Time and Mind

The Journal of Archaeology, Consciousness and Culture

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Sacred Imagery and Ritual Landscape: New

Discoveries at the Biluut Petroglyph Complex in
the Mongolian Altai

Richard Kortum

To cite this article: Richard Kortum (2014) Sacred Imagery and Ritual Landscape: New
Discoveries at the Biluut Petroglyph Complex in the Mongolian Altai, Time and Mind, 7:4,
329-384

To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1751696X.2014.969506

Published online: 30 Oct 2014.

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Time & Mind, 2014
Vol. 7, No. 4, 329384, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1751696X.2014.969506

Sacred Imagery and Ritual

Landscape: New Discoveries at
the Biluut Petroglyph Complex
in the Mongolian Altai
Richard Kortum*
Department of Philosophy and Humanities, East Tennessee State
University, Johnson City, Tennessee, USA

(Received 22 May 2014; accepted 9 August 2014)

Altaian rock art is increasingly seen as essential to our grasp of the

character and movements of ancient cultures throughout Inner Asia.
Rock art imagery often provides our only pictorial information about a
preliterate society. But while surface study by itself yields valuable
information, joining the examination of rock art with dirt archaeology,
geology, and paleoecology provides greater opportunities for advances
in our understanding of key developments in the regions dynamic
prehistory: horse domestication and associated technologies, the birth
of mobile pastoralism, the incursion of charioteers, the making and
spread of deer stones, and the advent of metallurgy, to name but a
few. This paper focuses on the Biluut Petroglyph Complex, a prehistoric
ceremonial center at Khoton Lake in far-western Mongolias High Altai,
which contains an array of archaeological sites associated with an unu-
sually dense concentration of petroglyphs spanning the past 810,000
years. In presenting results of recent research carried out by his team at
Khoton Lake, the author demonstrates the value of integrating rock art
studies with other disciplines. The investigation of ritual landscape is
crucial. Together with their pictorial details, the chronological distribu-
tion and spatial organization of petroglyph figure-types and stone monu-
ments yield important clues concerning the lifeways of ancient peoples
and the transmission of arts, ideas, and technologies throughout this

*Email: kortumr@etsu.edu

2014 Taylor & Francis

330 R. Kortum
culturally formative mountain zone. The focus and approach can serve as
models globally.
Keywords: Central Asian rock art; prehistoric petroglyphs; Mongolian
prehistory; ritual landscape
Introduction
In the last 25 years new discoveries of
prehistoric petroglyphs and ritual stone
monuments have been on the rise
throughout the Central Asian steppes. In
particular, sites long hidden from the out-
side world in remote pockets of the Altai
Mountains have rapidly generated interna-
tional interest (see Parzinger et al. 2009;
Lymer and Rozwadowski 2012; Jacobson-
Tepfer 2012a). Altaian rock art, especially,
is increasingly seen as essential to our grasp
of the character and movements of
ancient cultures throughout Inner Asia. In
many instances rock art imagery provides
our only pictorial information about a pre-
literate society. But while surface study by
itself yields valuable information, joining the
examination of rock art with dirt archae-
ology, geology, and paleoecology provides
even more opportunities for advances in
our understanding of key developments in
the regions dynamic prehistory: horse
domestication and its associated technolo-
gies (bits and bridles, saddles, stirrups, etc.),
the birth of mobile pastoralism, the incur-
sion of charioteers, the making and spread
of deer stones, and the advent of metal-
lurgy, to name but a handful. Indeed, this
ongoing multidisciplinary and multinational
research project encompasses perspectives
that are aesthetic and art historical, geolo-
gical, biological and ecological, sociological,
political, economic and technological, psy-
chological, philosophical and religious a
list which is not exhaustive. In presenting
herein some of the highlights of Biluuts
exceptional variety and chronological
range of petroglyphs, I focus for the most
part on the first and last two of these
perspectives. And while the precise mean-
ings and specific functions of the carefully
contrived images might ultimately refuse
our best interpretive efforts, as we begin
to appreciate the character of the ritual
landscape concerns pertinent to particular
cultural periods, if only in broad outlines,
nevertheless begin to come into focus.
Overview
Detailed examination of Altaian petro-
glyphs holds the keys to a wide range of
questions that can only partially be
answered by analysis of archaeological
materials alone. Recent interest in cultural
intensification, the appearance and devel-
opment of elites, and the mobilization of
social forces for production and display
of public monuments, for instance, are all
topics that can better be studied by com-
bining archaeology and rock art research.
The Mongolian Altai is especially suited
for these combined studies because it is
one of the few locations where both are
present in abundance.
Of course, one can hardly lay claim to
discovery of a specific location of
ancient art or architecture that has long
been known to local people, however
transient their presence or imperfect
their knowledge. But in June 2004 I
became the first to uncover (and begin
to document) the extensiveness of a
sizeable rock art complex that has subse-
quently been revealed as one of the rich-
est and most concentrated collections of
 Time & Mind 331

Figure 1. Sketch outline of Mongolia. Box indicates location of Bayan Ulgii aimag.

prehistoric petroglyphs and ritual stone
structures yet found in Inner Asia. In the
northwestern extremities of far-western
Mongolias Bayan Ulgii aimag near the
convergence of Russia, China, and
Kazakhstan, the twin Biluut hills and
Juniper Mountain rise above the
glacial plain on the eastern shore of
Khoton Lake in the Altai Tavan Bogd
National Park (Figures 1, 2, and 3). The

Figure 2. Bayan Ulgii aimag: major rock art sites circled.

332 R. Kortum
Figure 3. Biluut Rock Art Complex: primary study area from the north.
L to R: Biluut 3, Biluut 2, Biluut 1. Khoton Lake behind B1, B2, and B3, and Altai range (China
border) behind. (Photo: Julia Clark.)
central study area measures a little over
28 square kilometers: approximately
7.25km west to east and 3.9km north-
south. Aside from border patrols at two
army outposts at the upper and lower
reaches of Khoton Lake, 15km to the
northwest and southeast,1 there are
no permanent settlements within 70 kilo-
meters. Perhaps 40 or 50 families
of semi-nomadic herders graze goats,
horses, and Bactrian camels in the vicinity
east and northeast of Khoton Lake during
the short summer between mid-June and
early August.2
Rock art production here spans the
last five thousand years, at least; a small
number of Archaic images are possibly
much older. In terms of cultural periods
represented, Biluut petroglyphs run the
gamut. Thousands, certainly, have been
lost forever due to the damaging effects
of climate and weather, goat and horse
hooves, and, during recent decades, the
irreparable scrawls of graffiti-makers; but
well-preserved specimens are found from
the Stone Age, Bronze and Iron Ages,
Turkic era (sixtheighth centuries CE),
and Ethnographic period. Archaeological
evidence suggests that this landscape has
seen more-or-less continuous occupation
since the last episode of glacial retreat
(Fitzhugh, Kortum, and Bayarsaikhan
2012; Fitzhugh and Kortum 2013). As
with the rest of the country, no imagery
conclusively identifiable as medieval has
been found here, despite the presence
of period burials. The reasons for this are
opaque, and make for a worthwhile line of
investigation in their own right. While
many figurative motifs are found else-
where at sites near and not so near, and
so help to provide cultural links through-
out a wider region, others appear to be
unique to this place. Together with their
pictorial details, chronological distribution
and spatial organization of figure-types and
stone monuments yield important clues
concerning the lifeways of ancient peoples
and the transmission of arts, ideas, and
technologies throughout this culturally fer-
tile and formative mountain zone.
Background
Field Studies
On my first informal reconnaissance in this
remote and rugged region of mountain
steppe in July 2002 I found an impressive

array of mostly Bronze Age petroglyphs in
the boulder-strewn hidden valley of the
Boregtiin Gol, approximately 70km south
of the provincial administrative center,
Ulgii. Returning in May and June of 2004,
I was guided to Khoton and Khurgan Lakes
near the border with Chinas Xinjiang
Province by Dr H. Edelkhan from Ulgii;
then an amateur rock-art hound,
Edelkhan knew at that time only of a
handful of figures at the base of a steep
wash on Biluut 1 that we now designate
Biluut 1E. Since then, I have been work-
ing at this complex which has turned out
to be considerably more extensive than
originally appreciated virtually each sum-
mer to record and study its 12,000 petro-
glyphs and several hundred ritual and
mortuary stone monuments (Kortum and
Batsaikhan 2005; Kortum and Tserendagva
2007; Whitelaw et al. 2008; Kortum 2012,
2013; Lymer, Fitzhugh, and Kortum 2014).
What began with an exploratory crew of
two researchers, two student field assis-
tants, a Peace Corps volunteer, a cook
and driver has grown into a long-term
project that is multinational in scope and
multidisciplinary in approach. In Summer
2011, supported by a National
Endowment for the Humanities Three-
Year Collaborative Research Grant and
funds from the Smithsonian Institution
and East Tennessee State University, we
had more than 40 individuals in camp at
Khoton Lake; in 2012 we numbered more
than 50. The Biluut complex was also
visited briefly in summer 2006 by Russian
rock art expert V. Kubarev; his report
(Kubarev 2007), while informative about
certain details, is nonetheless incomplete
and contains errors. In presenting herein
significant new discoveries made at Biluut
in ensuing summer seasons, chiefly in
2011, 2012, and 2014, I hope to repair
these infelicities.
Time & Mind 333
Geographic and Cultural Context
Primary among our larger interests, our
Bayan Ulgii research seeks to illuminate
the dynamic interface of prehistoric moun-
tain culture, empire, and physical environ-
ment in a region now being recognized as
the birthplace of influential cultures, poli-
ties, languages, and human biological diver-
sity. Until now, researchers have looked
north and southwest at gaps in the Altai
and Sayan-Altai Mountains for the influx of
new peoples, polities, technologies, arts,
and ideas into Mongolia. DNA studies of
excavated remains said to be of Scythian
warriors suggest that our eastern side of
the Altai ridgeline might be an early
mixing ground of Europeans and Asians
(Gonzlez-Ruiz et al. 2012). My principal
research partner, William Fitzhugh, director
of the Smithsonian Institutions Arctic
Studies Center, and I are endeavoring to
refine this picture and to add to the
advances made by the likes of D.
Tseveendorj and Esther Jacobson-Tepfer,
especially. Fitzhugh and I do not accept
that influences came always from outside
or ran in one direction only. Indeed, our
first stage of investigation shows that com-
munities of some sophistication thrived at
Khoton Lake long before Andronovo,
Karasuk, and Okunev groups arrived
(Fitzhugh, Kortum, and Bayarsaikhan 2012;
Kortum and Fitzhugh 2013). The same is
true of other sites found east of the Altai
Nuruu in Mongolia documented by
Jacobson-Tepfer and colleagues, e.g.,
Tsagaan Salaa and Baga Oigur, Aral
Tolgoi, and Khutsoltin Gol (Jacobson,
Kubarev, and Tseveendorj 2001;
Jacobson, Kubarev, and Tseveendorj
2005; Jacobson-Tepfer 2006) (Figure 4).
At Biluut, the density and variety of
Neolithic dwellings and ritual structures
together with its Archaic rock art and
Stone Age lithics indicate that this fertile
334 R. Kortum
Figure 4. South Siberias Ukok Plateau and rock art complexes of northwestern Bayan Ulgii aimag.
niche of mountain steppe, with its endless
supply of fresh glacial meltwater and
super-abundance of exploitable natural
resources, was a thriving culture nexus
a view also supported by the latest linguis-
tic and DNA studies (Schurr et al. 2010;
Dulik, Osipova, and Schurr 2011).
We believe that routes into and out
of Biluut, particularly during the Bronze
and Iron Ages, ran in several directions.
To be sure, identical rock art images
reveal close ties between this ceremonial
center and other major Altaian com-
plexes to the north, like Tsagaan Salaa/
Baga Oigur (cf. Jacobson-Tepfer 2012a,
figures 78) just south of the Russian bor-
der, and Pazyryk, Arzhan I and II, and
other sites on the Ukok Plateau of
Russias Altay Republic (cf. Molodin and
Cheremisin 2007, figures 45). But many
motifs suggest pathways to the south and
southwest, to the ancient Near East, for
instance (e.g., Kortum and Batsaikhan
2005, figure 13), as well as to the south-
east (e.g., Kortum 2009, 187). Moreover,
as yet, no one has examined the tangible
evidence for westward migrations into
Bayan Ulgii from central Mongolian home-
lands of, e.g., first-century Xiongnu,
seventh-to-eighth-century Turkic peoples,
and thirteenth-century Mongols. Our
further joint studies in this region, sched-
uled to recommence in Summer 2015,
will explore these and other scenarios.
Style and Technique
Biluuts petroglyphs are executed in a
myriad of styles by means of a small
number of basic techniques. Most

