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Kilchur Castle,

Sayan-Altai petroglyphs. Various animal and symbolic figures. The source of this drawing is the book Ancient Nomads in the Center of Asia, written by Soviet archaeologist Aleksandr Danilovich Grach (А. Д. Грач) and published in Moscow in 1980 by Nauka Publishing House.

According to the Russian notes beneath the image I’ve shared, these petroglyph copies are listed as being compiled from specific archaeological sites in Tuva, including Churuk-Maldyg-Khaya, Övür, Mugur-Sargol, and Kuylug-Khem. Most of the drawings were gathered from M.A. Devlet’s systematic research.

The Sayan-Altai petroglyphs aren’t the product of a single culture or era. Over thousands of years, successive communities have left their marks on the very same rocks. In the words of archaeologist Marina Kilunovskaya, each newly arrived civilization marked its presence here–and it didn’t destroy the works of its predecessors.

Sacred symbol of Labyrinth (fragment of Antique architecture, I mill. AD)