Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene Rock Art from the Mongolian Altai: The Material and its Cultural Implications

Abstract

Rock-pecked images from the northern Mongolian Altai attest to the presence of human communities within the high valleys of that region during the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene. The material provides evidence that is hitherto largely missing from the archaeological record of that region. This paper reviews the rock art, its find sites and larger physical contexts and uses evidence from paleoenvironmental studies to propose dating and cultural significance. The material is compared with other sites said to have Paleolithic imagery from Mongolia and the adjoining Russian Altai. The body of presented material offers a major resource for the study of early hunter-gatherer communities at the interface of Central and North Asia.

Measuring Harmony With Algebra: Collected Papers in Memory of Yakov Abramovich Sher

“…Images of mammoths, ostriches, and rhinoceros indicate that the Altai tradition of rock art emerged at the end of the Ice Age and extended over the succeeding 14,000 years [Jacobson-Tepfer 2013]. However, aside from a few later bronze finds and the petroglyphs and pictographs from a few Bronze Age burials, there are no excavated materials that offer parallels to the material culture reflected in rock art 1 .…”

“…With the amelioration of climate about 9,000 years ago, forest began to expand and riparian zones were gradually established [Gunin et al 1999]. This environment did not support mammoths, rhinoceros, ostriches, or even, apparently, the archaic horse [Orlova et al 2004], and thus they disappeared; but it did support aurochs and the gradual appearance of elk, ibex, bear, and, in some riparian zones, moose, and boar [Jacobson-Tepfer 2013]. At the end of the middle Holocene and with the retreat of forest cover, horses (takhi) had reappeared on the steppe; but by three thousand years ago even aurochs and moose disappeared and other species began to pull back to the higher elevation.…”

Landscapes of Inequality?: A Critique of Monumental Hierarchy in the Mongolian Bronze Age

“…Some monuments incorporate the different colors of component stones as part of the design, although this is not frequent. Other khirigsuurs include burial monuments or carved standing stones as part of their fabric ( Jacobson-Tepfer et al 2010;Khudiakov 1987;Tsybiktarov 1995). This wide array of optional components in khirigsuur structures results in tremendous variability, but the fact that all the final forms spread over the large region of Mongolia and south Siberia are made up of the same component parts suggests a common monumental vocabulary existed amongst the peoples of Bronze and Iron Age Inner Asia (Wright 2007).…”

“…These additions and modifications of the monuments and building up of the sites suggest repeated events. The modification process is magnified in the construction of monumental complexes and addition of multiple types and examples of different monuments to the same locale ( Jacobson-Tepfer et al 2010;Wright et al forthcoming).…”

The Angara Rock Art Style and the Emergence of Ethno‐Cultural Identity

“…Lødøen and Mandt ) and elsewhere. Deer and elk are common large‐game‐animal subjects of rock art in many parts of Eurasia, including Mongolia (Jacobson ; Jacobson‐Tepfer ; ; ), China (Taçon et al . ) and parts of India (Camuri et al .…”