Eastern Pamir Rock Art: Analogies and Concepts about the Age of these Drawings

Abstract

The article is dedicated to cave drawings from Shakhty and Kurteke sites located in the high mountain areas of the Pamir. The main studies at these sites were carried out by V. A. Ranov in the late 1950s and 1960s of 20th century. The re-documenting of these drawings in 2019 and the processing of the received photographs by DStretch refined the contours and details of some images, important for attribution and subsequent interpretation. These data called into question some of the earlier analogies from rock art of adjoining territories, and also allowed to attract new analogies. On the basis of the analysis of sources, the possible chronological boundaries of the creation of rock drawings in the Eastern Pamir were clarified. It is assumed that images of the Shakhty rock-shelter can be dated within the range of Mesolithic to the Bronze Age. Some of the drawings of the Kurteke may be attributed to the Bronze Age, but this does not preclude an earlier date of the rest of the imagery of the site.