Research of the rock art site at the Dzhalinda river in Sretensky district of Zabaikalsky krai in 2019

Rock art sites in the southeastern of the Transbaikal region mostly contain painted images. So far, five rock art sites have been discovered in the middle reaches of the Shilka River. The authors of this article surveyed all these locations in July 2019. Rock art site in Dzhalinda gully (“Bichiginskaya Pisanitsa”) was first described in the literature in the mid 19th century. Since the site is located in a very isolated place with difficult access, archaeologists visited it for research purposes only two times - a member of A.P. Okladnikov’s expedition in 1954 and Novosibirsk archaeologist A.I. Mazin in 1968. The size of the central plane with images is 2.3 x 0.9 m. Representations were painted with pigments of two shades of red on the surface of gray granite rock and show satisfactory preservation degree. Not all details of the composition are currently clearly visible since some of them are covered by sinter deposits. The site was documented using photogrammetry, digital microscopy, and aerial photography with a drone. Photogrammetric processing resulted in textured three-dimensional surface model, altitude map, and orthophoto with the resolution of one gigapixel. The subsequent use of color contrast enhancement technique has made it possible to see the smallest traces of paint on rock surface, identify new images, and clarify the already known representations. Analysis of pigment samples has shown that the red paint was ocher. The presence of manganese has been found in all analyzed samples, which can potentially lead to discovering the source of raw materials used for paint preparation. First results of documenting the site in the field and laboratory elemental analysis have revealed great capacity of the above methodology for studying the Transbaikal sites and contribute to the development of a comprehensive program for further research of rock art in the region.