commonly, these figures have been
pecked with hard pointed rocks or
fine-tipped metal tools. But they are
also engraved, incised, abraded, gouged,
and lightly scratched. The oldest speci-
mens look to have been pecked with a
single stone struck directly against the
rock surface through a smooth rind or
varnish; they tend to be irregular in
edge and groove profile, very dark, and
quite deep, on the order of 812mm, or
more. Most, however, appear to have
been pecked by striking a hammer
stone or mallet against the blunt end of
a pointed punch-rock. As for metal
tools, with the aide of magnifying glasses
it is possible to discern the precise shape
of a punchs tiny tip, which often is
square or slightly rectangular. As
Jacobson, Kubarev, and Tseveendorj
2001 note however, use of rock
tools persisted throughout the Age of
Metals.
Qualitatively, the finest examples of
refined pecking technique are found
among what I sometimes call the High
Bronze Age; owing to a fine and more
durable metal punch or stylus, edges are
thin, crisp, continuous, and fluid. Grooves
are significantly shallower, too, typically
35mm. Frequently, lightly scratched out-
lines used to guide the artists hand
remain visible, thus revealing the means
by which proportions could be main-
tained and a high degree of expressive-
ness of posture or bearing achieved.
Clearly, it was common for the final
design to be sketched out in advance.
On the whole, Bronze Age animal and
human figures and scenes are far more
dynamic that those of all other periods.
Motion running, leaping, dancing, etc.
is a recurring element, and these figures
are distinguished by their liveliness, grace,
and elegance. But even well before the
Time & Mind 335
mature Bronze Age petroglyph makers in
this region possessed a mastery of tool,
technique, and design, as shown in the
bold and naturalistic representations of
bovids, for instance, and Archaic stags.
The former, in particular, combine closely
observed form and impressive anatomical
articulation (Figure 5).
As for stylistic variations, Biluuts figures,
like those found throughout Mongolia, the
Russian and Chinese Altai, and Kazakhstan,
are wholly outlined, wholly silhouetted, or
rendered in some combination of outline
and silhouette, e.g., an outlined body with a
silhouetted head and neck, or head and
legs. This produces a decorative effect of
some sophistication. Stick figures are com-
mon and to a lesser extent so are outlined
box-like animal figures. Elaborately exag-
gerated horns or antlers are found in sig-
nificant numbers, the most pronounced
example being the super-long and wavy
antlers of the highly stylized, iconic, and
mythological Mongolian deer (see
Figures 9 and 11). In addition, numerous
kinds of internal designs are common,
especially on bovid, equine, and cervid
images: vertical or horizontal stripes, check-
erboards, mosaic-like embroideries, tri-
angular designs, and spots are the most
common. Their meanings are unknown,
but some lend themselves to the idea of
signification of ownership, like horse and
cattle brands. Further study of this phe-
nomenon is required.
At Biluut petroglyphs often occur sin-
gly; but some large panels are densely
covered by well over a hundred indivi-
dual figures, sometimes encompassing all
the cultural periods. Some prominent
rocks, panels, humps, or outcrops held
special interest, for over the course of
thousands of years these were worked
many times. Some scenes, as with many
hunting and predator-prey motifs, involve
336 R. Kortum
Figure 5. Bovids, early Bronze Age. (Photo: author.)
several figures pecked at the same time.
Other compositions have been built up
over time, with later petroglyph-makers
adding new figures to those which they
found already there. This closely mirrors
the practice of reusing earlier stone struc-
tures like standing stones, deer stones,
and bal bal by later cultures in this same
region, by repositioning and/or remarking.
Some of this seems to have been done
as way of diminishing or usurping the
power invested in a certain place by the
original makers; it may also reflect a way
of staking territory. There is surprisingly
little overlapping (superimpositioning) of
figures of different periods. This gives the
distinct impression that to a great extent
those responsible for making petroglyphs
respected the work of their predecessors.
Unfortunately, it is the rule rather than
the exception during the past two cen-
turies for Turkic man stones to have their
heads toppled by Kazakh Muslims. But,
there is no evidence of wanton

destruction of petroglyphic imagery
until modern graffiti makes an appear-
ance. In recent seasons we have begun
to devote more effort to cultural heritage
preservation. A movement is now afoot
to obtain recognition of Biluut as a
UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Dating Methods
First and foremost, our research ques-
tions depend upon a reliable chronology.
For petroglyphs this is problematic.
Physical properties of inorganic rock art
are notoriously difficult to gauge. At the
present stage of development, unlike
with pigmented pictographs, scientific
dating of petroglyphs remains uncertain,
despite advances in the past 10 years.
Novel techniques continue to be
explored, but attempts to date rock art
scientifically, e.g., by lichenometry, cos-
mogenic nuclide buildup, or chemical
analyses of accreted rock varnishes, have
yet to achieve wide acceptance (Zreda
and Phillips 2000; Francis and Loendorf
2002; Bednarik 2002, 2010; Jacobson-
Tepfer 2013). Recent efforts at rigorous
(double-blind) chronometric experi-
mentation combining cation-ratio (CR)
methods with analysis of varnish micro-
lamination (VML) have reported limited
success in the American Southwest
(Whitley 2013).3 But results have been
mixed. A small number of tests have
been carried out; those few that have
achieved internal consistency and a con-
cordance with other established factors
(such as extinctions) have produced
minimum-limiting chronologies for a
body of pecked images, but no absolute
dates, especially for individual engravings.
Among other obstacles to a practical
global use: varnish distribution across
an entire site varies considerably, and
Time & Mind 337
varnish thickness and quality change
quickly, even on a single surface; a vari-
ety of natural processes can erode even
tiny patches of varnish; and identifying
the best samples requires highly specia-
lized training.
Consequently, at present little can be
used to classify Central Asian petroglyphs
into anything more than broad cultural
periods. Comparisons of regional stylistic
variants enjoy a limited use. Accepted
sequences of specific contents e.g., of
rhinoceri or mammoths, whose extinc-
tions are well established place a
lower limit on their age. Similarly, horse
riders, saddles, stirrups, and vehicles with
two spoked wheels provide upper limits,
as do clear signs of metal tools.
Superimpositioning, or the overlapping
of images, gives a relative ordering. But
until such techniques as lichenometry
(Noller and Locke 2000), microerosion
analysis (Bednarik 2002), and varnish bio-
chemistry analysis (Whitley and Dorn
2013; Liu and Broecker 2013) prove reli-
able and user-friendly, following Jacobson
et al. (2001) and Jacobson-Tepfer (2007,
2013), we have to make do in our region
with a combination of interrelated, partly
qualitative criteria for temporal assign-
ments: subject matter (with careful atten-
tion to cultural details), groove depth,
groove profile, and pecking technique,
color and darkness of the grooves, re-
varnishing, apparent weathering, style,
and quality. Using these criteria, a fairly
well-agreed-upon sequence of common
figure-types has emerged for Mongolia
and much of Central Asia. As a rule of
thumb, the darker the pecked or incised
grooves, the older the petroglyph. But
this cannot be used mechanically or
exclusively, for there are too many
exceptions even on the same rock
panel (see Jacobson 2013).
338 R. Kortum
As Jacobson-Tepfer and Meacham
(2009) have shown, much can be gleaned
from surface archaeology alone. As part of
our initial NEH-funded study, Fitzhugh and
I successfully identified distinct deer styliza-
tions on all three of the main petroglyph-
bearing hills at Biluut. Comparisons of for-
mal and technical aspects displayed on
both the bedrock panels and the
Mongolian-Transbaikal and Sayan-Altai
deer stones at nearby Tsagan Asgat
( 50km east-southeast of Biluut), for
instance, are already refining deer stone
chronology (Lymer, Fitzhugh, and Kortum
2014). Even so, we believe that much
more can be learned by digging beneath
the surface. For while Bronze Age
mounds are as a rule empty of artifacts,
the opposite is true of most structures of
the Iron Age and subsequent periods. A
good example is a pair of gold medallions
retrieved from one of our Pazyryk tombs
in 2011 (Figure 6), whose repouss argali
heads and curling horns provide a
Figure 6. Pazyryk gold ornaments in the form of argali heads, early Iron Age, ca. 2000 BP. (Photo:
David Edwards.)
plausible link with Early Nomadic-style
Biluut rock art motifs (Fitzhugh, Kortum,
and Bayarsaikhan 2012).
Still at issue are the possible ages of
the oldest petroglyphs. Distinctive images
in particular settings on Biluut 3, for
instance, might be associated with surface
artifacts found here that our lithics experts
Tserendagva and O. Seitsonen have
independently identified as Paleolithic
(Fitzhugh and Kortum 2013). But as
there are at present no established diag-
nostics for such items in Mongolia, we
need other means of verification.
Other important clues can be found
in the historical record preserved in local
water systems. More specifically, diatoms
(microscopic algae) are reliable indicators
of environmental change. Diatom assem-
blages preserved in the fossil record of
sediments of Khoton Lake, and of numer-
ous kettle ponds that pockmark the study
area, should reveal the first appearance of
grasses and other vegetation following

deglaciation. In collaboration with Mike
Zavada of Seton Hall University, lake cor-
ing and grass sampling is slated to take
place in Summer 2015. Assuming that no
earlier petroglyphs were created here
or survived a glacial scouring, this
should establish immediately whether
this particular section of the glacial basin
was ice-free during the late Paleolithic, or
whether this occurred at some point
during the Holocene.
Despite the foregoing problems with
and limitations on petroglyph chrono-
metrics, new and improved methods for
calibrating rock surface solar exposure
have recently been achieved (see
Putnam, Schaefer, et al. 2013a, 2013b).
Used to gain a better understanding of
deglaciation and climate change, these
can provide a sound basis for setting
an upper limit, at least, to Biluuts
oldest petroglyphs. Putnam employed
this technique at Biluut 3 in August
2014 and we plan to make further use
of it at Biluut in Summer 2015.
Complementing our pollen studies, spe-
cialists in geomorphology and paleocli-
matology led by Aaron Putnam of the
Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at
Columbia University will provide an inde-
pendent means for establishing the time
of deglaciation and thus confirm the
earliest availability of rock surfaces for
the making of petroglyphs. But we might
be able to do even better than this.
According to Putnam, it is now theoreti-
cally possible to obtain a scientific date
for a petroglyph itself (personal email
communication, 20 April 2014). We are
cautiously optimistic that with a suitable
rock sample the attenuation curve of
radio-isotopic Beryllium-10 will make it
possible to derive a date for actual peck-
ing activity. This would be a revolutionary
result.
Time & Mind 339
Data Points, Mapping, and GIS
Each and every petroglyph at Biluut,
including non-figurative marks and
acutely weathered, deteriorated, or
otherwise indistinguishable figures, is
recorded in terms of over 20 data points,
both quantitative and qualitative. These
points include latitude and longitude, ele-
vation, slope, panel dimensions, figure
type and number, figure dimensions, fig-
ure orientation (left, right, up, down),
cultural period, style, technique, groove
depth and profile, lithology, coloration,
weathering, lichen cover, varnish quality,
overall quality, vandalism, and photo and/
or tracing logs. Since 2011, we have used
a hand-held Ashtech MobileMapper 100
GPS device with Glonass and RTK, which
is accurate to within <50cm, to record
the petroglyphs and prehistoric stone
structures here. By itself this yields an
impressive degree of accuracy. When
supplemented by tape measurements,
panel photos, and full-scale tracings, we
are able to plot locations with consider-
able exactness.
Ritual Landscape
As Lymer (2010) observes, rock art sites
are not collections of antiquated icono-
graphic relics in an open-air museum.
They are, rather, nodes in the landscape
embodying temporal percolations of sig-
nificant spaces.4
Places in the natural environment have
many potential uses and certain points
can be special locations where significant
relationships are realized and accumulate
throughout the ages. These places
accrue biographical events, memories,
stories, material objects, structures and
rock art images as people dynamically
engage with their discrete places. Some
may possess liminal qualities where
340 R. Kortum
boundaries become permeable as the
space becomes a place of convergence,
connection, transition and/or transforma-
tion. The persistence of such places is
then attested by their continuity and con-
stant renewal through the interactions of
individuals and communities time and
time again. (2010)
In such non-linear experiences of time,
distinctions between past, present, and
future are more amorphous and fluid.
Ancestors, dreams, visions, etc. present
themselves in the present, as present
seen, heard, touched, tasted, smelled
and persistent. Entities, events, and
material objects percolate in and through
such an enlarged and enlivened present.
The same is true of space as well, or
place, more particularly. Here is not particular, the numbers, locations, dimen-
merely the physical space one happens
to occupy at a particular moment in lin-
ear time. Place is intimately bound up
with events (birth, death, battle, encoun-
ter, discovery, transformation, and so on)
and memories, and with powers (majes-
tic, maleficent, benign, healing, and etc.).
Place is something that you carry with
you; it is not merely something inert
that you pass through or occupy for a
time. It is embodied in our architectural
monuments and in rock art images, for
example.
And so, instead of thinking of a phy-
sical environment, a human habitat, espe-
cially, as something essentially given and
in principal separable from its transient
human visitors, one can begin to con-
ceive of a more dynamic, interactive, spir-
ited situation, where people are situated
in a here and now in which the distant
past and future, as well as distant places,
are not far. Thus our present engagement
with them, as foreigners of a kind,
must proceed with these things clearly
in mind.
In terms of what we can now learn,
or recover, from studying these sites,
quantification of the numbers, sizes, con-
figurations, and locations of dwellings,
deer stones, burial mounds, Turkic
monuments, etc., provides important
clues about the demography, population
levels, and social organization of their
respective cultures. Site densities in con-
junction with monument scale and com-
plexity have also been shown to
correlate with social structure (Allard
and Diimaajav 2005; Houle 2009),
which can in turn conceivably be con-
nected with climatic and ethnographic
data. This type of information, we are
finding, can also be studied in relation to
the production of petroglyphs, and, in
sions, spatial orientations, and image-
types dating to certain cultural periods.
Horse-drawn vehicles, for instance, that
appear during the middle of the second
millennium BCE, or mounted warriors of
the sixth to seventh centuries CE, speak
of political hierarchies, as is seen also in,
e.g., elaborate Pazyryk tombs of the early
first millennium BCE (Turbat et al. 2009).
Not only at Biluut, but globally, such
markers help us to track continuities as
well as changes with respect to a web of
cosmological traditions, too.
The vast majority of Biluuts rock art,
more than 95%, is found on three high
hills or small mountains designated, west
to east, Biluut 1, Biluut 2, and Biluut
3 (Figure 7 and Table 1). The local
names for these prominent topographic
features are, respectively: Dalan Turuunii
Khos Tolgoi (Twin Hills of the Seventy
Spikes, for B1 and B2), and Artsat Uul
(Juniper Mountain). A geological survey
of B2 by my team in July 2007 found that
glacially-eroded planar surfaces of uplifted
bedrock, predominantly composed of a
 Time & Mind 341

Figure 7. Main petroglyph locations at the Biluut Petroglyph Complex.

