Historic and proto-historic shamanic rock art in Siberia: a view from the Altai

Abstract

This paper deals with historic and proto-historic manifestations of shamanic rock art in Siberia, mainly in the Sayan-Altai region. This art comes from last few centuries and is characterized by imagery which reveal clear correspondences to ethnographically documented shamanic material culture. It concerns in particular images of shamans in their ritual attire and their most important attribute - the drum. Main attention is focused on rock art of the Karakol Valley in Altai, where besides historic or proto-historic shamanic rock art, also much older art is present. The latter art is dated to second millennium BC, and is characterized by features which also correspond to Siberian tradition of shamanism. Finally the paper discusses the social context related to colonization of Siberia which possibly influenced making shamanic images on rocks.