Archive

O.S. Sovetova, O.O. Shishkina (Kemerovo) – New Themes in the Tesin Rock Art of the Minusinsk Basin

download PDF

Abstract

On the base of their own field materials and previously published data, the authors analyze new images and themes that they have identified in the rock art of the Minusinsk Basin, which are related to the Tes’ era. Among them are scenes with images of snakes, anthropomorphic figures sitting in an “oriental” pose, as well as with hairstyles, headdresses, and small horns on their heads. Scenes with images of profile birds (bustard (Otis tarda) /dudak) were also identified on such rock art sites as Tepsey, Sulfatskaya, Abakano-Perevoz, Sosniha, Sulek, etc. This character was not found in other eras on rock art sites of the Minusinsk Basin, and it is possible that it can be considered a marker of this era. It has been suggested that the anthropomorphic character holding a snake in his hands, depicted on one of the burial mounds of the Tepsey burial ground, may be associated with an underground cult. Among the design elements of the heads of automorphic figures of the Tesinsky layer, a new series of images with hairstyles in the form of a “ball” was revealed, as well as headdresses of the ‘bowler’ type or hats with small brims, often with a vertically placed feather, and / or a braid. The diversity of headdresses can be partly explained by the need to emphasize one or another character, in particular, a leader on a hunt or an actor, a participant in some ritual actions, possibly a funeral feast. It is suggested that characters with “horns” on their heads can be associated with the mythical horned character of the Xiongnu (by analogy with the one known from the images on the handles of the Abakan Palace), who, according to Yu.N. Esin, could be the patron or ancestor of the Xiongnu.

Keywords

Petroglyphs, rock art, Tes’ era, semantics.

Olga S. Sovetova, Kemerovo State University, Kemerovo, Russia, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Olga O. Shishkina, Kemerovo State University, Kemerovo, Russia, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Antonova, E.V. 1984: Ocherki kul’tury drevnikh zemledel’tsev Peredney i Sredney Azii. Opyt rekonstruktsii mirovospriyatiya [Essays on the Culture of Ancient Farmers of Western and Central Asia. An Attempt at Reconstructing Worldviews]. Moscow.

Devlet, M.A. 1980: Sibirskie poyasnye azhurnye plastiny II v. do n.e. [Siberian Openwork Belt Plates of the 2nd c. BC]. Moscow.

Devlet, M.A. 1989: Petroglify bronzovogo veka Tuvy [Petroglyphs of the Bronze Age of Tuva]. In: Kul’tura tuvintsev: traditsii i sovremennost’ [Tuvan Culture: Traditions and Modernity]. Kyzyl, 10–19.

Esin, Yu.N. 2016: Petroglify okunevskoy kul’tury na severe Khakasii [Petroglyphs of the Okunev Culture in the North of Khakassia]. Nauchnoe obozrenie Sayano-Altaya [Sayan-Altai Scientific Review] 1(13), 85–124.

Esin, Yu.N. 2017: Naskal’nye izobrazheniya Oglahty. Al’bom [Rock Paintings of Oglahty. Album]. Abakan.

Esin, Yu.N. 2022: Dvorets Syna Neba vo vladenii Czyan’kun’ [The Son of Heaven’s Palace in the Jiankun Domain]. Nauchnoe obozrenie Sayano-Altaya [Sayan-Altai Scientific Review] 1(33), 4–52.

Gumilev, L.N. 1960: Hunnu. Srednyaya Aziya v drevnie vremena [Hunnu. Central Asia in Ancient Times]. Moscow.

Ivanov, V.V. 1991: Zmey [Snake]. In: Mify narodov mira. Entsiklopediya [Myths of the Peoples of the World. Encyclopedia]. 1. Moscow, 468–471.

Kosarev, M.F. 1984: Zapadnaya Sibir’ v drevnosti [Western Siberia in Ancient Times]. Moscow.

Kubarev, V.D., Ceveendorzh, D., Yakobson, E. 2005: Petroglify Cagan-Salaa i Baga-Ojgura (Mongol’skiy Altay) [Petroglyphs of Tsagan-Salaa and Baga-Oigur (Mongolian Altai)]. Novosibirsk.

Kyzlasov, L.R.: 2001. Gunnskiy dvorets na Enisee: problema ranney gosudarstvennosti Yuzhnoy Sibiri [The Hunnic Palace on the Yenisei: The Problem of Early Statehood in Southern Siberia]. Moscow.

Leontyev, N.V., Bokovenko N.A. 1985: Kavkazskaya pisanitsa na Tube [Caucasian Petroglyphs on Tuba]. Kratkie soobshcheniya instituta arkheologii [Brief Communications of the Institute of Archaeology] 184, 82–88.

Makarov, N.P 2018: Nikolay Vladimirovich Nashchekin – arkheolog Krasnoyarskogo kraevogo kraevedcheskogo muzeya [Nikolay Vladimirovich Nashchekin – the Archaeologist of the Krasnoyarsk Regional Museum of Local History]. Drevnosti Prieniseyskoy Sibiri [Antiquities of Yenisei Siberia] IX, 17–31.