Table 1. Biluut petroglyph numbers by location.

Spring Khuiten Other

Biluut Biluut Biluut Broken House Gol scattered
1 2 3 Mtn Bluffs Delta locations Total

Total # 6,019 1,632 3,680 196 247 130 50 11,954

# figures* 3,414 1,123 2,124 135 152 122 38 7,982

*The number of figures [bottom row] refers only to those images that are sufficiently clear and distinct
so as to facilitate the identification of a representational intention on the part of the maker: the total
number of individual petroglyphs minus the number of indistinguishable figures and non-figurative
marks of varying shape and size.

shaley siltstone or quartz arenite (com- fine-grained conglomerate stone. Mostly

monly called metagreywacke), in all but a
few instances provide the surfaces for the
petroglyphs in this entire region of north-
western Mongolia (Whitelaw et al. 2008;
Jacobson, Kubarev, and Tseveendorj
2001). A handful are pecked into less
these figures are comparatively large in
scale, due in part, as seems likely, to the
need to compensate for the uneven,
pebbly surfaces. Inclinations (slopes) of
scoured surfaces range from horizontal
to vertical, and naturally varnished faces
342 R. Kortum
of all orientations were used by the pet-
roglyph makers.
At first glance, the sheer number and
density of imagery on sections of B1, B2,
and B3 almost inevitably incline the viewer
to imagine that a great many petroglyph
makers were busy on these slopes and
summits. But consider this. At Biluut a
total of 4859 representational figures are
attributed to the Bronze Age. Metallurgy
came relatively late to these mountain
steppes; in this region the age lasted
roughly 1600 years, from ca. 2500 BCE
to ca. 900 BCE. On average, that makes
for three petroglyphs per year. Taking into
account those figures from that period
that are now obscure or wholly lost to
us, the average can be at most around
four figures per year. Large figures, in all
likelihood, took days to complete; but the
vast majority of Biluuts images are less
than 20cm in length. I reckon that the
bulk of these would have required a prac-
ticed hand less than an hour to execute.
And, so, granting in addition the assump-
tion that petroglyph production was
restricted to warmer summer months,
compressed into about 10 to 12 weeks
only, say, the obvious thing to conclude is
that petroglyph-making was both a special
occasion and a highly specialized skill.5
Now, although a small percentage of
the petroglyphs on B3 are found on its
protected lower eastern slopes, the fact
that imagery on both B1 and B2 with
only a few exceptions (on Biluut 1E)
faces south and southwest strongly sug-
gests that prevailing weather conditions
are one factor in the selection of location
and orientation (Whitelaw et al. 2008).
But there are others, too, revealing of
ideological concerns concerns that
connect people to important features of
the physical environment and that elicit
a defining set of responses in the form of
ceremony, and ritual. Along with the pla-
cement of prehistoric shelters, burials,
and sacrificial altars, standing stones,
and the like, these activities, which
include what might be thought of as the
tattooing of the body of the earth by
means of surface pecking and engraving,
etc., are oriented spatially so as to create
and to sustain a sacred, nourishing, ritua-
lized landscape.
As a result of what must have been a
brief visit, Kubarev (2007, 63) estimated
Biluuts rock art images to number 1000.
This, we now know, is only a tiny fraction;
it represents less than 10% of the actual
total. Over the course of eight field sea-
sons my colleagues and I have now
counted slightly over 12,000 distinct pet-
roglyphs at Biluut.6 Approximately 15%
appear to the eye now as unidentifiable,
non-figurative but nevertheless distinctly
intentional marks of varying shape and
size. Discounting these, which only in a
small number of instances can be
assigned to a cultural period, our current
calculation of the number of peckings or
engravings of figurative images is nearly
8000. Among figurative images we
include such things as geometric shapes
and lines, signs, tamgas, and other clearly
delineated figures, whether or not a
representational character, as such, can
be identified.
Kubarev is correct in observing that
most of Biluuts petroglyphs date to the
Bronze Age. Our current count puts it at
60.9% of the representational figures. Yet
the overall picture is more nuanced: for
the distribution of cultural periods varies
at each of the six main locations. In some
cases the differences are quite pro-
nounced. On Biluut 1B, the steep south-
western slope below the summit, the
proportion of Bronze Age figures is
88.4%; on Broken Mountain it is 83.0%.
 Time & Mind 343

Biluut 2, by way of contrast, has only
40.6% Bronze Age figures. Forty-three-
and-a-half percent are from the Iron
Age. This raises important questions.
The same is true of figure-types as well
(see Table 2). It has become abundantly
clear that these differences are not
attributable solely to chance, or to
opportunism on the part of skillful rock
artists as if any sufficiently smooth and
varnished surface would suit the purpose,
wherever it happens to be found. Rather,
to a considerable degree these differ-
ences should be seen as reflecting pre-
vailing beliefs associated with what can
broadly be termed ritual landscaping.
This is to say that the precise situation
of petroglyph imagery here and at other
sites with large concentrations is, custo-
marily, carefully selected to satisfy a spe-
cific need on a particular occasion. Insofar
as an image or scene serves within the
community of its makers a particular
function, it is as a rule intentionally
oriented in relation to specific features
of both the human-made environment
(including other petroglyphs, standing
stones, and burial mounds) and the nat-
ural environment (including celestial
events) so as to harmoniously integrate
the realms of persons, place, nature, and
spirit (Lymer 2009). This must be true
even though, as seems highly probable,
the specific function and set of associated
beliefs will for us and for future genera-
tions remain a matter of speculation. The
alignment of burials and standing stones,
for instance, with prominent peaks
which then as now must have been
denominated as sacred entities is
often conspicuous at Biluut (Figure 8).
Certainly, petroglyph makers have
always had to make use of suitable sur-
faces where they are found.7 Even so,
there existed on any one occasion a
great many serviceable rock panels at
Biluut that could have been selected.
Indeed, one is struck by the effort
needed to reach certain rock faces, at
higher elevations or in places that require
skillful climbing sometimes involving
risk when easier-to-reach surfaces
were readily available. To all appearances,
a surprising number of excellent surfaces
have remained unused to this day. This is
true of all six rock art locales at Biluut; by
extension, I suspect it is the same at all
other sites in Central Asia and South
Siberia, at least. Our studies show that
Biluut imagery is not distributed

Table 2. Comparison of leading figure-types on Biluut 3, Biluut 2, and Khuiten Gol Delta.

Biluut 2 Biluut 3 KGD

Total # of petroglyphs 1,632 3,677 130

Identifiable figurative images 1,123 2,124 83

Ibex 357 31.8% 854 40.2% 25 30.1%

Horses (including horse and rider) 211 18.8% 237 11.2% 6 7.2%
Deer (including Mongolian deer) 105 9.4% 229 10.8% 9 10.8%
Canines (dogs, wolves, canine) 102 9.1% 198 9.3% 5 6.0%
Bovids (bulls, oxen, yaks, bovid) 124 11.1% 173 8.2% 10 12.0%
Human figures (including riders) 95 8.5% 108 5.1% 5 6.0%
Argali 25 2.2% 9 0.4% 13 15.7%

Note: Percentages are of identifiable figurative images.

344 R. Kortum
Figure 8. Double line of Turkic balbal aligned with square burial and summit of Biluut 1 to the
west. (Photo: David Edwards.)
randomly, whether in terms of figure-
type or cultural period. Elevation, solar
exposure, proximity to other imagery
and to structures such as burial mounds,
ceremonial ovoos, and standing stones all
make a difference.
From Table 2 several relationships
immediately stand out. Note, for exam-
ple, the large increase in the percentage
of ibex, the complexs most numerous
figure-type over all, on B3. Horses vary
significantly over all three locations,
whereas the frequency of deer imagery
remains fairly close across all three sites.
And while canines, as a percentage, are
significantly lower at Khuiten Gol Delta,
bovids are comparatively low on B3.
Depictions of humans are relatively high
on B1, while argali are extremely high at
KGD and extremely low on B3. The
percentage of human figures is consider-
ably higher at Biluut 2 than on B3 and at
KGD. But the most conspicuous variabil-
ity occurs with the representation of
argali sheep, as displayed in the tables
bottom row.

What these intriguing patterns say
about the mindset and lifeways of the peo-
ples who made these marks is, as yet, far
from clear. Why the preference for a cer-
tain animal figure on a particular hill? All of
these require explanation. None can be
assumed to be the outcome of accident
or chance. Further analysis will reveal the
comparative densities of cultural periods;
and more complex comparisons are
expected to reveal preferences of particu-
lar figure types during particular cultural
periods at specific locations in the land-
scape. Once all of the data have been
entered into our electronic database they
will be integrated with a similar charting of
monument type, period, and location;8
and, thus, the overall spatial and chronolo-
gical patterns of social and ritual life will
begin to emerge. When we add the map-
ping of various topographic elements such
as viewsheds, and, especially, alignments,
we expect to acquire a firmer grasp of ritual
landscape, in both its particular manifesta-
tions and its basic fundamentals.
This should yield important insights
not only about this particular Altaian com-
plex, but also increase our understanding,
more broadly, of the ways by which pre-
historic peoples sought to make sense of
their world and their place in it. Such a
notion of a ritual cultural landscape applies
equally to all later, even contemporary,
human societies, as well. Think not only
of Chaco Canyon in New Mexico or of
the rock art of Bighorn and Wind River
basins of Wyoming and Montana, but of
Mount Rushmore, for example, and the
Statue of Liberty. By extension, think of
the location and orientation of prominent
temples, churches, and mosques. In the
same way, think of sports stadiums and
national cemeteries and of town dumps.
While the complexities of the cultural
landscape at Biluut are currently being
Time & Mind 345
assessed, already the work of our GIS
mapping team bears out the truth of
my claims concerning the intentionality
of spatial orientation and the ordering
of petroglpyhs and stone monuments
here. Since 2010, D. Cole of the
Smithsonian Institution and K. Chen of
East Tennessee State University have
been working in the field with Fitzhugh
and myself to complement our rock art
and archaeology field studies. For exam-
ple, to test an hypothesis on spatial clus-
tering of petroglyphs Cole and Chen
performed spatial statistical analysis to
reveal the spatial distribution of figures
of all types on Biluut 3 (for which we
had at the time the most complete
data), as well as a few examples of what
I identified for them as the most culturally
or aesthetically significant motifs (Cole,
Chen, and Kortum 2014). Nearest
Neighbor Index (NNI), Getis G, and
Morans I statistics were run to identify
clustering patterns. Kernel density maps
were created to examine the hot spots
in space. Spatial relationships among the
three most frequently depicted figural
motifs were also subjected to these pro-
cesses. To determine whether a spatial
proximity exists between these major
figure-types, Cole and Chen created a
raster layer with a cell size of 10x10
meters. The quantity of each element in
each cell was aggregated, and correlation
was performed based on these numbers.
When the locations of all B3 petroglyphs
are considered, they find a clustering
effect not only for the entire corpus of
rock art on this hill, but for the three
major animal figures as well: ibex, deer,
and horses (see Table 3). This statistic
reveals that the number of such figures
on a particular panel or rock is positively
correlated to that of its neighboring
panels. This result cannot be accounted
346 R. Kortum

Table 3. Spatial statistics.

