Sun-deer in the Xianlushan petroglyphs

This study based on field research in North-Eastern China in 2012-2014. Petroglyphs of Northeast China are closely involved into the historical and cultural context of the regional development and are an important source for reconstruction of the lifestyle and culture. Dongbei petroglyphs closely associated with the petroglyphs of Mongolia, Transbaikal, Amur Region and Korea. One of the most common images of Eurasian rock is the image of the deer. The image of the deer is one of the main themes in the publications of A.P. Okladnikov who found local modifications of the Deer Golden Horn not only on the rocks of Eurasia, but also on the “deer stones” in the Transbaikal and Tuva. In Northeast China the image of a deer was discovered among the petroglyphs is from the Xianlushan Mountain. The ideological dominance of Xianlushan petroglyphs is predetermined by images of ungulates - deer and goat. The images of galloping deer with circles on the horns deserves the special attention. Circles are the symbolic image of the sun, which rested on the horns of heaven deer. The image of the heaven sun-deer is widespread in ancient religious and mythological traditions. The image of space deer or moose, animal-sun, is not rare in the Eurasian petroglyphs along with other sun symbols - circles and crosses. Such images are interpreted as the symbols of zoomorphic suns on the Stone Islands of the Angara River, rocks in Mongolia, rock masses of the Tom River and other regions. Embossed on the top of Xianlushan Mountain the deer with disks on the horns are the local variant of the sun-deer image - zoomorphic deity or heaven satellite of the sun-god. The study of Dongbei petroglyphs is the necessary stage of the rock art research in North-East Eurasia and history and culture of this Eurasian part.