Samashev Zainolla Rock art of Kazakhstan as a historical sources

Samashev Zainolla

Rock art of Kazakhstan as a historical sources

Considering all achievements of the science in the sphere of petroglyphs there is still a problem which is becoming extremely aggravated last years, it is an intensive destruction of rock paintings owing to ignorance and vandalism, and also deconstruction of a rocky surface under the influence of natural and technogenic factors. There are also problems of restoration, preservation and museumification of the most expressive petroglyph complexes.

The organization of protection work of ancient monument, database creation, working out new concept principles in many respects depend on actions of national establishments responsible for it and a state policy in the field of culture as a whole.

The rock drawings of Kazakhstan belong to extensive petroglyphic fine arts of Central Asia province created by the many generations of muralists. They cover the period from neolith eneolithic before the late Middle Ages though some facts specify earlier period of petroglyphic fine arts occurrence on territories of modern Kazakhstan. Kazakh ethnographic drawings on pliable for material processing – limestone make a special category in the northeast Caspian Sea region.

- the analysis of methodological and methodical development of principles of petroglyph formation in Kazakhstan, generated in Soviet period, including Kazakhstan archaeology in 1930-1970, taking into account the new tendencies which have developed in a historical science conditions in the end of XX century and the beginning of XXI century;

- the characteristics, typology and motives classification, petroglyphic fine arts images and plots;

- research of territorially-chronological, narrative and stylistical and aspects of a problem;

- revealing of the development world outlook bases general laws of the petroglyphic fine arts; stating the nature of petroglyph as a special sign system in mythic complex of the ancient and medieval population;

- research of some ethno cultural petroglyph attribution problems;

- defining the role and value of Kazakhstan petroglyphs in a system of graphic monuments of the Central Asia.

Scientific novelty. The given dissertation is the first one generalizing archaeology of Kazakhstan works where petroglyphic art monuments of the whole country became an object of comparative studying.

For the first time in a historical science of Kazakhstan as source of the theoretical and methodological concept of rock drawings use is developed for reconstruction of cultural and historical processes, ideology and outlook studying of the ancient people which was earlier based on the all-round analysis empirically developed since 1920th in Soviet (and Post-Soviet) a science of methodical and methodological principles of archaeological monuments studying.

Paleomethalic layer of petroglyphs of Kazakhstan based on materials of concrete monuments is allocated.

Medieval engravings became a subject of special research with the involvement of written texts and initial verbal formulas of early Turkic poetry. On the basis of the plots analysis some military science and armament questions, suit peculiarities and some other ways of medieval population living are considered for the first time.

The work on classification and completion of the full Old Turkic arch known for today is done, the area of some types of signs that has allowed to use them in an analysis context ethnological, cultural and migratory processes in the Central Asia is allocated.

The ethnographic drawings of Kazakhs fixed in the western regions of the country, became an object of research and are analyzed in a context of working on problems of continuity. It is found out that in the leading image of national drawings of Kazakhs, as well as ancient Turkis such as the horse soldier, his feats which makes the basic outline of it till the end of yet not intelligent art.

For defining the petroglyph age methods of natural sciences such as the geometrical, microbiological analysis of physical and chemical structure and mechanisms of rock patina formation of paintings by scanning with the help of electronic microscope of samples and radiometric researches for reception direct С-14 dates that opens new prospects for Kazakhstan petroglyph study were used for the first time.

Ethno cultural attribution and semantic interpretation of petroglyphs, historical and cultural reconstruction are realized on the basis of a method of historical knowledge, comparative and historical with wide attraction of the folklore data of ethnography, shamanism, written and graphic texts.

- petroglyph study originated as a part of archaeological science, in modern conditions dynamically develops at interdisciplinary level (on a joint with paleoethnology, Art Studies, structural semiotics, cultural science, mythology, being integrated and with other branches of knowledge), developing in the course of transition to a new phase of formation own fundamental concepts, terminological base, methodological principles of the analysis of scientific constructions sources;

- each archaeological epoch is characterized by domination of certain motives, images and the plots organized in multilevel compositions, embodied on different planes with defined as architectonics and interrelation within one site in the fine arts. Their set and sequence quite often makes a graphic number – the complete narrative system which is based on archaic mythological representations and archetypes;

- empirically developed principles of periodization and chronological attribution of the graphic monuments, completed by the newest methods, open new possibilities in dates updating, especially in allocation of early layers of petroglyphs on territories of Kazakhstan sources of which on present representations, are lost in Stone Age;