Searching for rock art sites in Khakasia with the help of archival sources

This article describes exact locations of some little-known rock art sites in Republic of Khakassia in Southern Siberia. The author used information about their approximate location from reports and publications, which was then compared with maps. The final search was undertaken in the field for suitable rock outcrops and images on them. Three sites were located using this method in 2023. Two of them - on Mounts Kokkhaya and Sarygkhaya in Askiz District - were found thanks to information obtained from the report on the work of the expedition by E.A. Sevastyanova and V.F. Kapelko in 1983. On Mount Kokkhaya near the village of Kartuzov, the author found the petroglyphs which differed from those discovered by her predecessors, but thanks to more accurate information about that site from the publication by I.L. Kyzlasov, the location of the site was also determined. More complete survey in the future may lead to discovering an entire complex of rock art sites on this mountain. The surface with petroglyphs which was described in the report was found and cleared of lichen on Mount Sarygkhaya in the vicinity of the village of Verkh-Askyz. Two new panels were also found nearby. The object known from publications was rediscovered on Mount Kan-Obazy (Kholaas) near the village of Matkechikin in Beiya District thanks to information obtained from the report by V.G. Kartsev on his research in 1958. This was a large horizontal outcrop with pecked images of Bronze Age bulls and other animals, sinuous lines of deep grooves, and pits. The coordinates of all three located sites were established and preliminary photo-fixation was made. Further work should be done on their complete surveying, defining the boundaries of the sites, registering them, removing lichens, and compiling their comprehensive modern documentation.