THE ROCK ARTS OF THE KAMUSHEK MOUNTAIN IN THE SELENGA RIVER VALLEY (WESTERN TRANSBAIKALIA)

  • V.I. Tashak Institute of Mongolian, Buddhist and Tibetan Studies Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Email: tvi1960@mail.ru
  • Yu.E. Antonova Committee for State Protection of Cultural Heritage Objects of the Administration of the Head and the Government of the Buryatia Republic Email: yulya_an@mail.ru
  • V.N. Chernykh Baikal Institute of Nature Management Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences Email: geosibir@yandex.ru
DOI_disc_logo https://doi.org/10.14258/tpai(2025)37(1).-09
Keywords: rock arts, ancient art, Bronza Age, Western Transbaikal, rock arts of Selenga type, ancient cult sites, foto digital processing

Abstract

The article describes a new location of rock paintings discovered in 2024 in the northwestern part of the Tsagan-Daban ridge (Western Transbaikalia). A new archaeological site is called Kamushek, after the rocky mountain on whose rocks the images painted with ocher, a mineral pigment of natural origin, were found. The study found that more than half of the rock paintings were not visible on the surface of the rocks during visual inspection. In this regard, in the process of studying rock paintings, a method of digital filtration of photographs with rock paintings was used to identify the contours of poorly preserved drawings. It was found that Kamushek is one of the largest in terms of the number of images of archaeological sites with rock paintings in the west of the Tsagan-Daban ridge. It is shown that the composition of the Kamushek rock paintings includes images typical of the Selenga-type petroglyphs (rocks with paintings), as well as images characteristic of forest-type petroglyphs. Based on this, it is assumed that the filling of the surfaces of the Kamushek mountain rocks with drawings took place during the Bronze Age. Drawings typical of the Selenga petroglyphs, such as a fence with dots inside, anthropomorphic figures drawn in a row (a round dance), as well as a number of ornithomorphic images, appeared on the rocks of Kamushek mountain in the Bronze Age, probably its finale.

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Author Biographies

V.I. Tashak, Institute of Mongolian, Buddhist and Tibetan Studies Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences,

Cand. Sci. (History), Associate Professor, Leading Researcher Institute of Mongolian, Buddhist and Tibetan Studies Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Yu.E. Antonova, Committee for State Protection of Cultural Heritage Objects of the Administration of the Head and the Government of the Buryatia Republic

Consultant, Committee for State Protection of Cultural Heritage Objects of the Administration of the Head and the Government of the Buryatia Republic

V.N. Chernykh, Baikal Institute of Nature Management Siberian branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Junior Research Associate, Baikal Institute of Nature Management Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences

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Published
2025-04-30
How to Cite
Tashak V., Antonova Y., Chernykh V. THE ROCK ARTS OF THE KAMUSHEK MOUNTAIN IN THE SELENGA RIVER VALLEY (WESTERN TRANSBAIKALIA) // THEORY AND PRACTICE OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH, 2025. Vol. 37, № 1. P. 166-187 DOI: 10.14258/tpai(2025)37(1).-09. URL: https://journal.asu.ru/tpai/article/view/17303.
Issue
Vol 37 No 1 (2025)
Section
MATERIAL ANALYSIS IN ARCHAEOLOGY

Copyright (c) 2025 В.И. Ташак, Ю.Е. Антонова , В.Н. Черных

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