All figure types Ibex Deer Horse

N 3,677 854 227 206

NNI 0.037** 0.444** 0.492** 0.333**
Getis G value 0.007** 0.003** 0.008** 0.031**
Morans I 0.142** 0.205** 0.480** 0.0929

** Significant at 0.01 level.

Table 4. Spatial proximity of major motifs. Tserendagva 2007; Kortum 2013); not
surprisingly, such borrowings or appro-
Ibex Deer Horse priations are commonly found in close
Ibex 1 proximity to their models. Further analy-
Deer 0.57 1 sis of the spatiality of figure-types accord-
Horse 0.70 0.35 1 ing to cultural period will reveal the
Note: calculation is based on correlation analysis
extent of this occurrence. Other tests
of the number of figures in a 10x10-meter grid. have shown that both elevation and
slope correlate positively to the preva-
lence of certain figure-types.
for in terms of opportunism merely;
rather, it indicates something significant Petroglyph Motifs
about the choices governing placement
The following brief presentation of a small
of particular figure-types in relation to
selection of Biluut petroglyphs is not in any
one another. The specifics of more com-
sense a representative sample. These par-
plex relations await further analysis.
ticular figures are chosen primarily to
When a density hotspot on the low
secure a balance between prominence,
southern side of B3 is excluded from the
uniqueness, variety, recurrence, and/or an
spatial proximity analysis of the three
association with other historical, archaeo-
major motifs, correlation coefficients
logical, or cultural issues, some of which
based on the number of figures in a
are at present a matter of debate.
10x10m cell are 0.57 between ibex and
deer, 0.70 between ibex and horse, and
0.35 between deer and horse (see Animal Figures
Table 4). These statistics confirm our
Not counting marks and indistinguishable
hypothesis that individual motifs are not
figures, faunal images account for more
situated randomly, but rather, as with the
than 90% of the petroglpyhs at Biluut.
case of ibex and horses, especially, have a
More than 20 different animals are
distinct tendency to cluster. One possible
depicted throughout the complex. By far
contributing factor here might be the
the most numerous are ibex. Largest are
practice of rock artists to add motifs or
horses and deer: instances of both are
figures to scenes that were engraved in
found in excess of two meters in length.
earlier times. Imitations and later varia-
The smallest individual figures are a line of
tions on specific themes can also be dis-
finely pecked goats (or sheep) found on an
cerned at Biluut (Kortum and
obscure patch of varnished rock on the

northern spine of Biluut 3 near the top.
Each is less than 12mm long. Examples of
virtually every animal-type can be found
pecked on a small scale. In broad terms,
makers of the oldest petroglyphs seem to
have favored deer robust stags, in parti-
cular. Neolithic figures feature large and
stylized argali, and the early Bronze Age is
dominated by powerful bulls and other
bovids (aurochs, yaks, and oxen). While
horses feature prominently throughout
the Bronze, Iron, and Turkic periods,
the latter period, especially, lavishes con-
siderable attention on horse riders and
their accoutrements: elaborate headgear,
weapons, banners, and flags. Rarest are
boars, bear, foxes, and snow leopards.
Images of the Siberian ibex, or moun-
tain goat (Capra sibirica), are ubiquitous.
Stylistically, they are the most varied, too.
Certainly a major food source through-
out this regions long history, but also
revered for its rugged majesty, indepen-
dence, power, and gracefulness, the ibex
is widely identified with the high moun-
tain realm where earth meets sacred blue
sky. Thrill of the hunt is balanced by an
appreciation of this creatures powers to
navigate to guide through the realms
of nature and spirit. Even today, certain
forms of mountain ovoos are dedicated
to this noble being; skulls and the knobby
curved horns are left as offering by sha-
mans, hunters, and other pilgrims. Images
of this animal comprise nearly 40% of
identifiable figures at Biluut.
The rock art record indicates that deer
in the Altai have, since the inception of
symbolic representation, been endowed
with a mythic status. As with other animal
imagery, deer, or cervids more generally,
come in all sizes and shapes. Especially
prominent and powerful during pre-
Bronze eras, during the Bronze Age the
deer appears to take on an even
Time & Mind 347
greater mantle as a kind of mythological
or cult religious figure (Jacobson 1993).
Increasingly stylized and enlarged, so-called
Mongolian deer and other similarly stylized
variations based on the Asian red deer, or
maral (Cervus elaphus) are commonly
depicted surrounded by dozens of other
much smaller, subordinated, figures. With
subtle changes, the form remains largely
the same into and throughout the Iron
Age; but the cosmological web of asso-
ciated practices and beliefs has not sur-
vived. Now some of these figures can be
seen ridden, and even pursued by hunters.
By the Turkic period, a conspicuous dearth
of deer imagery implies that the
earlier relationship with the deer has
ended.
While Aral Tolgoi at the western
head of the lake has only a single pair of
deer executed in the exaggerated
Mongolian style, the Biluut Petroglyph
Complex has a total of 65, including
two vertical or near-vertical panels
(slope 75 degrees) with multiple figures
nested together in the manner of classic
Mongolian deer stones (Figure 9).
In each case these panels are located
directly above a square khirigsuur (burial
mound). One possible interpretation of
this phenomenon, another example of
which I have found in northern Darhad
aimag, above the Shiskiid River near the
Russian border (Fitzhugh and Bayarsaikhan
2010), is that in the absence of suitable
granite plinths these panels served as
stand-ins for deer stones (of the classic
type). Whatever purposes a decorated
stele served, these near-vertical panels
could have functioned in the same ways.
They might be guardians or protectors, for
instance. To date, only these three
instances have been documented. The
search is on for further corroboration of
this idea.
348 R. Kortum
Figure 9. Panel with Mongolian Deer on B2, late Bronze Age. (Computer enhanced photo:
author.)
A second order of deer stone, called
the Sayan-Altai deer stone, is also found
throughout western Mongolia, the Altay
Republic, Xinjiang, and proximate areas
just west of the Altai. Of the same
shape and proportions though consider-
ably smaller (generally within the range of
11.5m), these stones bear many of the
same devices found on classic Mongolian
deer stones: a full circle near the top side,
earrings, necklace, belt, and tools or
weapons. The main difference, besides
height, is the depiction of other animals
in a more naturalistic style, including the
Saka-Scythian or Arzhan deer. Its long
thin tapering legs make it appear to be
standing on tip-toes. Several fine exam-
ples, in excess of one meter in length, are
found at Biluut, especially on B1D
(Figure 10). As with the images of
Mongolian deer, a more precise dating
of these images has been achieved by
c14 analysis of excavated materials from
nearby Tsagan Asgat (Fitzhugh 2011,
2012; Lymer, Fitzhugh, and Kortum
2014).
Antlers
By all accounts, not only deer antlers, but
those of other horned animals such as
bulls, ibex, argali, and even horses Biluut
possesses at least three striking examples
are believed to possess many powers.
Horns and antlers, as well as animal
bones, have a long tradition of utility,
forming part of a shamans toolkit and
medicine bag, for example. In many
instances throughout the Altai the exag-
gerated, and often fanciful, depiction of
 Time & Mind 349

Figure 10. Sayan-Altai deer stone and petroglyph (at right) of Arzhan deer, early Iron Age.
(Photo: author.)

Figure 11. Exaggerated and stylized antlers at Biluut, Bronze Age (a and b) and late Bronze Age/
early Iron Age (c)).

horns or antlers is indicative of a symbolic
function. Considered in the context of a
host of spirit-figures intercessory and/
or transformative beings images like
those below (Figure 11) surely call up,
resonate with, and/or invite association
with branching trees. After all, deer can
be seen as the quintessential spirit of the
forest. Endowed with agency as part of a
ceremonial or ritual activity or event,
these motifs transmit a totemic power.
Thus, I believe it is not inapt to think of
350 R. Kortum
the multiple aspects of such things as
Tree of Life motifs and the intricacies of
arabesques. Such connections are admit-
tedly difficult if not impossible to pin
down conclusively in any one instance.
But horned horses and figures such as
these can hardly be dismissed as stylistic
conventions merely.
Caprids
Besides ibex, whose depictions are by
far the most numerous at Biluut at
every location except Khuiten Gol
Delta, there are also significant num-
bers of other caprids: Argali sheep,
especially, with their enormous horns,
that even today confer upon them a
mythic status and make them among
the most prized of trophies by hunters
the world over. In mountainous Bayan
Ulgii the giant curling horns are com-
monly found deposited on sacred
ovoos; they look to be a favorite of
petroglyph makers, too, who frequently
produce exaggerated spirals behind the
heads. Local ethnology as well as the
rock art imagery bends to the sugges-
tion that the ibex was venerated as an
important spirit-figure. Oversized and
highly stylized to the point of abstrac-
tion at times, the most striking images
of argali at Biluut were made in
Neolithic times. But finely rendered fig-
ures of fleet antelopes, made exclu-
sively in the Bronze Age and almost
always shown in groups, are also scat-
tered across the complex. Further ana-
lysis will reveal how many are depicted
as the target of a hunt.
Canines
Canines are depicted most often in preda-
tion and hunting scenes, in pursuit of deer
and ibex, mostly. Occasionally a lone wolf
figure is found outside of any such context;
in such cases a symbolic or emblematic
purpose can be surmised. Dogs and
wolves are usefully distinguished by the
position of the tail: wolves are shown
with tails lowered, dogs with tails raised.
Whether this reflects a persistent stylistic
convention merely, or whether it derives
from or holds some special significance is
not known. As part of our ethnographic
research and surveys, future talks with local
herders might shed light on this.
Wolves, of course, hold a special
place in the Mongolian Weltanschauung.
According to their Secret History
Mongolian people are descended from
the union of a deer and wolf. I have
found nothing in the petroglyphic record
at Biluut or elsewhere in Mongolia that
bears directly on this account. Neither
have I found any panels showing wolves
interacting with humans. Dogs, on the
other hand, are frequently found aiding
human hunters, and other images speak
of a close domestic partnership (see, e.g.,
Figure 15d, of a man walking with
his dog).
Avian Imagery
To date, little research has been directed
upon avian rock art imagery in the Altai.
But birds have always played an impor-
tant role in human life. Source of food
and feathers, some have also been used
for sport, and to hunt. Falconry is an
ancient tradition in western Mongolia.
One of our most eye-catching petro-
glyphs is of a bird, probably an eagle,
returning to the outstretched arm of its
mounted human escort (Figure 12).
Eagle hunting is widely claimed to be
at least two thousand years old here. This
particular image, quite fittingly, is located

Figure 12. Eagle and eagle hunter, B2 summit, Turkic period.
high atop the eastern escarpment at the
summit of Biluut 2. From this lofty situa-
tion it enjoys a spectacular, if vertiginous,
view of the eastern plains far below and a
wide open expanse of sky all around. It is
attributed to the Turkic period.
In most traditions birds serve a multi-
plicity of symbolic functions, standing in
for, e.g., the sky, sun, thunder, fertility, life
and death, messengers, and angels and
other divine beings. In Southern Siberia
and Central Asia they have played a vari-
ety of roles in ritual and ceremonial prac-
tices. As Kubarev and Zavelin (2006,
101) point out, birds serve as a unique
classification in the universal symbolic sys-
tem of zoomorphic images providing
insight into the ideological significance of
myth. It is quite likely, as they suggest,
that their role significantly increased with
the emergence and development of sha-
manism in South Siberia.
Throughout Central Asia and South
Siberia bird petroglyphs are comparatively
Time & Mind 351
rare. At Biluut we have recorded eight or
nine clear examples (Figure 13). Four of
these occur on B1. Of these, the three on
Biluut 1E stand out. The first is of an
ostrich or crane from the Bronze Age,
remarkable especially because of its highly
unusual impressionistic style (Figure 13b).
The other two are an emblematic pair of
Iron Age eagles. They go together as a
single unit. They are aptly situated at the
top right corner of a vertical face on a large
upright stone near the bottom of B1E that
contains 73 figures from the Bronze and
Iron Ages. The pair is perched, as it were,
in a show of power or status on the
shoulder of this heavily marked, totemic
stone.
Other Animal Figures
Horse imagery is prominent at Biluut. We
are now sorting out the details; but after
ibex, images of horses (including those of
horse and rider) are the most common.
352 R. Kortum

Figure 13. Bird imagery at Biluut.

a: Pair of eagles, Iron Age, Biluut1E. b: Ostrich or crane, Bronze Age, B1E.
c: Crane (or ibis?), Bronze Age, B1C. d: Ostrich, early Bronze Age, KGD.
e: Swan?, Bronze Age, B3. f: Vulture?, Griffin?, Period uncertain, B3.

