IMAGERY OF THE KURTEKE ROCK-SHELTER (EASTERN PAMIR)
Abstract
The Kurteke rock-shelter images in the Eastern Pamirs were discovered in 1958. Later, in 1960, V.A. Ranov studied the paintings as well as the archaeological layers. After a signifi cant break, the fieldwork at the site was resumed in 2018 and 2019. Integrated interdisciplinary research led by S.V. Shnaider clarifi es the chronology of the stratifi ed Kurteke site, the paleoenvironmental features of the region and provides new data on the time of human occupation of the Eastern Pamir. Earlier, as part of general studies on this site, we published new fi ndings on the rock paintings presented on the two walls of the rock-shelter. This article focuses on generalization of currently available data on Kurteke murals.
V.A. Ranov noted that the state of preservation of the images is extremely poor: most of them are not identifi able and look like blurring red mineral pigment. DStretch color filtering treatment allowed us to clarify some contours and details of the images, necessary for further interpretation. It is worth noting that some of the pigment spots visible without processing acquired clearer contours. The other part of spots neither in the field, nor on the photos without color filtration was not even recorded. Moreover, after treatment it is difficult to correlate the majority of paintings with concrete imagery and to find parallels to them.
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