Investigation of the earliest rock art imagery in the Minusinsk basin in 2014-2015

An article denotes the problems in the study of petroglyphs, related to the earliest layer of the rock art in Minusinsk Basin, and presents some results of field research, provided by the authors at the sites of Oglakhty, Ust-Tuba, Madashinskaya carving. The cultural and chronological attribution of the most ancient regional petroglyphs is not clear yet (they are confidently older than Bronze Age, but we do not know just how old) and represents one of the actual problems of South Siberian archaeology. The authors suppose that the solution of this problem can be approached by the addition of new data that can be received in the course of purposefulfield and labor research, such as search for new sites and new flats at the known sites; improvement of published replications (details, compositional association, sequence of overlapping, etc.). We mean material systematization and classification; comparative stylistic analysis; study of petroglyphic techniques, including the use-wear analysis and determination of tools for carvings; paleozoological analysis of zoomorphic images (the imaged animals are extinct or species with changed habitats); educing of the anthropomorphic images associated with every group of animal imagery; etc. In consequence of studes conducted in the denoted directions in 2014-2015, the series of rock imagery related to the earliest layer of the rock art in Minusinsk Basin was supplemented by new interesting compositions and images. We educed the previously unknown personages, stylistic, compositional and technological approaches.