Mihaylov, Yu.N. 1997: Osobennosti semantiki obraza zmei v kul’turnykh traditsiyakh drevnego naseleniya Zapadnoy Sibiri [Semantics Features of the Image of a Snake in the Cultural Traditions of the Ancient Population of Western Siberia]. Problemy arkheologii, etnografii, antropologii Sibiri i sopredel’nyh territorij [Problems of Archaeology, Ethnography and Anthropology of Siberia and Adjacent Territories] 3, 226–229.

Miklashevich, E.A. 2012: L’nishchenskaya pisanitsa [The Lnishchenskaya Rock Art Site]. In: D.G. Savinov (ed.), Pamyatniki naskal’nogo iskusstva Minusinskoy kotloviny: Georgievskaya, L’nishchenskaya, Ulazy III, Sosniha [Rock art sites of the Minusinsk basin: Georgievskaya, Lnishchenskaya, Ulazy III, Sosnikha (Occasional SAPAR publications. Vol. X)]. Kemerovo, 28–56.

Miklashevich, E.A, Solodejnikov, A.K. 2013: Novye vozmozhnosti dokumentirovaniya naskal’nyh izobrazhenij, vypolnennyh kraskoj (na primere Kavkazskoj pisanicy v Minusinskoj kotlovine) [New possibilities for documenting painted rock art images (by the example of Kavkazskaya rock art site in the Minusinsk basin)]. Nauchnoe obozrenie Sayano-Altaya [Sayan-Altai Scientific Review] 1 (5), 176–191.

Miklashevich, E.A. 2004: «Plemya edinoroga» na Enisee (syan’bejskie motivy v naskal’nom iskusstve Minusinskoj kotloviny) [“The Unicorn Tribe” on the Yenisei (Xianbei Motifs in the Rock Art of the Minusinsk Basin)]. In: Savinov, D. G., Sedyh, V.N., Lazarevskaya, N.A. (eds.), Izobrazitel’nye pamyatniki: stil’, epoha, kompozicii. Materialy tematicheskoj nauchnoj konferencii [Fine Art Monuments: Style, Epoch, Compositions. Proceedings of the Thematic Scientific Conference]. Saint Petersburg, 320–325.

Miklashevich, E.A. 2018: O pamyatnikah naskal’nogo iskusstva v urochishche Kamenka na Srednem Enisee [Rock art sites of the Kamenka ravine on the middle Yenisei]. Uchenye zapiski muzeya-zapovednika «Tomskaya pisanica» [Scientific notes of the museum-reserve “Tomskaya Pisanitsa”] 8, 92–99.

Miklashevich, E.A., 2021: Naskal’nye izobrazheniya okunevskoj kul’tury na gore Moiseiha (Srednij Enisej) [images of the okunev culture on the rocks Of Moiseikha mountain (middle Yenisei river)]. Problemy istorii, filologii, kul’tury [Journal of historical, philological and cultural studies] 2 (72), 165–187.

Miklashevich, E.A., Pankova, S.V., Muhareva, A.N. 2012: Petroglify gory Sosniha [Petroglyphs on the Sosnikha mountain]. In: D.G. Savinov (ed.), Pamyatniki naskal’nogo iskusstva Minusinskoy kotloviny: Georgievskaya, L’nishchenskaya, Ulazy III, Sosniha [Rock Art Sites of the Minusinsk Basin: Georgievskaya, Lnishchenskaya, Ulazy III, Sosnikha] (Trudy SAIPI [Proceedings of the Siberian Association of Researchers of Primitive Art] 10). Kemerovo, 72–111.

Novgorodova, E. A. 1984: Mir petroglifov Mongolii [The World of Petroglyphs in Mongolia]. Moscow.

Okladnikov, A.P. 1974: Petroglify Bajkala – pamyatniki drevney kul’tury narodov Sibiri [Petroglyphs of Baikal: Monuments of the Ancient Culture of the Peoples of Siberia]. Novosibirsk.

Okladnikov, A.P. 1980: Petroglify Central’noy Azii. Hobd-Somon (gora Tebsh) [Petroglyphs of Central Asia. Khobd-Somon (Mount Tebsh)]. Leningrad.

Rusakova, I.D. 2016: K voprosu o datirovke petroglifov rannego zheleznogo veka (na primere petroglifov Boyarskogo khrebta v Khakasii) [Towards the dating of the Iron Age Petroglyphs (on the Example of the Boyary Ridge Petroglyphs]. In: V.V. Bobrov (ed.), Arheologicheskoe nasledie Sibiri i Central’noj Azii (problemy interpretatsii i sohraneniya) [Archaeological Heritage of Siberia and Central Asia (Problems of Interpretation and Preservation)]. Kemerovo, 173–181.

Rusakova, I.D. 2021: Mestonakhozhdenie petroglifov Abakano-Perevoz I v Khakasii [The Abakano-Perevoz I Petroglyphic Site in Khakassia]. Nauchnoe obozrenie Sayano-Altaya [Sayan-Altai Scientific Review] 1(29), 43–71.

