’noy Azii [Petroglyphs of Middle and Central Asia]. Moscow.
Sovetova, O.S. 1987: Syuzhet s velikanami na skalakh Tepseya [The plot with the giants on the rocks of Tepsey]. In: A.I. Martynov, V.I. Molodin (eds.), Skifo-sibirskiy mir. Iskusstvo i ideologiya [Scythian-Siberian World. Art and ideology]. Novosibirsk, 173–176.
Tsalkin, V.I. 1970: Domashnyaya sobaka v neolite Zabaykal’ya [Domestic dog in the Neolithic Transbaikalia]. In: V.E. Larichev (ed.), Sibir’ i ee sosedi v drevnosti [Siberia and its neighbours in the Ancient Time] 3. Новосибирск, 191–194.