Altai-Sayan Mountain Range (Siberia, Russia)

The archaeoacoustic research of rock art sites located in Asia has focused on the Altai-Sayan mountain range (Altai Republic). Although rock art production in this region began during the Upper Paleolithic, most of the sites formed by vertical walls, rocky cliffs, and isolated boulders we are analysing in our studies seem to have been carved from the end of the Eneolithic period, around 4,000 years ago. These post-Palaeolithic carvings represent human, animal and geometric figures. Among the anthropomorphic motifs the representations of individuals carrying drums and wearing ornaments are particularly interesting. They have traditionally been interpreted as shamans with their ritual paraphernalia. In the many scenes involving zoomorphic figures, it is possible to observe deer, elks, goats, horses, and other animals typical of the Siberian steppes.