Archaeology, Ethnology & Anthropology of Eurasia 39 (3) 2011

Annotation:  The Origin of Anatomically Modern Humans and their Behavior in Africa and Eurasia Newly Discovered Yarmukian and Wadi Rabah Sites in the Southern Jordan Valley and the Desert Fringe Periodization of Bronze Age Cultures in the Ob–Irtysh Forest-Steppe: The Stratigraphic Position of E Early Iron Age Burials in Southeastern Zhetysu: The Geoarchaeological Evidence Stratigraphy and Relative Chronology of the Neolithic Assemblages at the Koksharovsky Kholm Sanctua Pazyryk Burial at Khankarinsky Dol in the Northwestern Altai On the Origins of Nomadism in the Asian Steppes Medieval Sanctuary at Eshmess Cave in the Pechora Urals “Priest’s Staff” from Fort Nadym of the 16th–17th Centuries Wooden Pectoral Cross from a Burial at the Spassky Necropolis of the 18th Century in Irkutsk Latticed Petroglyphs of Mount Kalbak-Tash, Gorny Altai Food Symbolism in the Context of Komi (Zyrians) Wedding Rituals Zheltuga Republic: The Case of Social Development at the Chinese-Russian Border The Dentition of the Alakul People, with Reference to their Origin   

Latticed Petroglyphs of Mount Kalbak-Tash, Gorny Altai

E.A. Okladnikova.

On Mount Kolbak-Tash, petroglyphs belonging to various periods of the ancient history of Gorny Altai can be observed, from the Neolithic to the Ancient Turkic period. The majority of petroglyphs represent zoomorphic and anthropomorphic images. Among geometric images, the so-called latticed fi gures attributable to the Chalcolithic (late 4th–3rd millennia BC) can be distinguished. Archaeologists suggest two interpretations for these fi gures: female anthropomorphic images and representations of ritual construction. Rather than being mutually exclusive this article shows that the two interpretations offered are semiotically connected.

Keywords: Rock art, Gorny Altai, temple/barn, Mother Goddess, latticed images, Chalcolithic.