On the Angara petroglyphic style

Abstract

The article focuses on Siberian petroglyphs traditionally attributed to being of the Angara style. Views regarding the distribution and chronology of this vaguely defined style are divergent. The objective of this article is to give it a more stringent definition, to assess its chronology and its relationship to the rock art of western and southern Siberia. Three palimpsests from Kamenny Ostrov II on the Angara are analyzed. Using A.P. Okladnikov's drawings at the St. Petersburg Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the evolution of the style is traced. Based on the analysis of all relevant petroglyphs, the distribution area of the Angara style proper is determined. It includes the Cis-Baikal region (the Angara and upper Lena) and the right bank of the middle Yenisei. A local variety of the tradition existed on the middle Lena, Aldan, and Olekma. The Baikal tradition influenced the iconography of the famous elk figures of the Tom River area at the early stages of its formation. However, the Tom rock art site and similar rock art sites, traditionally believed to represent the Angara style, must be regarded as an independent Bronze Age tradition.