Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 45 (3) 2017   DOI: 10.17746/1563-0110.2017.45.3.056-068

Annotation:  New Stratigraphic Data on the Quaternary Sediments in the Peschanaya River Valley, Northwestern Alta A Comprehensive Study of Neolithic Stone Tools from Dwelling D on Suchu Island, the Lower Amur (1974 From Chauvet to Lascaux: 15,000 Years of Cave Art New Engravings from Abri Du Poisson (Dordogne, France) The Techniques of Modeling and Decorating Upper Paleolithic Anthropomorphic Figurines from Malta, Ea A Comparative Analysis of Paints on the Karakol Burial Slabs Petroglyphs from Northeast China: New Sites and Interpretations Paint on Deer Stones of Mongolia Old Turkic Stone Statues from Taldy-Suu, Kyrgyzstan Scythian Age Barrows with Burials on the Ground Surface in the Southern Ural Steppes: Features of th The Megaliths of Korea and Japan: An Analysis of Origins and Functions Traditional Tailoring Technology as an Ethnographic Source (the Case of Eastern Slavic Clothing in S Robusticity of Hand Phalanges: Relevance to the Origin of the Altai Neanderthals Human Teeth from Strashnaya Cave, the Altai Mountains, with Reference to the Dental Variation in Sto Prevalence of Caries Among Siberian Tatars of the Omsk Region in the 17th to Early 20th Centuries   

A Comparative Analysis of Paints on the Karakol Burial Slabs

A.S. Pakhunov^{1, 2}, E.G. Devlet^{1, 2}, V.I. Molodin^{2, 3}, B.V. Lazin⁴, I.A. Karateev⁵, P.V. Dorovatovsky⁵, A.A. Kaloyan⁵, K.M. Podurets⁵, R.A. Senin⁵, A.E. Blagov⁵, and E.B. Yatsishina⁵

¹Institute of Archaeology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Dm. Ulyanova 19, Moscow, 117036, Russia

²Novosibirsk State University, Pirogova 1, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia

³Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pr. Akademika Lavrentieva 17, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russia

⁴Educational and Scientific Museum, Far Eastern Federal University, Pr. Okeansky 37, Vladivostok, Russia, 690091

⁵National Research Center “Kurchatov Institute”, Pl. Akademika Kurchatova 1, Moscow, 123182, Russia

We have analyzed paintings on six stone slabs from Bronze Age burial sites of the Karakol culture in the Altai, Karakol, and Ozernoye. Most represent anthropomorphic figures, depicted in a mixed technique including pecking, engraving, abrasion, and painting in various combinations. Paintings are superimposed on previously made petroglyphs, which had not initially been painted. Samples of paint were analyzed using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy with X-ray spectrometry, and synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction. Results make it possible to differentiate, using the instrumental analysis, intentional painting from natural coloration. The composition of pigments suggests that both the images and the contouring lines were made with one and the same red paint. However, while the pigment’s composition is homogeneous in each burial, it differs between the burials. Paint was found not only on slabs but on human bones as well, with its color varying from light red to black. Further analysis will hopefully shed light on the Karakol burial rite.

Keywords: Altai, Bronze Age, Karakol culture, paintings, pigments, prehistoric art, petroglyphs.