Topic: World Heritages I Azerbaijan I Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape

Hundreds of thousands of years ago, groups of people left humanity’s ancestral home, Africa, and set out on a quest for new lands.

The pioneers were few in number and could not always survive the threats they faced. Yet despite all difficulties, they pressed on. Centuries, perhaps even millennia after that first exodus, the first foundation of future civilizations on Earth – campfires –appeared. The emergence of human civilization stands so far distant, and traces of early reasoned behaviour are so difficult to detect from the insignificance of their impact on the surrounding world, that new discoveries concerning our ancestral habitats always create a sensation. And so Gobustan, with its innumerable rock drawings, represents a unique book in stone.

https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000368373

Science Research

It is in essence a chronicle of one centre of civilization engraved in rock. Gobustan, a geographical region in East Azerbaijan, is a vast area with ravines, cliffs and valleys between the south-eastern foothills of the Greater Caucasus and the Caspian Sea. From this landscape, the territory was named Gobustan – land ofravines. Sea of stones A considerable area of Gobustan is a chaotic jumble of rocks. Geologists theorize about their origin as follows: the huge enclosed body of water that emerged from the waters of the Tethys began to shrink about 800,000 years ago. Its bed, soft folds of loose loam, was subjected to the impact of wind and rain, and as a result, deep, broad combes were formed. Areas of the former seabed, consisting of more durable shell limestone, are preserved in the form of low plateaus, the edges of which have been constantly eroding. Boulders and stones rolling down the slopes eventually created the fantastical landscape that Gobustan researcher Ishag Jafarzadeh described as a ‘sea of stones’.

This ‘sea of stones’ that emerged over the centuries created about twenty large and small caves providing shelter for people. On the inner and outer walls of these shelters, drawings of people, animals and various marks were immortalized. At present, the climate of Gobustan is mild and dry semi-desert. Average annual temperature is 14.5 °C. The area has one of the lowest rainfall averages in the country (220 mm), falling primarily in March-April and October-November (105 mm). Although natural conditions are unfavourable, one can find species of fox, wolf, snake, lizard, pigeon, rabbit and partridge, in addition to many species of birds. Scientists who have studied the region believe that when humans appeared on the Absheron Peninsula, it probably had a tropical climate with high average temperatures and abundant precipitation in the rainy season.

The landscape was similar to a savannah, like those found across much of South America and Africa today. In contrast to the steppes, savannahs are fertile with not only grass – mostly perennial grasses – but also with shrubs and trees occasionally forming forests. The area was rich in flora and fauna. Later, as precipitation increased, pomegranate and pistachio groves, and fig and other fruit-bearing trees appeared on the peninsula. The rich variety of the fauna in Gobustan is reflected in the rock drawings. HW o r l d H e r i t a g e N o . 9 243Special Issue© Gobustan Rock Art Landscape.

Humans who settled in Gobustan more than 20,000 years ago are believed to have lived in a communal clan system, which was based on kinship ties on the maternal side, tribal ownership of the means of production, and collective production and consumption. The leading role in the life of the tribe was played by women: homemakers, caregivers of children and the main suppliers of food, since only gathering guaranteed daily food at the time. The period of matriarchy depicted on the rock art of Gobustan lasted several millenia, but gradually, under the influence of new tools, especially the bow and arrow, and such activities as cattle breeding and agriculture, the baton was handed over to men as primary breadwinners. During the Mesolithic, man not only found food by hunting, fishing and gathering, but also produced food and learned how to create food reserves, as evidenced by the single-type holes carved into the rocks.

Rock engravings and settlement sites

The rock engravings of Gobustan were revealed for the first time by a prominent Azerbaijani archaeologist, I. M. Jafarzadeh, in 1939, at the foot of Jingirdagh Mountain and on Yazili Hill, and in 1940, in the region of Boyukdash and Kichikdash Mountains. Systematic study of the rock carvings of Gobustan has been conducted since1947. On the surface of 1,000 rocks, the contour and silhouette drawings of people, animals, various symbols and inscriptions were discovered.At present, the number of pictures revealed exceeds 6,000, covering the period from the Upper Palaeolithic Era to the Middle Ages.

For the number of rock drawings and the diversity of themes and techniques in the drawings, Gobustan may easily be compared to a vast art gallery. According to many historians, including Gobustan researchers Ishag Jafarzadeh, Jafargulu Rustamov and Firuza Muradova, this material is important for studies of the spiritual culture and religion of the tribes that inhabited not only ancient Absheron, but the whole Caucasus.


Rock engravings and settlement sites

The myriad themes and narratives, and the chronological strata of Gobustan rock scenes give evidence of a lengthy human presence in this area.Gobustan is an archaeological area also known for its dozens of ancient human sites, places of habitation, burial sites and other monuments belonging to various historical periods. The caves of Gobustan occupy a special place among its features.