Rusakova, I.D. 2022: Petroglify vostochnoy chasti Boyarskogo khrebta v Khakasii (mestonakhozhdeniya Abakano-Perevoz II, II A, III, IV) [Petroglyphs in the Eastern Part of the Boyary Ridge in Khakassia (Locations of Abakano-Perevoz II, II А, III, IV)]. Uchyonye zapiski muzeya-zapovednika «Tomskaya Pisanitsa» [Scientific Notes of the Museum-Reserve “Tomskaya Pisanitsa”] 16, 43–76.

Savenkov, I.T. 1886: K razvedochnym materialam po arkheologii srednego techeniya Eniseya [To the Exploration Materials on the Archeology of the Middle Reaches of the Yenisei]. Izvestiya Vostochno-Sibirskogo otdela Imperatorskogo Russkogo Geograficheskogo Obshchestva [Transactions of the East Siberian Department of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society] 3–4, XVII, 26–106.

Savinov, D.G. 1993: Tesinskie «labirinty» – k istorii poyavleniya personificirovannogo shamanstva v Yuzhnoy Sibiri [Tes’ “Labyrinths” – to the History of the Emergence of Personified Shamanism in Southern Siberia]. Kunstkamera. Etnograficheskie tetradi [Kunstkamera. Ethnographic Notebooks] 1, 35–48.

Savinov, D.G. 1995: Tesinskie labirinty (po materialam mogil’nika Esino III) [Tes’ Labyrinths (Based on Materials from the Esino III Burial Ground)]. In: V.V. Bobrov (ed.), Drevnee iskusstvo Azii. Petroglify [Ancient Art of Asia. Petroglyphs]. Kemerovo, 6–10.

Shackij, G.R. 1973: Risunki na kamne [Pictures on Stone]. Tashkent.

Sher, J. A. 1980: Petroglify Sredney i Central’noy Azii [Petroglyphs of Middle and Central Asia]. Moscow.

Sovetova, O.S. 2005: Petroglify tagarskoy ehpokhi na Enisee (syuzhety i obrazy) [Petroglyphs of the Tagar Epoch on the Yenisei (Plots and Images)]. Novosibirsk.

Sovetova, O.S. Trofimova, N.V. 2012: Sceny so zmeyami v naskal’nom iskusstve Evrazii [Scenes with Snakes in the Rock Art of Eurasia]. In: V.V. Tolpenko (ed.), VIII istoricheskie chteniya pamyati M.P. Gryaznova: sbornik nauchnykh trudov [VIII Historical Readings in Memory of M.P. Gryaznov: Collection of Scientific Papers]. Omsk, 180–186.

Sovetova, O.S., Ermolenko, L.N., Zinchenko, S.A. 2024: Sidyashchie «po-vostochnomu» figury v naskal’nom iskusstve Minusinskoy kotloviny (atributsiya, analogii) [Cross-Legged Sitter in Minusinsk Rock Art: Attribution and Analogies]. SibSkript 26(6), 904–918.

Sovetova, O.S., Shishkina, O.O. 2024: O nekotorykh «znakakh otlichiya» u personazhey naskal’nogo iskusstva Minusinskoy kotloviny tesinskogo vremeni [Towards Some “Insignia” of Rock Art Characters from Minusinsk Basin of the Tes’ Time]. Arheologicheskie vesti [Archaeological News] 43, 81–93.

Sovetova, O.S., Shishkina, O.O., Abolonkova, I.V. 2021: Naskal’noe iskusstvo Tepseyskogo arkheologicheskogo mikrorayona [Rock Art of the Tepsey Archaeological Microdistrict]. Kemerovo.

Tokarev, S.A. (ed.) 1988: Mify narodov mira [Myths of the Peoples of the World] 2. Moscow.

«TSU Archaeologists Discovered a Unique Burial Site Using Geophysics»: https://www.rscf.ru/news/humanitarian-sciences/arkheologi-tgu-s-pomoshchyu-geofiziki-obnaruzhili-unikalnoe-zakhoronenie/

Yatsenko, S.A. 2020: Neskol’ko kompozitiy so skifskimi personazhami v greko-skifskoy i skifskoy torevtike IV – nachala III vv. do n.e. [Some Compositions with Scythian Personages on Greek-Scythian and Scythian Toreutic Wares of the 4th – Early 3rd cc.] Materialy po arkheologii i istorii antichnogo i srednevekovogo Prichernomor’ya [Materials in Archaeology and History of Ancient and Medieval Black Sea Region] 12, 369–402.

Yatsenko, S.A. 2021: Veroyatnye geroi eposa skifov na fone drevnikh iranskikh i iranizirovannykh obshchestv drevney stepi [Probable Epic Heroes of Scythians against the Background of Other Ancient Iranian and Iranized Peoples of Steppe]. Novyy Germes. Vestnik antichnoy istorii, akrheologii i klassicheskoy filologii [Hermes Novus] 13(4), 176–212.

Details
Hits: 4