Kamennyĭ "kompas" v Sai︠a︡nskom kanʹone Enisei︠a︡

Marianna Artashirovna Dėvlet

"The flat rock with the petroglyphs was found in 1983 at the foot of the Ustju-Mozaga mountain in the flood region of the Sayan Hydro. More than 150 images are carved and pecked on it: animals, anthropomorphic figures. Among them there is a shaman's image, a mask-image, a chariot, the skin of an animal and some symbols - signs. The composition is dated to the threshold of the 2nd - 1st millennia BC. The huge line on the rock surface represents both the 'road' and the topographic indicator. It points to the North. Another small arrow points to the East. The relative proportion of the two symbols suggests that the authors of the stone picture considered the northern direction to be the principal one as the direction of 'departure'. The ancient artist has placed the chariot images along the edges of the rock probably following the cardinal directions, as far as the erosion of the rock...