Animal Style in Petroglyphs of the Upper Indus Valley (Ladakh, Gilgit-Baltistan)
https://doi.org/10.25205/1818-7919-2023-22-10-9-21
Abstract
The purpose of the article is to conduct a historiographical analysis of the main approaches to the problem of distribution of petroglyphs made in the animal style on the territory of the Upper Indus valley, as well as their cultural and chronological attribution. For the Early Iron Age of the Upper Indus valley, rock carvings are the main archaeological source, since there are very few studied archaeological sites belonging to this period; mostly stray finds are known. It is the animal-style petroglyphs that are an effective tool for detecting migrations. However, the issues related to the establishment of the cultural identity of the images, their dating and the ways of penetration of Central Asian peoples into the Upper Indus Valley are still unresolved. The main conceptual propositions put forward by K. Jettmar, H. Hauptman, A.-P. Frankfort, as well as their followers – L. Bruno, M. Vernier, J. V. Belezza are considered. On the basis of the published materials, sites are distinguished, on which there are images made in the animal style, their geographical location and the main motives of rock carvings are indicated. The result of the study was the assumption that the appearance of animal-style art in the Upper Indus valley is associated with a series of migration waves, both from the west and northeast (Iran, Pamir, Xinjiang) and from the east (Northern China). In the process of the penetration of a new style of rock art, local peculiarities were manifested in each area.
Keywords
Supporting agencies: The study was supported by the Russian Science Foundation, project no. 22-78-10121, https://rscf.ru/en/project/22-78- 10121
About the Author
V. L. Denisenko
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Valeria L. Denisenko, Postgraduate Student
WoS Researcher ID AET-7252-2022
RSCI Author ID 1118963
Novosibirsk
References
1. Bandini D., Fussman G. Die Felsbildstation Thalpan. Kataloge Ziyarat, Thakot, Khomar Das, Gichoi Das, Dardarbati Das. Mainz, Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2011, 474 S. (Materialien zur Archäologie der Nordgebiete Pakistans. Bd. 10)
2. Bandini-König D., Fussman G. Die Felsbildstation Hodar. Mainz, Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1999, 693 S. (Materialien zur Archäologie der Nordgebiete Pakistans. Bd. 3)
3. Bandini-König D., Bemmann M., Hauptmann H. Rock Art in the Upper Indus Valley. In: The Indus: Cradle and Crossroads of Civilizations. Pakistan-Germany Archaeological Research. Islamabad, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, 1997, pp. 29–70.
4. Bellezza J. V. Tibetan Silver, Gold and Bronze Objects and the Aesthetics of Animals in the Era Before Empire: Cross-cultural Reverberations on the Tibetan Plateau and Soundings from Other Parts of Eurasia. Oxford, BAR Publ., 2020, 169 p.
5. Bemmann M., Fussman G., Hinüber O., Sims-Williams N., Bandini D. Die Felsbildstation Oshibat. Mainz, Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1994, 275 S. (Materialien zur Archäologie der Nordgebiete Pakistans. Bd. 1)
6. Bemmann M., Hinüber O. Die Felsbildstation Dadam Das. Mainz, Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2005, 325 S. (Materialien zur Archäologie der Nordgebiete Pakistans. Bd. 5)
7. Bruneau L. Le Ladakh (état de Jammu et Cachemire, Inde) de l’Âge du Bronze à l’introduction du Bouddhisme: une étude de l’art rupestre, Université Paris I-Panthéon-Sorbonne, 2010, t. 1. 333 p.; t. 4, 257 p.
8. Bruneau L., Bellezza J. V. The Rock Art of Upper Tibet and Ladakh: Inner Asian cultural adaptation, regional differentiation and the Western Tibetan Plateau Style. Revue d’Etudes Tibétaines. Paris, CNRS, 2013, vol. 28, pp. 5–161.
9. Bruneau L., Vernier M. Animal style of the steppes in Ladakh: a presentation of newly discovered petroglyphs. In: Pictures in transformation: Rock art Researches between Central Asia and the subcontinent, BAR International Series 2167. Oxford, Archeopress, 2007, pp. 27–36.
10. Denwood P. Die Felsbildstation Thalpan. Mainz, Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2009, 465 S. (Materialien zur Archäologie der Nordgebiete Pakistans. Bd. 9)
11. Devers Q., Bruneau L., Vernier M. An archaeological survey of the Nubra Region (Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, India). Études mongoles et sibériennes, centrasiatiques et tibétaines [Enligne], 2015. no. 46, 55 p.
12. Francfort H.-P. De l’art des steppes au sud du Taklamakan. Bulletin of the Asia Institute, 2001. no. 11, pp. 45–58.
13. Francfort H.-P., Klodzinski D., Mascle G. Archaic Petroglyphs of Ladakh and Zanskar. In: Rock Art in the Old World. New Delhi, Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts, 1992, pp. 147– 192.
