On methods for describing monochrome painting images (based on rock art sites in Minusinsk basin)

This article is devoted to the description of images of the Minusinsk basin made in the technique of monochrome painting. Today, there is no unified and generally accepted scheme for describing the paintings. As a result, different descriptions of the same images can be found in scientific publications, which makes any comparisons extremely difficult. We need to create a unified system for describing colored drawings. In addition, it is important to characterize the painting objectively and completely. For this, you need to use special tools to describe both the rock paintings and the pigment that it was made of. Purpose. We provide a general scheme for describing images made in the technique of monochrome painting. It required to identify the criteria for describing colored images used by different researchers and to conduct a series of experiments on creating images with dry solid and liquid pigments in order to identify specific traces of dyes. Results. Based on the analysis of scientific literature, experimental data and field work materials obtained during 2016-2017, we developed a standardized scheme for characterizing the paintings studied. Besides, some mechanisms for pigment penetration into the substrate have been identified and confirmed experimentally. There are three variants of pigment localization on the rock surfaces observed at the rock art sites: it may be present along the entire macrorelief, in the depressions and on the protruding sections. The first and the second variants are observed when a liquid pigment was used (Fig.1.1) while the third variant referred to a solid dry pigment (Figure 1.2). Depending on the location of the pigment particles, it is possible to determine the state of the pigment which was used to create the image. The mechanism of penetration of the pigment into the rock surface is an important criterion for the description of the paintings. On the basis of our experimental data, we determined the key parameters for characterizing pigments, which had not been fixed previously by researchers describing figures. The scheme developed for describing our drawings was tested on the materials of the sites of rock art at Bolshaya Log, Bugaev log, Sukhanikha I, Shalabolino and Caucasian pisanitsa I-IV. All the figures have been described and documented. We worked out a technique for searching and fixing colored images. The use of magnifying optical devices (e.g., a microscope Nikon 11470NS with a 20-fold magnification or magnifying glass with 35-fold magnification) made it possible to detect particles of coloring matter on rocky surfaces, while the use of phototechnics with a macro-lens and macro-rings helped to fix them. Conclusion. The unified scheme of describing rock art images allows us not only to characterize the paintings in more details but also to compare them. On the basis of these comparisons, trends can be formed concerning the methods of creating images of the Minusinsk basin. However, this task requires expanded research databases and can be addressed in the course of further research.