Bronze Age rock paintings were studied by archaeologists in the region of the Gorbitsa village, nearly 550 kilometres North-east of regional capital Chita (Zabaykalsky Krai, Russia). The ancient gallery contains images of humans, a bull, trees and birds in form of over petroglyphs. Preliminary dating suggests the find is around 4,000 years old.

The paintings were made with red and orange ochre, an earthy pigment containing ferric oxide. The site was found a long time ago by hunters, but only recently the archaeologists were notified about its existence. The site is hardly visited by people and the ancient art is preserved in almost untouched condition.

Interpretation of the paintings is not an easy thing. They might represent actual people or personifications of spirits. One particular depiction represents a figurine, by a circle with a cross inside – it might be a solar sign (the sign of the sun) or might represent shaman’s  drums as it is witnessed in many cultures. It might be possible that the figure with the solar sign depicts a shaman with a drum. Numerous points and lines are interpreted as a symbol of counting, as if the author recorded the number of certain objects, perhaps cattle in the herd. A number of vertical lines above the horizontal line might show dugout canoes with people sitting in them.

(after The Siberian Times)