Use of natural features of the rock surface in the rock art of the Minusinsk basin

One of the striking features of classic prehistoric art is the use of natural forms of portable objects and rock surface, in which an ancient artist recognized familiar images. In some cases, minimal artificial modification was required, and the image was created with just a few strokes. This approach to transformation of raw material is considered typical of Paleolithic art. In the rock art of the Minusinsk basin, quite extensive number of images is considered the earliest. Its chronological attribution remains uncertain. The age of this group of petroglyphs, according to various researchers, may vary from the Late Upper Paleolithic to the Early Bronze Age. Currently, among the main methods in establishing the chronological attribution of the earliest rock art in the Minusinsk basin are indirect approaches to the dating. One of them can be considered the search for reliably proven cases of using the natural features of the rock surface, which an ancient artist not only saw, but inscribed his image therein. This article gives only a few examples, which allow us to document this feature of the earliest rock art in the area under consideration. Each situation is described, and arguments in favor of the deliberate use of a particular form of natural relief are made. On the one hand, the findings show some repetition of such situations, but on the other hand, these few examples provide only the directions for further research.