Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 40 (1) 2012

Annotation:  Bairaki – a Lower Paleolithic Site on the Lower Dniester The Denticulate Mousterian as a Supposedly Distinct Facies in Western Central Asia Non-utilitarian Lithic Objects from the European Paleolithic Decorated Birch-Bark Artifacts from Section VI of the Gorbunovsky Peat-Bog An Alakul Funeral and Ritual Site in the Eastern Orenburg Region Medieval Amulet Illustrating the Divine Horseman Myth, Rozhdestveno, Perm Territory Face Images in Lower Angara Rock Art Boats in the Rock Art of Kanozero and Northern Europe New Data on Bronze Age Jewelry in the Southeastern Urals The Old Russian Male Funerary Attire (Based on Finds from the 10th–11th Century Burial Mounds at Goc Investigation of Wooden Burial Structures in the Process of Archaeological Excavations A Contribution to the Study of the Eastern Links of the Bronze Age Culture of the Northern Middle Vo Secular Imagery in the Islamic Space of Medieval Zirikhgeran Stone Statue of Ailyan, Gorny Altai Jurchen Pendants of the Netsuke Type Elements of Religious Ritualism in Popular Medicine among the Izhma Komi of the Lower Ob Region Early Metal Age Crania from Bolshoy Oleniy Island, Barents Sea   

Face Images in Lower Angara Rock Art

A.L. Zaika.

The Lower Angara rock art database includes relatively complete information on 42 petroglyphic sites with 155 representations of anthropomorphic faces. The classifi cation of these images and their chronology, assessed on various grounds, suggests that they are roughly contemporaneous and are associated with Okunev art of the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age (3rd – 2nd millennia BC). Having originated in the Stone Age, the tradition of depicting anthropomorphic faces was practiced by the taiga tribes of the Lower Angara until recent centuries.

Keywords: Lower Angara, petroglyphs, anthropomorphic images, stylistic analysis, dating, ethnic contacts, cultural exchange.