Animal Style in Petroglyphs of the Upper Indus Valley (Ladakh, Gilgit-Baltistan)

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.