Interpretation of ancient rock carvings of the Chita region (Trans-Baikal Territory)

The paper presents an analysis of the interpretation of ancient rock carvings located on the territory of the Chita region (Trans-Baikal Territory). The subject of the study is an attempt to give a cultural interpretation to the rock paintings. In the course of the research, the author gives a brief description of the rock art monuments of the Chita region and the history of their study. The main problem faced by the author is the lack of full-fledged data, since comprehensive archaeological studies have not been carried out on the dismantled monuments. In the course of the work, the author applies a descriptive method, the correlation method (comparative method), using the archaeological and ethnographic data available today. The novelty of the research lies in the fact that the author for the first time gives a cultural interpretation to the rock carvings of the Chita region. The author presumably dates the rock carvings of the analyzed region to the Neolithic era-the Bronze (III-I thousand BC). In conclusion, it is noted that a certain part of the ancient compositions has a connection with the culture of tile graves, to the communities of people who lived in this territory in ancient times in the forest and forest-steppe areas, as well as to the early representatives of the Tunguska ethnos. Most of the plots, according to the author, have magical and cult significance, which is confirmed by the presence of images such as shamans. The author concludes that the rock carvings represent an immense body of knowledge about the beliefs and rituals of the ancient peoples of Siberia and the Far East. In total, nine petroglyphic monuments have been noted: Palaces, Echoes, petroglyphs on Titovskaya Hill (Sokhatiny Kamen, Gorge, Sukhotino-13), Arachley, Kolochnoye and Smolenskiye rocks.

Trans-Baikal Territory, Eastern Transbaikalia, Okladnikov, Mazin, Rock art, Writings, Anthropomorphic images, Zoomorphic images, Titovskaya hill, Chita