On Mount Kalbak-Tash there are rock carvings related to different periods of the ancient history of the Altai Mountains: from the Neolithic to the era of the ancient Turks. The main body of images is zoo - and anthropomorphic. Among the geometric drawings, there are so-called latticed figures dating back to the Eneolithic period (the end of the IV-III millennium BC). Two variants of interpretation of these figures proposed by archaeologists - as female anthropomorphic images and ritual buildings-complement each other.
Keywords: rock art, Gorny Altai, temple / stable, Mother Goddess, latticed figures, Eneolithic.
Introduction
The rock art monuments of Gorny Altai, represented by dozens of monumental complexes, are now widely known, deeply and comprehensively studied. There are three major stages in their research. The first one, descriptive, is represented by the works of scientists of the XIX century who discovered the rock carvings of Altai: G. O. Spassky, M. A. Brechinsky, N. M. Yadrintsev and others. The second stage (late XIX - mid XX centuries) was marked by the creation of the first classifications of Altai petroglyphic complexes by archaeologists (S. I. Rudenko, P. P. Khoroshnykh, etc.). The third period (the second half of the XX - beginning of the XXI century) is a period of active monographic research of Altai rock art, development of petroglyph typologies, study of image semantics, as evidenced by the works of A. I. Martynov, M. A. Devlet, V. D. Kubarev, E. A. Okladnikova and others. Since 2000, the number of publications devoted to the rock art monuments of Gorny Altai has increased rapidly. Among them are the works of V. D. Kubarev, D. V. Cheremisin, D. G. Savinov, E. M. Kilunovskaya, E. P. Matochkin and others.
The first information about petroglyphs on Mount Kalbak-Tash as one of the most striking and unique monuments of rock art not only in Altai, but in Eurasia as a whole was published by P. P. Khoroshikh [1947, 1949]. The monument was first studied ...
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