New earliest image from rock art site of Troitskaya Pisanitsa (Boyary I) in Republic of Khakassia

The Minusinsk Rock Art Research Group (IAET SB RAS) fieldwork in 2024, as in previous years, was aimed at studying and re-cataloguing of the known and well-studied earliest rock art images in the Minusinsk Basin. Despite that searching for new images was not the main purpose of the fieldwork, a new image was discovered at the Rock Art Site of Troitskaya (Boyary I) near the Troitskoye village in Bograd District, Khakassia Republic. It is the pecked bull image. The style is typical for the earliest petroglyphs and corresponds well with the images of the adjacent main and largest panel of Troitskaya Pisanitsa representing numerous bull images. It is noteworthy that this is practically the only survived panel located close to the main panel; the majority of the surrounding rock surfaces were destroyed. However, the image was hidden under a layer of modern white paint for a long time; almost the entire surface was covered by a visitor’s inscription. In recent years, vandalistic inscriptions at the site were subjected to an intensive peeling, which was partly the reason why this image was noted. The petroglyph was catalogued including a detailed description, photography according to the standard procedure (in different scales, in natural and artificial light) as well as three-dimensional visualization. As a result of the study, the panel was included into the database of the earliest images of the Minusinsk Basin.