These are illuminating in many ways. By
scrutinizing the petroglyphic record it is
possible to mark the transition from wild
(and hunted) to domesticated horses, as
well as the introduction of such technol-
ogy as bits, reins, bridles, saddles, and
stirrups. Other practices, such as mane
and tail knotting, ornamentation by bells
and other objects, and branding and/or
body scarring can be observed.
Other animals immortalized at Biluut
include yaks, oxen, and cows in significant
numbers (bovids as a class rank fifth, right
behind deer and canines), along with
antelopes, rams, camels, boars, and pigs.
Swine, for whatever reason, are made in
the Bronze Age only. Our excavations to
date have not turned up any evidence of
swine, whether wild or domesticated; but
this feature of the rock art record might
be revealing of interesting differences in
diet and animal husbandry practices, too.
We have found just two images of bears
and two of foxes, recognizable by their
pointy faces and bushy tails. One can
only wonder at this. Why so few? Why,
then, any at all?
Rarest of all, we have recorded just
one image of a feline, almost certainly a
snow leopard. Given their historical range
throughout the Altai and their presence
in Bayan Ulgii today, and in light of ima-
gery at nearby locations (Kortum and
Batsaikhan 2005; Kortum 2009) this is
perplexing. Among other things, this
demonstrates the need for greater com-
parative studies of the regions rock art.
Proto-Early Nomadic (Animal)-Style
Figures
In recent years, considerable attention has
been given to the character and influence
of what was earlier called Animal-Style
artforms, but which is now known as
Time & Mind 353
Early Nomadic style. This style is most
commonly associated with Scythian cul-
tures and sub-groups. Stylized and some-
times intricately composed of intertwining
animal figures, motifs commonly involve
predator-prey engagements. Jacobson
(1999) has made a careful examination of
the roots of these forms and the influence
upon them of nomadic artisans. From a
purely formal, stylistic perspective, an inter-
esting feature of these works is the new
way that animals are dynamically engaged
with space the ways in which they are
posed, so to speak. Typically, figures turn
in on or around themselves; heads bend
back over shoulders and backs, legs are
bent and sometimes highly contorted. At
Biluut I have discovered three figures that
seem to relate to this development (Figure
14). Though not nearly as pronounced as
the most dynamic of Early Nomadic figura-
tions, these nevertheless mark a departure
from the way that earlier rock artists pre-
sented their subjects. Whether these
reflect an outside influence coming to this
area, or whether these represent a prior
innovation from the frontiers, cannot at
this time be determined.
Human Figures
Compared to Biluuts rich concentration
of animal imagery, depiction of humans is
for the most part considerably less devel-
oped in terms of style and detail. Images
of humans constitute just 5% of distin-
guishable figures. Archers and horse
riders make up the bulk of these. The
earliest images are thought to date to
the Upper Paleolithic period: characteris-
tically, these are deeply pecked stick fig-
ures, often shown with conspicuous, but
in no sense exaggerated, phalluses. If any-
thing is likely to be outsized it is hands
and fingers, and/or feet (Figure 15c).
354 R. Kortum
Figure 14. Proto-early Nomadic or Animal Style figures. (Computer enhanced photos: author.)
Figures at KGD (Figure 15f) look identical
to those at Khutsoltin Gol to the east and
Tsaagan Gol to the north, and suggest an
early connection between these sites.
Bodies, as a rule, do not begin to acquire
shape until the Bronze Age; by the early
Iron Age, with an influx of new arts, ideas,
and technologies, some figures begin to
look almost like portraits (without facial
details) (Figure 15d).
Archers
There are 94 images of archers at Biluut.
They most often occur singly, whether in
hunting contexts or alone, devoid of other
animals (except for a mount). Typical of
the middle Bronze Age are figures like
14b: slender, with bent knees, a pouch
or quiver hanging from the waist, and
wearing what is commonly referred to as
a mushroom-shaped headgear or hat.
Identical figures are found all over the
Altai and into Kazakhstan and Kyrgystan,
revealing the large range of this cultural
group. It is also interesting to note that
77 of these images, or 82%, date from the
Bronze Age. Ten are attributed to the Iron
Age, and only one belongs to the Turkic
period.
Warriors and Warrior Culture
There is also the matter of armed con-
flict. Depictions of warriors and of com-
bat are not uncommon at Biluut. Are
these emblematic, or ritualistic? Or are
they in some sense narrative, reflecting
 Time & Mind 355

Figure 15. Sample of human figures at Biluut. (Photos: author.)

a. Uncertain period. b. Bronze Age. c. Probably early Bronze Age. d. Early Iron Age.
e. Probably Iron Age f. Archaic, possibly Paleolithic g. Probably early Bronze Age h. Bronze Age.

genuine hostilities? This glacial basin is stone, and a salt flat that is used today.
endowed with an abundance of natural Lake core samples indicate that 3000
resources: unlimited fresh water, year- years ago the climate here was both
round ice, lush grasses, timber, game, drier and warmer, and forest cover
fish, mineral deposits and quarriable (Siberian larch, predominantly) was
356 R. Kortum
extensive (Jacobson, Kubarev, and
Tseveendorj 2001). Protected by high
mountains on both sides, east and west,
this must have been highly sought-after
territory. Did Biluut witness a violent
clash of cultures? Who fought with
whom? When? And why? Pictorial clues
Figure 16. Warriors with axes and spears on B1-E, Iron Age. Figures are rearranged to fit the
space, but true to scale.
are provided by details of clothing, head-
gear, armor, weaponry, posture, and
accompanying motifs (Figure 16, and see
also Figure 15d with the large cudgel).
So far, attempts to nail down the
cultural identity of the distinctive figures
shown below have proven unsuccessful.

They bear some resemblance to warriors
carved in relief on city walls at Persepolis.
But the ankle-length robes do not match.
Where did they come from? Where did
they go? Tall and slender, with narrow
waists, these figures sport long robes (of
mail?) with stiff collars and tall pointy
headgear, probably helmets. But perhaps
the elongation of the headgear is, like that
of the bodies, an intentional distortion. In
any case, with their spears, lances, and
long axes on the ready, they project a
fierceness. However warlike and success-
ful at arms they may have been, they look
ready to attack. What was the structure
and character of this society? Or were
they, rather an upstart, renegade band?
Were they intruders at this sacred center,
marauders from an eastern branch of
Scythians? Or were they staunch defen-
ders against barbarians at the gate? It is
too soon to tell. Curiously, this small
panel on Biluut 1E is the only place in
the entire complex where these figures
are found. Perhaps these people did not
remain long on the scene at Biluut.
It is interesting, too, that there are
no scenes of large-scale battle at Biluut,
nor, as far as I am aware, anywhere else
in the Altai, South Siberia, or Central
Asia. Jacobson, Kubarev, and
Tseveendorj (2001) have documented
depictions at Tsagaan Salaa/Baga Oigur
of attacks on caravans of laden yaks and
transport vehicles; but at Biluut, imagery
of what looks to be actual combat
always involve pairs of individuals only.
But, again, this does not rule out an
emblematic or symbolic meaning. One
must exercise caution in attributing a
descriptive or, especially, a narrative
function, even in cases that appear to
show a dynamic sequence (think of a
contemporary road sign that displays a
leaping deer, for instance, or one that
Time & Mind 357
visually warns motorists of a fox-hunt
crossing).
Scientific excavations might bear on
this. Buried artifacts shed light on routes
and times of cultural transmission and,
together with the rock art, can help us
identify social and ethnic differences as
well as external influences. From a
mound located at the bottom of a high
ravine along the western face of Broken
Mountain just east of Biluut 3, for
instance, we have retrieved artifacts with
marks diagnostic of a Genghissid warrior
(Fitzhugh, Kortum, and Bayarsaikhan
2012). The site was found to contain
several iron-tipped arrows and a sheep
knuckle-bone gaming piece with a hole
cut through it, as was the custom during
this period. In 2012, project cartographer
D. Cole and I found well-preserved iron
arrowheads at separate surface locations
on Broken Mountain and Biluut 1D,
respectively (Figure 17). Both date to
Mongolias medieval period. As yet, how-
ever, other than a handful of idiosyncratic
figures, no distinctive medieval figure-
types or styles have been classified for
Mongolian rock art. Found in such close
association with the abundant collection
of petrogyphs at Biluut, the presence of
burials and material artifacts from this
period suggests a need for greater refine-
ment in the classification of rock art
following the Turkic period of ca. 500
700 CE.
This leads directly to questions of
culture identification. Exactly which
groups built these stone structures and
engraved the smoothed bedrock faces?
At this time only broad brushstrokes
paint the sweep of cultures across
Central Asian and South Siberian moun-
tain steppe; localized patterns have barely
begun to be investigated. Except for iden-
tical figures found pecked on bedrock
358 R. Kortum
Figure 17. Iron arrowhead, surface find on B1-D, Medieval period. (Photo: David Edwards.)
panels and on Mongolian and Sayan-Altai
deer stones, a one-to-one mapping of
image to specific society is hardly to be
expected. Nevertheless, stylistic analysis
of decorated artifacts retrieved from
excavated sites (including, e.g., designs
on fabrics, ornaments, pottery, and head-
gear) can narrow the range of possibili-
ties. The utility of this approach is well
demonstrated (Jacobson 1993; Frohlich
2003; Kubarev 2007; Parzinger et al.
2009).
Birthing Woman
For the purpose of establishing cultural
affinities and connectedness, sometimes
what is not found at a particular site can
be just as illuminating as what is present.
Unlike the situation at Tsagaan Salaa/Baga
Oigur 75 kilometers to the north, human
figures that are identifiably female are
rare at Biluut. There are no so-called
bird women, for instance, a figure-type
described by Jacobson-Tepfer (2007) in
her landmark study of Central Asian
female rock art imagery. At Biluut only
three human females can be identified.
One, on B1C, with narrow waist and
wide hips, wears an ankle-length robe or
deel and sports two braids on either side
of her head. She stands immediately
below an archer of the same size,
whose bow and brimmed hat give indica-
tion of a Turkic pedigree. Another, of
indeterminate date near the summit of
B2, is paired in a possible erotic embrace.
These were documented in 2004 and
2007, respectively.
Four years later, in July 2011 another
figure of particular interest was discovered
during a first survey of the eastern slopes
of Juniper Mountain (Biluut 3). Towards
the mountains northeastern foot, on a
small, weathered, and obscure patch of
exposed metagreywacke immediately
above an ancient peat bog that separates
B3 from the foot of Broken Mountain, my
field assistant Jargalsaikhan (Jagaa) and I
located a third female figure. She measures
just 15cm in height, but displays conspicu-
ously a large round belly and swollen
breasts (Figures 18 and 19). Faded and

Figure 18. Birthing woman (and cups, left) on B3, late Neolithic or early Bronze Age. (Computer
enhanced photo: author.)
weathered, but highly expressive nonethe-
less, her uplifted arms are spread wide, as
are her raised legs. A small and slightly
elongated shape between them makes it
appear as though she is in the process of
giving birth.
This is yet another one-of-a-kind fig-
ure at Biluut probably iconic in stature
and intimately bound to some forms of
ritual. And although other depictions of
what might be birthing women are
reported at, e.g., Tsgaan Salaa/Baga
Oigur, Khutsoltin Gol, and Kalbakh-Tash
in the Russian Altai (Jacobson, Kubarev,
and Tseveendorj 2001; Jacobson-Tepfer
2006; Kubarev 1998), with few excep-
tions these figures are stick-like; and
many, if not most, are ambiguous
being readily susceptible to an
Time & Mind 359
interpretation as ithyphallic figures.
None that I have seen has a rounded
abdomen, and only one has something
like breasts. Only one has legs lifted high
and spread apart like this one at Biluut 3;
and this particular figure (at Baga Oigur)
looks rather to be one of an erotic pair
engaged in sexual intercourse.
What makes this figure at Biluut addi-
tionally intriguing is the fact that she is
surrounded by an irregular ring of round-
ish gouges (cups). When originally cre-
ated, these would have been deeper and
more conspicuous than they are now.
At the time we found the birthing
woman two of our archaeology teams
were excavating the remains of founda-
tions and hearths located nearby, just
above the peat bog and on the opposite
360 R. Kortum
Figure 19. Birthing woman (detail).
side of the ravine just below this image.
Two of these sites have subsequently
been carbon-dated to the late Neolithic/
early Bronze Age. Taken together with
her darkened coloration, weathered
appearance, and presence of small
cupules, this iconic females proximity to
these ancient domestic structures inclines
us to assign to her a late-Archaic date,
also.
Also peculiar is the fact that this
unique figure is pecked on a small, rather
obscure panel, all by herself. Again the
questions arise: Why just this one? And
why precisely here? Sense might be made
of this by considering how both in direc-
tion and slope this panel looks directly at
the near-vertical cliffs of Broken
Mountain, that rise imposingly immedi-
ately across the upper end of the narrow
peat trough. She faces due east, in the
compass of the rising sun at around mid-
summer.
One other feature of the topography
that might have played a role in both her
placement and her ceremonial or ritual
function is the presence of a cave on the
far side of the facing mountain. Caves,
rock shelters, and other subterranean fea-
tures, as is well known, are commonly
linked with the mysteries and mytholo-
gies of birth and the creative energies
that bear ontological associations with
coming-into-being and with natural
cycles of birth and death. The immediacy
of the frozen bog just meters below her
might also have something to do with the
communitys beliefs and practices con-
cerning birth and/or death. Stratigraphic
samples (for dating ancient pollens) were