14. Fussman G. Die Felsbildstation Thalpan. Mainz, Heidelberger Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2007, 455 p. S. (Materialien zur Archäologie der Nordgebiete Pakistans. Bd. 8)
15. Hauptmann H. Pre-Islamic Heritage in the Northern Areas of Pakistan. In: Karakoram: Hidden Treasures in the Northern Areas of Pakistan. Turin, Umberto Allemandi & Co., 2007, pp. 21– 40.
16. Jettmar K. Petroglyphs and Early History of the Upper Indus Valley: the 1981 expedition – a preliminary report. Zentralasiatische Studien, 1982, vol. 16, pp. 293–308.
17. Jettmar K. Animal Style-A Heraldic System in the Indus Valley. Pakistan Archaeology, 1989, vol. 24, pp. 257–277.
18. Jettmar K. The Art of the Northern Nomads in the Upper Indus Valley. South Asian Studies, 1991, vol. 7, pp. 1–20.
19. Jettmar K., Thewalt V. Between Gandhāra and the Silk Roads. Rock-carvings Along the Karakorum Highway. Discoveries by German-Pakistani Expeditions 1979–1984. Mainz am Rhein, Philipp von Zabern, 1987, 59 p.
20. Komissarov S. A., Prokof'eva I. V., Cheremisin D. V. Petroglify Cinhaya [Petroglyphs of Qinghai]. Vestnik NSU. Series: History and Philology. 2008, vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 101–106. (in Russ.)
21. Man L., Jiayangnima L., Huisheng T., Yongxian L., Bednarik R. G. The 2019 survey of petroglyphs in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, western China. Rock Art Research, 2022, vol. 39, pp. 143–154.
22. Polosmak N. V., Shah M. A., Kundo L. P. Petroglyphs of Zanskar, India: Findings of the 2016 Season. Archaeology, Ethnography, Anthropology of Eurasia, 2018, vol. 46, no. 2, pp. 60–67.
23. Rudenko S. I. Gornoaltajskie nahodki i skify [Mountain Altai finds and Scythians]. In: Itogi i problemy sovremennoj nauki [Results and problems of modern science]. Moscow, Leningrad, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1952, 268 p. (in Russ.)
24. Savinov D. G. Dinamika kul'turnogo prostranstva (po arheologicheskim materialam Central'noj Azii i YUzhnoj Sibiri) [Dynamics of cultural space (based on archaeological materials of Central Asia and Southern Siberia)]. In: Teoriya i metodologiya arhaiki [Theory and methodology of archaic]. vol. 3: Stratigrafiya kul'tury. Chto takoe arhaika? [Stratigraphy of culture. What is archaic?] St. Petersburg, MAE RAN, 2003, pp. 52–60. (in Russ.)
25. Thasngspa T. L. Ancient Petroglyphs of Ladakh: New Discoveries and Documentation. Art and Architecture in Ladakh. Brill's Tibetan Studies Library. 2014, vol. 35, pp. 15–34.
26. Ujfalvy K. J. Aus dem westlichen Himalaya: Erlebnisse und Forschungen. Leipzig, F.A. Brockhaus, 1884, 330 p.
27. Varenov A. V. Zverinyj stil' v petroglifah Zapadnogo Tibeta [Animal style in petroglyphs of the Western Tibet]. In: Archaeological sites of Southern Siberia and Central Asia: from the appearance of the first pastoralists to the era of the formation of state entities. St. Petersburg, IIMK RAN, 2021, pp. 42–45. (in Russ.)
28. Vernier M. Exploration et documentation des petroglyphes du Ladakh 1996–2006. Como, Nodo Libri, 2007, 84 p.
29. Vernier M. Zamthang, epicentre of Zanskar’s rock art heritage. Rev. d’Etudes Tibétaines, 2016, no. 35, pp. 53–105.
30. Vernier M., Bruneau L. Evidence of Human Presence in the Himalayan Mountains: New Insights from Petroglyphs. In: People and Their Effects on the Himalayas. Cambridge, Uni. Press, 2017, pp. 319–332.
31. Wenjing Z., Xiaokun W. A Study on the Rock Art of the Tongtian River Basin, Tibetan Plateau of China. Journal of Siberian Federal University. Humanities & Social Sciences, 2021, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 111–127.
Review
For citations:
Denisenko V.L. Animal Style in Petroglyphs of the Upper Indus Valley (Ladakh, Gilgit-Baltistan). Vestnik NSU. Series: History and Philology. 2023;22(10):9-21. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.25205/1818-7919-2023-22-10-9-21
Views:
267
Email this article 