Museums: Photo Exhibition of ancient cave art opened in Yakutsk

In Yakutsk, in the Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography of the North-Eastern Federal University, opened an exhibition of photographs of ancient cave paintings, discovered on the Mount Suruktah-Haya (translated from the Yakut "rock with the writing").

The Sanctuary of Suruktah-Haya is situated one of the remote corners of the district of Olyokminsky District of Yakutia - on the left bank of the Markha river, about 150 km from the place of its confluence with Lena.

The exposition includes photos of the location of the cave paintings, the details of the drawings of the ancient artists, landscape and fauna of the area.

"Scientists have visited the sanctuary only twice. In 1939 Yakutsk anthropologist Andrew Sawin visited the scribble, beginning its scientific research. In 1941, the Siberian expedition led by archaeologist Alexei Okladnikova has investigated the sanctuary. Scientists were able not only to make copies of drawings, but also for the first time in Yakutia to detect and describe the archaeological material from the altar of Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages", - says the museum's director Lilia Alekseeva.

In August 2011 the expedition NEFU conducted field researches of Suruktah-Haya. Its photographs using modern digital technology have allowed passing a general view of the monument, the location and plot drawings, to reveal many details invisible to the eye, especially to catch the overlay images, shades of color and relief of the rock surface.

The sanctuary is a limestone cliff height of 21 meters. Numerous paintings, made of various shades of ocher, are located in groups on the front and the end of the rock at different heights from 6.3 to 11.5 meters. In total, during the work 800 drawings were arranged into 16 groups. The drawings depict  the subjects which reflect the ideas of the ancient inhabitants of Yakutia about the world, magical rites and rituals.

The paintings of Suruktah-Haya do not have analogues in the vast territory of the North-East Asia and they are a unique monument of the spiritual culture of taiga hunters and fishermen of the Neolithic and paleometal era.