taken in 2012; excavations for other sun-
ken materials are slated for 2015 and
2016.
Shamanic and Anthropomorphic Imagery
The evolving picture from Alataian rock art
sites must also clarify still-cloudy develop-
ments in realms that are arguably religious
and/or cosmological in character con-
cerning ideas, attitudes, and practices situ-
ated within what Jacobson (1993) has
Figure 20. Ceremonial figures, B1-E, Archaic (Paleolithic?).
Time & Mind 361
called the ecology of belief. These
include matters of deification, spirit and/or
nature worship, appeasement, protection,
supplication, devotional offerings, purifica-
tion, dream and vision quests, treatment of
the dead, etc. A number of Biluut panels
bear motifs that appear to be associated
with shamanism and/or which evoke
impressions of ceremony: humanoid fig-
ures appear to dance; while some wear
masks and/or horned headgear, others
brandish staves or crooks (Figure 20).
362 R. Kortum
Figure 21. Winged mushroom figure, B1-C, probably early Bronze Age. (Computer enhanced
photo: author.)
Some are winged or tailed (Figures 20 and
21). Often the suggestion of transforma-
tion or metamorphosis is strong (Jacobson
1990a, 1993; Ouzman 1998;
Rozwadowski 2001; Lymer 2009).
Above (Figure 20) a tall anthropo-
morphic figure is attended on either side
and below by smaller humanoid figures
with long tails (or exaggerated phal-
luses?). These might be parts of cos-
tumes. Two of them are crowned with
horns, and one holds a short stave in
one hand. These figures located on the
humped upper shoulder of Biluut 1E are
old and faded; originally there may have
been more. It is quite possible that all
had tails, horns, and staves. The central
figure is genie-like in appearance. It is
presented in a frontal view, though the
head looks to be turned to one side; the
chest tapers into a single trunk of a leg.
Arms are raised high over the head and
hold in each hand what appears to be a
crook. The triumphal gesture looks to

be one of power, of vested authority,
signaling an invocation or calling forth.
Something now obscure dangles from
the hook on the left hand; otherwise
this figure, and the composition as a
whole, exhibit a nice symmetry. The
fringe-like segments that drape from
the arms may be fringed sleeves, a com-
mon item in the shamans wardrobe
today; or they might have symbolic or
magical import. One possibility is that
of a transformative spirit-being summon-
ing the power to change into a great
tree: from the single trunk many limbs
branch from the main arms. Just below
this panel, in the center of the wash that
falls steeply to the hills southern base, is
erected an old, small mound, possibly an
ovoo. Excavations may reveal whether
the two features are connected.
The winged, mushroom-hatted figure
on the right (Figure 21) is found all by
itself on the southwestern side of the hill
(B1). It is quite modest in size, measuring
only 13.5cm tall. Similar mushroom-
hatted figures are found throughout the
Altai; but none that I have seen has wings.
These look rather like a dragonflys. Each
of these figures, Figure 20 and Figure 21
is the only one of its kind at the complex.
As far as I know, both are unique to
this place. Shamanic practices are still
very much alive throughout much of
Mongolia and South Siberia, including
western Bayan Ulgii. These individuals
exercise a large range of functions within
both traditional herding and contempor-
ary urban populations. They tell fortunes
and prophesize about any manner of
things; they exercise healing powers and
concoct, dispense, and/or administer her-
bal and other potions; they intercede
with the spirit world and engage in divi-
nation in matters more mundane (they
are hired to locate lost horses and stolen
Time & Mind 363
goods, for instance). And they perform a
great number of other functions, besides,
as needed or called upon.
In seeking after the meaning and pur-
pose of so-called shamanic and anthro-
pomorphic rock art designs, attention
must be given not only to the pictorial
content, one must also look carefully for
contextual signifiers in the form of spatial
orientations such as view-sheds and land-
scape alignments (cf. Jacobson-Tepfer
and Meacham 2009). These might be
immediate or remote.
The shamanic panel on B1E, for
instance, tucked beneath the summit on
its right and the long descending shoulder
of the gully on its left, has a narrow view
south to the end of the lake, over the
Khuiten Gol delta. What at the time of its
making lay below in this line of sight is the
business of our dirt archaeologists and
cartographers to reveal. Interviews and
surveys drawing on the customs and
beliefs of our summer neighbors local
herding families and closer inspection
of excavated soils for the presence of,
e.g., ritual botanicals, might also yield
important new insights into ancient prac-
tices in this sphere.
Chariots and Wheels
Now, with respect to the role of petro-
glyphs in illuminating Central Asian pre-
history, a theme with which I began,
there is at present a controversy con-
cerning depictions of what, following
Jacobson, I neutrally term wheeled vehi-
cles. These are widely referred to with
the theory-laden term chariots. The
prevailing textbook view sees these
images as evidence of invading aristo-
cratic warriors from the northwest,
proto-Indo-Iranians (Kuzmina 1998,
2007; 2008; Baumer 2012). Opponents
364 R. Kortum
hold that such figures represent local
phenomena such as humble carts and
perhaps shamanic voyagings (Jacobson
1990b; Jacobson-Tepfer 2012b; Francfort
1998).
According to Kubarev (2007, 67),
chariot images are comparatively rare at
Biluut. He counts only eight, claiming, all
are concentrated in a particular area of
the sanctuary Biluut-Tolgoi-3. Actually,
this locale corresponds to a sloping ter-
race high on the southwestern side of
our Biluut 1 that we identify as B1C.
But this count is quite wrong.
Apparently, Kubarev looked only at two
panels on this terrace: our Panel 81,
which contains six vehicles matching his
description, and Panel 29, probably,
which contains another two. In fact,
there are 16 images of wheeled vehicles
on B1C alone. There are also 10 more
on Biluut 1 one on B1B, three on B1D,
and six on B1E plus three on Biluut 2
and one more on Biluut 3, for a total
of 30.
Though obviously of a kind, each of
these depictions is unique, with several
preserving remarkable detail. Some
wheels have spokes, some do not.
Those with spoked wheels do not
always agree in the number of spokes,
even on the same vehicle. It thus
appears that an exact representation of
this feature was of little importance to
those who created them or to those
who were meant to view them.
Neither does there appear to be a
favored direction, left, right, up, or
down (although those in a group in
Figure 22 are all oriented upwards).
As is the case with all other wheeled
vehicles recorded as Bronze Age crea-
tions, these at Biluut are shown in a
distinctive birds-eye perspective. As
seen from above, draft horses or bovids
on either side are folded inward, as it
were, and thus lie on their sides with
legs outstretched oppositely (out-
wardly), while the wheels are laid out
flat and the platform/carriage and driver,
if there is one, are folded outwardly, so
that the driver lies down with his head
to the rear (see the figure of a driver at
bottom wearing a Napoleonic hat,
Figure 22). This is the conventional per-
spective found throughout Central Asia
and South Siberia (Jacobson 1990b;
Jacobson-Tepfer 2012b; Baumer 2012;
and numerous others).
As Baumer notes, this iconic aerial
perspective resembles the view looking
down into those graves in which a chariot
was entombed along with the charioteer
and harnessed horses. An association with
death is therefore sometimes advocated,
with respect to both the vehicle and the
(spoked) wheel on its own. Perhaps such
images were intended to signify the con-
veyance of the deceased into another
realm or stage of existence. Perhaps they
relate to cycles of life more generally as
the circular structure and internal organi-
zation of the transportable domestic ger
function symbolically in numerous ways.
However this may be, of these 30 images
at Biluut it turns out that only three have
drivers. None bears any feature even
faintly suggestive of a combat function or
context. Jacobson, Kubarev, and
Tseveendorj (2001) report that the same
is true of the complexes at Tsagaan Salaa
and Baga Oigur. This throws the aristo-
cratic warrior-charioteer theory into
doubt.
That said, one of the most exciting
images at Biluut, which I identified during
our 2011 field season, is the depiction of
what looks to be a true racing chariot and
charioteer (Kortum 2012) (Figure 23).
One of only three vehicle images on
 Time & Mind 365

Figure 22. Group of wheeled vehicles on B1-C terrace, Bronze Age.

Biluut 2, it is located on a prominent low with many diverse figures, including a large
outcropping of bedrock at the northern- number of magnificent bulls from the early
most end of the hill, facing southwest. The Bronze Age. The chariot and horse pair
panel on which it is engraved is crowded measures 16cm in length. Uniquely, it is
366 R. Kortum
Figure 23. Racing chariot, Biluut 2, probably Iron Age. (Computer enhanced photo: author.)
displayed in profile view. With no known
peer in Mongolia, its age and cultural affilia-
tion are undetermined, though in terms of
coloration, repatination, and technique it
resembles other figures on the same rock
that can with a high degree of confidence
be attributed to the Bronze Age. But the
style of the horses suggests a later date. At
the same time, the lack of a saddle and
stirrups in the lead horse are indicative of a
pre-Turkic sequence. Thus, it seems most
likely that these two figures were engraved
and incised here during the Iron Age, ca.
500 BCE200 CE.
In any case, the driver, who appears
to be kneeling, holds a steering device in
both hands (Figure 24). The horses out-
stretched legs, both fore and rear, impart
a dynamism to the scene that is wholly
foreign to conventional representations
and testify to the element of speed. A
mounted figure in elaborate headdress
racing along in advance of the chariot
also contributes to the implication of a
race. The reins leading from his hands to
the horses bridle beneath its muzzle are
so fine as to have been cut by a blade
(almost certainly of metal) as thin as a
razors. Note also that the headgear looks
to be the same as the one worn by the
tall archer on the opening page. That,
plus the superimposition of the neck
and head of the charioteers left (upper-
most) horse on top of the rear leg of an
early Bronze Age bull (in top right corner
of Figure 24), help in the assignment of a
cultural period.
As is well known, profile views, though
not rendered in this particular style, are
common among ancient Egyptian, Hittite,
and other subsequent Near Eastern wall
reliefs of the mid-second to mid-first mil-
lennium BCE. As far away as India a profile
view is found in cave paintings and petro-
glyphs, and in the other direction this view
is displayed in Late Bronze Age petro-
glyphs in Sweden. In the Mediterranean,
vase paintings, seal engravings, and tomb
inscriptions of Bronze Age Mycenaeans,
Minoans, and Greeks share a similar form
of profile view. But throughout Central
Asia this perspective seems to be wholly

Figure 24. Racing charioteer, profile view, detail. (Computer enhanced photo: author.)
foreign to any age. What is especially baf-
fling is why there should be just this one
example in the entire Biluut complex.
Once introduced, why did the artist
make no others? Was he or she a transi-
ent visitor to this place? But, why, then, are
no other images of this type found at
nearby rock art complexes in Bayan Ulgii
or in the larger Altai region? Was this
innovative perspective utterly rejected by
the community, its artists, or its leaders?
Or might it have been regarded as so
special mythic or sacred as to be
beyond imitation or repetition? So far
removed from the bulk of the other
wheeled vehicles concentrated on the
south side of Biluut 1, why was this parti-
cular spot chosen?
It is difficult to see how such ques-
tions can be answered definitively. Even
so, comparing images at Biluut with those
found at other Inner Asian locales helps
to chart the transmission of symbols,
styles, and techniques along with the
spread of knowledge (of technologies)
across time and space, and thus provides
further grist for culture theory.
Time & Mind 367
With respect to the depiction of
wheeled devices at the Biluut Petroglyph
Complex, the overwhelming preference
for Biluut 1 is no doubt a highly significant
feature of this center and requires expla-
nation. After all, 26 of the 30 images are
engraved here, and 16 of these are
located on B1C. Only one is found on
Biluut 3. It seems that ancient attitudes,
particularly those of regional Bronze Age
groups, that connect beliefs about sacred
landscape with mortuary and other sym-
bolic, ritual, and ceremonial traditions
hold the key to this clustering. On the
other hand, if these engraved figures
be intentionally representative of actual
wheeled conveyances used in or around
Khoton Lake, it is conceivable that a
more practical set of considerations
applies. All 26 wheeled vehicles on
Biluut 1 are located on the southwes-
tern side of the hill, hidden from view
from the only avenues of approach
(rough and uneven jeep tracks now)
that run between Biluut 2 and Biluut
3.9 This is especially true of the horizon-
tal ground panels on which all of Biluut
368 R. Kortum
Figure 25. B1-C terrace looking southeast to Khuiten Gol delta. (Photo: author.)
1Cs images of wheeled vehicles are
found (Figure 25). These 16 figures are
furthest removed from the open plains
on the other side. The slope leading up
to and down from the upper, more
level, section of this terrace is neither
rocky nor so steep as to inhibit the
passage of such a wheeled conveyance.
It is easy enough today to drive straight
up to this location in our jeep (which is
past its prime). Is it too fanciful to ima-
gine that this wide terrace once served
as a protected parking lot for chariots
and/or carts? A broad plain stretching
from the southern tail of B1 to Khuiten
Gol Delta, sufficiently flat and regular,
could conceivably have been used for
races (it looks to be the only suitable
place within a great many kilometers).
Or is some other concern at work
here? Something perhaps more symbolic
and spirit-oriented, or that served the
needs of rituals that have nothing to do
with the employment of wheeled vehi-
cles for warfare, hunting, or racing? The
fact that all 16 wheeled vehicles on B1C
are engraved on flat horizontal surfaces,
and thus face directly towards the hea-
vens, might favor a celestial or solar
interpretation.
As for the context of this prominent
clustering of wheeled imagery, it seems
worth noting also that at the upper, wes-
tern end of the B1C terrace is situated a
Late Bronze Age khirigsuur with a per-
fectly circular fence (diam. 13.1m). The
elevation (2188m), 115 meters above
the surface of Khoton Lake, is unusual
for these kinds of structures, which are
invariably found in low elevations, on the
plains, on valley floors, or at the bottoms
of slopes. This elevated location was evi-
dently chosen for its spectacular setting,
which enjoys a stunning view over the
lake and onto the facing snow-blanketed
peaks that rise just beyond (Figure 26).

Figure 26. Khirigsuur with small Eurasian deer stone in its mound, north end of B1-C terrace,
Bronze Age. (Photo: author.)
Indications are that a man of some
stature was ceremonially laid to rest on
this spot. A small deer stone of the
Eurasian type, 50cm tall, is erected in
the northwestern part of the mound.
Three slanted slashes mark its eastern
face. Although unheard of in central and
north-central Mongolia, this practice of
erecting a deer stone inside the sur-
rounding fence, if not directly into the
central mound itself, appears to be fairly
widespread in this part of the Mongolian
Altai, including southern Bayan Ulgii
aimag (Kortum 2009). It appears to be
common, also, on the other side of the
Altai divide, at Shebar-kul in Xinjiang, for
example (Hatakeyama 2002).
In any case, excavations in 2011 of
this structure on B1C revealed four dou-
ble-lines of stones radiating like spokes
on a wheel from the central mound to
Time & Mind 369
the surrounding fence (Fitzhugh, Kortum,
and Bayarsaikhan 2012). Outside the
fence on the northwest side are two
small hearth rings. Excavation of these
ritual stone features, called sacrificial
altars by some (e.g., Jacobson-Tepfer
and Meacham 2009), produced calcined
sheep remains and charcoal that gave a
radiocarbon age of cal. 31302850 BP.
Along with fragments of skin or bark, a
hammer-stone was retrieved from
beneath the central pile of stones. And
underneath, a poorly preserved human
skeleton, probably that of a male, was
found lying on its side with flexed knees,
without artifacts, in a shallow depression
at the exact center of the mound. Ash
and charcoal around the edges of the
mound indicate that the earth beneath
had been excavated to a depth of 40
50cm and ritually prepared by fire before
370 R. Kortum
Figure 27. Satellite photograph and digital drawing of a large, spoked khirigsuur at Biluut.
the body was interred. Although well
over one hundred mounds are found
throughout the larger complex, no
other fenced khirigsuur occupies this
side of Biluut 1.
Another spoked structure, by far the
largest khirigsuur at Biluut, is found right
alongside the main track near the lake
shore, in the rough, glacier-pocked plain
5.6km to the southeast (Figure 27). It,
too, has a belted, Eurasian-style deer
stone situated in its mound, on its eastern
side, and its double fence (diameter 50m)
is surrounded by an irregular ring of 57
hearth-rings of various size. Perhaps these
radial formations wheeled vehicles
and spoked khirigsuurs are related.
Charcoal and sheep bone retrieved
from two of the sacrificial hearths date
to 30802890 BP (Fitzhugh and
Bayarsaikhan 2009); but the mound itself
has yet to be excavated. It is hoped that
digs planned for 2015 and 2016, along
with the precise mapping of orientations
cardinal, topographic, and celestial, pos-
sibly will shed light on this clustering of
spoke-wheeled rock art figures at Biluut
1C, and, in addition, help to address
some of the uncertainties concerning
similar motifs found throughout the
wider region.
Geometric and Other Shapes
Tamgas
Tamgas, commonly thought of as clan
insignia, are also found in significant, per-
haps even surprising, numbers and vari-
eties at the Biluut Petroglyph Complex.
Such markings have been used through-
out Mongolia and most of Central Asia
by hundreds of generations of pastoralists
to brand not only horses and livestock,
but also to stamp ritual stone monu-
ments as well as valued household
belongings (Humphrey 2010; Mert
2010; Samashev 2010). Kubarev (2007)
notes the presence at Biluut of several
Turkic tamgas in the form of stylized
goats and discusses their historical roots
and possible geopolitical links. But there
are at least 27 different tamgas here.
These are more or less evenly distributed
across the three high hills though as a
percentage, the quantity on B2 is signifi-
cantly greater than on both B1 and B3.
We have identified 10 on B1, 10 on B2,
and seven on B3. Several can be linked to

forms found at other Altai sites in north-
western Mongolia, eastern Kazakhstan,
South Siberia, and western China (Pim,
Yatsenko, and Perrin 2010). Others
appear to be closely tied to seals and
insignia found among pastoralists in cen-
tral and eastern Mongolia.
The practice is clearly an ancient one:
Biluuts tamgas are distributed throughout
time as well as space. Unique examples
are attributable not only to the Turkic
period, during which time they seem to
be particularly in vogue, but date to the
Iron Age and even the Bronze Age. With
one exception, all are quite modest in
scale, in some places measuring less
than 5cm across. The exception is a dis-
tinctive milky-white symmetrical figure
Figure 28. Tamgas at Biluut (not to scale). Clockwise from upper left: B2 (Giant Horse Rock),
Iron Age; B3, Bronze Age; B3, period uncertain; and B1D, probably Bronze Age.
Time & Mind 371
(Figure 28, upper left) found at the top
of a large outcropping of conglomerate
stone, adjacent to the one at the western
base of Biluut 2 on which the giant
mounted Turkic warriors are arrayed.
Symbolic or even script-like in appear-
ance, this one measures 22cm in both
height and width. No others are nearly
as prominent as this. Indeed, many are
found, curiously, in rather out-of-the-way
locations on otherwise inconspicuous
and unprepossessing rocks or panel frag-
ments. As boundary or territorial mar-
kers, these would seem to be far too
small and hard to find to have been
effective. The reason for the making of
these signs in such circumstances is, thus,
still far from clear.
372 R. Kortum
Other Petroglyph Sites at
Biluut: Khuiten Gol Delta
Besides the imagery found on B1, B2, and
B3, our recent surveys turned up three
smaller patches of rock art at Biluut (see
Figure 7). One patch, located on the
lower western slopes of Broken
Mountain, was discovered by our project
cartographer D. Cole of the Smithsonian
in 2012. This July, Tserendagva and I, with
our field assistant Jargalsaikhan (Jagaa),
recorded nearly 200 petroglyphs here-
abouts. Looking across and down in the
direction of the birthing woman, we
found some nice early renderings of
bulls, both outlined and silhouetted. The
second batch, located on the Spring
House Bluffs a kilometer east of this,
was found to have 247 scattered petro-
glyphs, mostly Bronze Age figures of
average-to-poor quality and interest.
The most significant exception to this is
the large, enigmatic anthropomorphic fig-
ure near its summit (Figure 23). Along
Figure 29. Khuiten Gol Delta outcrop 1 (delta at middle right), looking east-southeast. (Photo:
author.)
with a thick bunch of nearly 1200 images
on Biluut 1E, full documentation of these
remaining figures was completed this past
July by our three-man team in just eight
days.
The third of these newly discovered
petroglyph sites is located on a low rise
immediately above the lake, just north-
west of where the meandering Khuiten
Gol empties into it (Figure 29). Following
Fitzhughs lead we call this site Khuiten
Gol Delta. It consists of three nearly
contiguous humps of varnished bedrock,
outcroppings labeled east to west KGD-
1, KGD-2, and KGD-3 (Figure 30). My
team first discovered this spot on the
final day of the field season in June
2011. With Jagaas assistance I recorded
its 130 pecked figures in June 2012.
Although comparatively small in num-
ber, imagery at Khuiten Gol Delta is sig-
nificant in many ways. Whereas a great
many of the petroglyphs on B1, B2, and
B3 are especially relevant for
 Time & Mind 373

Figure 30. KGD-1, KGD-2, and KGD-3.

reconstructing the spread of external Table 5. Khuiten Gol petroglyphs by cultural

Bronze and Iron Age cultures into this period.
region from the north and west, a large
proportion of images at KGD testifies to % of datable
an indigenous population of considerably Period Quantity figures
older date, whose character appears to Archaic (pre- 29 31.5
have been quite sophisticated well in Bronze Age)
advance of the incursions of outsiders Bronze Age 59 64.1
during the early Bronze Age and subse- Iron Age 4 4.3
Turkic 0 0
quent centuries (see Table 5). This is Ethnographic 0 0
corroborated by excavations of domes- Uncertain* 38
tic, mortuary, and other ritual structures TOTAL 130
carried out by Fitzhugh and Bayarsaikhan Total datable 92 100
in 2011 and 2012 (Fitzhugh, Kortum, and *Uncertain dates or cultural periods attach to
Bayarsaikhan 2012; Fitzhugh and Kortum small marks and to figures too weathered or
2013). So far, two archaic structures, one otherwise deteriorated to be distinguishable.
a burial, the other purely ceremonial,
have been unearthed at KGD-1 and smaller quantities of nicely worked bifa-
KGD-3, respectively. It is further sup- cial tools and cores found at KGD-3 (and
ported by the large numbers of also on Biluut 3) (Figure 31). Thus, this
Neolithic flakes and microblades, and by site offers the best chance for us to learn
374 R. Kortum
Figure 31. Bifacial scraper, KGD-3, Paleolithic (?). (Photo: author.)
something of value about the earliest
communities that thrived here, on the
eastern shores of Khoton Lake.
One of the most striking features of
KGD-1, KGD-2, and KGD-3 is their near-
ness to the lake. At KGD-2 and KGD-3,
especially, the lower sections of exposed
bedrock end just a few meters from the
shore or else, as in the case of the latter,
jut out directly above the surface. It pro-
vides today, as it must have done in
ancient times, an excellent spot for fishing.
It does not take long to appreciate that a
sizeable proportion of the figures is
Archaic (see Table 6). Especially promi-
nent are the large number and high quality
of argali sheep, pecked crisply in a stylized
manner. Up to 40cm in length, from an
aesthetic standpoint these are among the
most technically accomplished figures of
the entire complex. Three of these are
found together on an outstanding palimp-
sest in the middle of KGD-3 (Figure 32).
Elegant archaic spotted deer and bulls of a
high quality are also present; stick-like ithy-
phallic figures that possibly date to the
Upper Paleolithic are identical to those
found in significant numbers at Khutsoltin
Gol and in lesser concentrations at
Tsagaan Salaa (Jacobson-Tepfer 2007;
Jacobson, Kubarev, and Tseveendorj
2001). Further study of the rock art and
 Time & Mind 375

Table 6. Khuiten Gol Delta petroglyphs by but contains only 1,400 petroglyphs
figure-type. (Jacobson-Tepfer 2012a). By way of con-
trast, more than 6,000 petroglyphs
% of
(>3,400 distinguishable figures) have
identifiable
been documented on Biluut 1 alone.
Figure-type Quantity figures
Jacobson, Kubarev, and Tseveendorj
Ibex 25 29.4 (2005) report that the vast majority of
Argali 13 15.3 Aral Tolgois petroglyphs are Paleolithic,
Bovid 10 11.6
whereas only a few are Turkic. Their
Deer 9 10.6
Horse 6 7.1 more refined 2012 estimates are: Pre-
Human 5 5.9 Bronze Age 80%, Bronze Age 10%,
Canine 5 5.9 Early Iron Age 2%, Turkic period 1%,
Boar/pig 2 2.4 and 7% undetermined. At Biluut only a
Antelope 1 1.2 handful (< 0.5%) predate the Bronze
Crane/ostrich 1 1.2
Age, while approximately 64% and 31%
Fox 1 1.2
Geom shape: wavy 1 1.2 of datable figures are Bronze and Iron
line Age, respectively. In addition, Biluut pos-
Uncertain 5 5.9 sesses a fair number of Turkic figures (
representation 4%), including the parade of imposing
(none of the above)
mounted figures on Biluut 2, whose
Mark 8
Indistinguishable figure 37 length of 2.4m makes them the largest
TOTAL 130 figures yet recorded in Mongolia, if not
Total of 85 100 the whole of Central Asia (Figures 33 and
representational 34). For sites in such close proximity,
figures such disparities require explanation.
Then, too, as I have reported above,
monumental stone structures at this site is more than two dozen wheeled vehicles
expected to yield valuable information are found on Biluut 1, in a multiplicity of
about the size, activities, and character of forms. According to Jacobson, Aral Tolgoi
the communities that thrived at Khoton has only a single small, two-wheeled cart.
Lake long before the intrusion of outsi- To complicate matters, some petroglyph
ders, and of the cultural connections figures, such as crouching Bronze Age
between them and other archaic Altaian bowmen with floppy headgear and
settlements. pouches or quivers extending from their
waists, are identical in both places, Aral
Tolgoi and Biluut (and in many other loca-
Local Comparisons: Aral Tolgoi tions besides). It seems inconceivable
With virtually 100% of Biluuts petro- therefore that inhabitants of the one site
glyphs now recorded, some initial com- could have been wholly out of touch with
parisons with other regional sites can be those at their close neighbor. Closer
hazarded. Nearest is Aral Tolgoi, a mere inspection of these differences and com-
15km to the northwest as the crow flies.- monalities may reveal religious, social, eco-
10
Its lone whale-shaped hill, in size and nomic, and/or geographical factors that
basic topology, is similar to Biluut 1, might apply more widely.
376 R. Kortum

Figure 32. Panel with multiple figures at KGD-3.

Concluding Remarks and Future demographic, and linguistic divide. Best

Directions documented is the medieval Mongol per-
Art, Archaeology, and Ancient iod; but phases of empire and polity
Altai Frontiers growth and collapse are now rapidly
being documented for the earlier Kitan,
The past decade of research in Mongolia
Turkic, Xiongnu, and Late Bronze periods
has transformed conceptions of this part of
(Brosseder and Miller 2011; Turbat et al.
Inner Asia. Once relegated to peripheral
2011; Jacobson-Tepfer 2012a). According
status, the present territory of Mongolia is
to these latest studies, the past 3500 years
swiftly becoming recognized as a pulsating
have witnessed seven or eight seismic cul-
cultural center, one that exhibits alternating
tural crests and troughs, which occur with
periods of expansion and contraction as
increasing frequency. For the most part
well, periodically, as a major cultural,

Figure 33. The author atop the Giant Horse Rock at the western base of B2, Turkic period.
(Photo: Josh Gambrell.)
these waves have originated in Mongolias
central heartland, where explanations for
the recurrence and decline of large polities
have proven to be problematic. Genghis
Khans empire, for instance, has been var-
iously explained as an expansion driven by
a need to locate new pastures in a
period of drought and impoverishment
and as an opportunistic response to
nomadic economic surpluses (Jenkins
1974 and Hvistendahl 2012, respectively).
Unfortunately, in Mongolia paleo-environ-
mental research has not kept pace with
archaeology. Consequently, despite a pro-
nounced sensitivity to climate in this nar-
row band of grassland between the Gobi
Desert and Siberian forests (Davi et al.
2009), especially during periods of political
and demographic change, there is as yet
little sound evidence for correlating climate
Time & Mind 377
with rises and falls of Mongolian cultures
and polities. Modeling studies using histor-
ical data on climate and herd size demon-
strate wide regional and chronological
variation in carrying capacity in response
to changes in temperature, humidity, pre-
cipitation, and storm events such as winter
dzuds (cf. Cioffi et al. 2011). Weather has
undeniably impacted Inner Asian cultural
history. But in the absence of longer,
more reliable environmental records, gen-
eralizations about, e.g., Mongol and
Xiongnu empires remain speculative.
Ongoing pollen analysis from our 2012
field season, combined with our upcoming
tree ring study slated for Summer 2015, is
likely to be more illuminating, especially
when meshed with models like Cioffis.
We hope to establish in our second
stage these two basic, yet critical
378 R. Kortum
Figure 34. Two of the mounted Turkic figures with elaborate headgear reveal a wealth of
cultural information.
parameters: the time of Khoton Nuur
basins deglaciation; and the general dates
of vegetation succession (including, specifi-
cally, the transition from forest cover to
grassland).
With such data we look to correlate
climatic phases with cultural activity,
reflected as well as may be in the pet-
roglyphic and/or archaeological record,
and expect to discern details of the
permeability and shifts in ancient bor-
ders pertinent to our goal of illuminating
empire and frontier relationships. We
already know, for instance, that the
apparent lack of Xiongnu and Kitan
sites in the northwestern corner of
Mongolia implies an absence of influ-
ence here from these central
Mongolian and northern Chinese-based
empires, whereas the conspicuous

presence of Pazyryk and Turkic graves
and ceremonial constructions shows
that this Altaian territory was not per-
ipheral to these two powerful polities.
These data serve a number of cru-
cial purposes for our cultural research.
First, the emergence of mobile pastor-
alism can be more precisely dated;
further, this event can be correlated
with climate change, also detectable by
our palynology studies. Moreover, these
data facilitate the dating of certain pet-
roglyph images, e.g., of early herding and
hunt scenes, as well as depictions of
wild vs. domesticated bovids, horses,
caprids, and camels. And since these
paleoenvironmental markers can estab-
lish a reliable date for the deglaciation of
our geological basin and, hence, when
the earliest grasses appear they set an
upper age limit to the oldest petro-
glyphs. Finally, these studies may tell us
whether and to what extent agrarian
practices such as the cultivation of
millet, or ritual or medicinal uses of
particular botanicals, occurred in this
mountain zone. This provides yet
another means for tracking the spread
of culture and assessing our hypotheses.
Varieties within and among figure-
types provide information concerning
social, ethnic, and religious structures,
practices, and/or beliefs. Wheeled vehi-
cles are packed with information that can
be broken down into specific chronolo-
gical and cultural taxonomies (Jacobson
2012b). Human figures with elaborate
headgear, regalia, weaponry, and other
paraphernalia furnish evidence of ethnic
affiliation as well as ritual custom, while
high concentrations and clustering of
images of large bovids dating to the late
Archaic period, for instance, invite an
iconic interpretation and very likely
reflect a ritual function related to both
Time & Mind 379
an ethos and an economic order based
on hunting prowess and masculine
power. According to some, Late Bronze
Age images of elaborately stylized deer
indicate a centralized belief in the powers
of a goddess or master spirit. But it is not
merely their descriptive or representa-
tional content that makes them cultural
signifiers; both form and context convey
valuable information. Taking into consid-
eration all of these dimensions, compar-
isons of rock art at Biluuts six main
locations with those from the larger
region will provide strong support for
the relative connectedness of Altaian
populations at particular times.
Finally, as a point of departure, one
last remark concerning the constituents
of ritual landscape: I should just like to
point out that any examination of ritual
landscape in the High Altai simply cannot
ignore the celestial environment. Besides
the powerful influence of the sun and the
more familiar solar cycles and events, I
am convinced that the night sky that is
to say, the configuration and movements
of stars and planets, and the moon
played an important role in the lives of
prehistoric peoples in this region. At
these elevations, and with a total absence
of light pollution, you have only to look
up into the blazing band of the Milky
Way on a clear moonless night at Biluut
to get an overwhelming sense of this
truth. The enduring presence of such
bright, fiery beings, seemingly almost
within arms reach, further ignited by sud-
den silent streaks of light, must have been
something to which early peoples here
were acutely attuned. Henceforward, we
must carefully re-examine the corpus of
imagery at Biluut and nearby sites with an
eye on the possibility that certain figures
pecked and engraved into the exposed
bedrock were representations of celestial
380 R. Kortum
beings in the form of constellations, in
the way of ancient Greeces Great Bear
(Ursa Major) and Orion the hunter. In
previously untried ways this project inte-
grates rock art and dirt archaeology with
settlement archaeology and anthropol-
ogy, ethnography, paleoecology, geomor-
phology, photogrammetrics, and GIS
(and now astronomy) within a single the-
oretical framework. This multidimen-
sional approach facilitates a comparison
of mountain cultures, their boundaries
and movements, with Mongolias heart-
land, Siberias Ukok Plateau and
Minusinsk Basin, eastern Kazakhstan, and
Chinas Xinjiang province. The character
of a much larger chapter of Central Asian
and South Siberian history, through the
lens of prehistoric petroglyphs in associa-
tion with ritual stone monuments, thus is
brought into sharper focus. Much work
remains to be done.
Acknowledgments
I wish to thank my research partner Bill
Fitzhugh at the Smithsonian for sharing with
me his profound knowledge, vast (and colorful)
experiences, immense goodwill, good sense,
and sense of humor over these many years.
He has contributed a lions share to the success
of this project. His shadow looms large across
this paper. I am also grateful for the staunch
support and generosity of Bill Duncan, Vice
Provost for Research at ETSU. I gratefully
acknowledge funding awarded by the National
Endowment for the Humanities, the American
Center for Mongolian Studies, and ETSUs
Research and Development Committee.
Other support has been generously donated
by the Departments of Philosophy and
Humanities, Sociology and Anthropology,
Biological Sciences, Geosciences, and the
Honors College. Thanks also to Smithsonian
cartographer Dan Cole and to ETSU GIS spe-
cialist Ke Chen for supplying background maps
(for Figures 7 and 30) and for contributing data
Tables 3 and 4 (and related statistics). Thanks
to many other current and former ETSU
faculty for their active involvement, especially:
geologist Mick Whitelaw, surveyor Jerry Nave,
paleoecologist Mike Zavada, and paleobotanist
Chris Liu. To the ETSU Honors College and its
Office of International Education and Programs
and Office of Undergraduate Research a spe-
cial thanks for supporting the many students
who have made contributions to our work at
Biluut. Thanks to Jean-Luc Houle, Ken Lymer,
and Julia Clark for welcome collaborations in
the field. Photographer David Edwards of
Flagstaff, Arizona has been a boon to our field-
work during three seasons; his photographs
have made an impact in all sorts of ways.
Special thanks are due my Mongolian colla-
borators, without whom this work would not
be possible: to Bayaraa and colleagues at the
National Museum of Mongolia; to my chief
rock art research partner Tserendagva
(Tsedo) of the National Academy of Sciences
Institute of Archaeology; to expedition outfitter
Canat Cheryasdaa; and to my eagle-eyed field
assistant Jagaa. I am lucky, grateful, and proud to
have had the volunteer help of my wife, artist
Theresa Markiw, who, as Public Affairs Officer
at the US Embassy in Ulaanbaatar first intro-
duced me to the wonders of Mongolia in 2001;
she has helped to open many doors for us and
in the field has produced some magnificent
illustrations and paintings for our field reports,
project website, and forthcoming books. An
expression of profound gratitude and praise is
reserved for Esther Jacobson-Tepfer of the
University of Oregon. We are all indebted to
her for her tireless groundbreaking work; but I
feel especially fortunate and honored, and will
be forever grateful to Esther for her having
given me so much inspiration, information,
and encouragement. Esther has served as con-
sultant on our NEH-funded project. With all
the expert help I have received from so many,
the flaws in this paper are my own.
Notes
1. At Aral Tolgoi and Cirgal, respectively.
2. Perhaps half a dozen families set up camp
in the study area; a small number also
seasonally inhabit the far, southwestern
side of the lake.
3. VML is a layering whose microstratigraphy
coincides in certain desert environments
(trials carried out in California, South

America, and the Sahara, so far) with
changes in local paleo-climates.
4. The concept of percolation referred to by
Lymer in this passage draws upon C.
Witmores (2006) observations of how
things are filtered through porous pro-
cesses in the landscape: material realities
of the past archaeological structures, arti-
facts, etc. continually bubble-up into the
present. I think of it as the nourishing air
percolating through the water of a fish tank.
5. This discussion raises difficult but impor-
tant questions that lead outside the scope
of this paper, concerning such things as
the selection and preparation of petro-
glyph-makers, the transmission, training,
and practicing of technique and form,
and the development of unique individual,
or signature, styles. In an especially large
figure, for example, or in a multi-figured
scene, can just one, or can many hands be
seen at work? Our planned use of
Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI)
and photogrammetric techniques in the
2015 field season should help to address
these questions.
6. Figures that make up a distinct scene of
one kind or another say the dogs in a
hunting scene are counted individually.
Compound figures, such as a wheeled vehi-
cle pulled by yoked horses and driven by a
human figure, are treated as single figures.
7. Exceptions to this are five engraved stones
measuring between 12cm and 20cm
across that are easily transportable.
8. Final data collection at Biluut was completed
in July by Tserendagva, Jargalsaikhan, and
myself.
9. A small track that runs through the nar-
row valley between B1 and B2, used spor-
adically by local herding families on their
way to or from the northwest, was made
by my drivers during the past nine years.
But even this little-used path is hidden
from B1C and the entire southwestern
side of the hill.
10. Kubarev erroneously reports the distance
as 34km.
Notes on contributor
Richard Kortum, DPhil, is Associate Professor in
the Department of Philosophy and Humanities
Time & Mind 381
at East Tennessee State University, Johnson City,
TN. He teaches and conducts research in both
analytic philosophy and the humanities: cultural
and art history, arts, and ideas. He received his
doctorate in philosophy of language from
Oxford University in 1994 and studied earlier
at Duke University and Cambridge University.
He is the author of Varieties of Tone: Frege,
Dummett, and the Shades of Meaning (Palgrave
Macmillan, 2013) and, forthcoming, The
Petroglyphs of Biluut Tolgoi: A Prehistoric Sacred
Center in the Mongolian Altai (with Yadmaa
Tserendagva: Nepko, 2015) and Rock Art and
Archaeology of Inner Asia: The Biluut Petroglyph
Complex (with William Fitzhugh: Cambridge
University Press, 2016).
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