Caves now called ‘Ana-zaga’, ‘Kaniza’, ‘Cave of Hunters’, ‘Aurochs’, ‘Firuz’, ‘Dashalti’, ‘Gazelles’, and others, belonging to the Stone, Bronze and later ages, were uncovered in Gobustan. Thousands of scrapers, chisels, awls, knives, axes and arrowheads made of flint and river pebbles, as well as items of adornment and the bones of animals from the Gobustan region (aurochs, gazelles, mountain goats and others) dating back to the Upper Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic periods, have been found in these caves during archaeological excavations. The materials discovered now comprise the archaeological fund of the Gobustan Reserve.A treasure trove of rock art As previously noted, Gobustan petroglyphs belong to different epochs and cover a very long period from the Upper Palaeolithic to the Middle Ages. In this respect alone, Gobustan’s book of stone is considered unique among the world’s collections of rock art. Also striking is their extraordinary diversity, a succession of styles, designs and techniques. The Gobustan rock drawings were made by carving, rubbing, scratching and chiselling techniques.The main theme of the ancient pictures on the rocks of Gobustan comprises scenes of ancient humans and their way of life related to hunting and fishing. Men and women, armed and unarmed hunters, men riding on horses, boats with men paddling are all depicted. The animal images in the rock drawings are strikingly varied. They include bulls, goats, horses, deer, wild boar, lions, tigers, wolves, foxes, dogs, cats, fish, birds, snakes, lizards, turtles, insects and more. The sun, stars, swastikas, crosses and tamgas – abstract stamps or seals – can also be seen inscribed on the rocks. © Farhad AshrafogluGobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape.W o r l d H e r i t a g e N o . 9 244Special Issue Gobustan

Musical stones and mysterious cupules Gobustan’s unique rock engravings and inscriptions are part of a huge cultural layer that began to form millennia ago.Art appeared in the Upper Palaeolithic age, and its development continued in the Mesolithic era.

Its forms were not yet diverse, but there was already music, mostly ritualistic in nature. It is not coincidental that there are petroglyphs on the Gobustan rocks from different periods showing individual and group ceremonial dances reminiscent of ‘Yalli’, the contemporary Azerbaijani folk dance. Ancient Gobustan inhabitants accompanied their holidays, ‘Yalli’ dances and other ceremonies with music.

This is confirmed by the ‘ancestor’ of ancient musical instruments discovered in the Jingirdagh and Boyukdash Mountains.The images are realistic and large, sometimes larger than life-size. One depiction of a fisherman, for instance, is almost 4.3 m long, and several oxen images are over 2 m. In the Iron Age, armless anthropomorphic figures appear and the most recent images from the Middles Ages include a camel caravan, armed riders.

Proof of Roman occupation Ancient epigraphical remnants with great historical significance have also been discovered. For instance, an ancient Latin inscription was found on a large rock in the south-eastern foothills of Boyukdash Mountain. It gives evidence of the deployment of the twelth Roman legion and its centurions at the time of Emperor Domitian’s rule in Gobustan (81-96 AD). Written sources mention the Roman invasion of the Trans Caucasus and the struggle of the local nations against the invaders, but this occupation of the Romans in Azerbaijan in the 1st century AD was first documented on this stone. themes.

It is difficult to determine the purpose of the invasion, but we know at that time the ancient road running from the Near East and heading north along the western coast of the Caspian Sea passed through here. The inscription reads as follows: ‘The age of Imperator Domitian Caesar Augustus Germanicus. Lucius Julius Maxim centurion of the 12th Fulminata Legion’. The Emperor Domitian received the title ‘Germanicus’ in 84 AD. After his death (96 AD), the Roman senate gave orders to destroy all his statues and erase his name from all inscriptions because of his cruelty and despotism. This means that the Roman inscription in Gobustan was carved between 84 and 96AD. The Romans never again visited the territory of Azerbaijan after the death of Emperor Domitian.

Gaval Dash

This instrument is called ‘Gaval Dash’, a musical stone that was probably used as a primitive percussion instrument during ritualistic dances. When struck with stones of different sizes, it produces metallic sounds of various tones.Among the monuments of Gobustan, the oldest shelters and caves, belonging to the end of the Upper Palaeolithic era and the Mesolithic period, are concentrated on the upper slopes of Boyukdash and KichikdashMountains..

Several large stones known as "gavaldashes", which served as drums, were found in Gobustan. If you wait for one of the several tour guides around, you'll be impressed by the echoing sound these stones make simply by striking another stone at them. Their sounds could be heard for several kilometres in the wide valley.

During this period, the Gobustan petroglyphs are mostly multifigured and depict people and tribesmen at hunting scenes, fights, fishing and dancing. They convey not only the event, but also the main feeling of the time, that man is no longer an easy prey of wild animals but already claims to be the master of the world.

The eleven skeletons found in the Mesolithic site of Firuz arouse particular interest. Two of them are women and one a child; the others are all male skeletons. A large number of nucleuses (fruit seeds), cutters, knives, traps, microliths, arrowheads, pins and chisels were found here.Holes in the rock with diameters varying between five and eight cm were found, assumed to have been used to tie animals near the shelters. There are also numerous hollows with diameters from 15 to 40 cm and depths between 10 and 30 cm. It is generally accepted that these so-called cupules are among the earliest manifestations of human creative work. They are an essential but quite mysterious part of ancient rock art, though for a long time the majority of researchers attributed their rise to the everyday needs of early communities.

Cupules are often found near the caves, grottos and rock shelters, the dwelling sites in the Stone Age. Researchers date them from the Neolithic era.At present, there are widely differing views as to the interpretation of cupules. Some researchers classify these hollows as Gobustan kitchens, theorizing that they served as vessels. Others believe they may have been used for collecting sacrificial blood or rainwater.

In the Gobustan region, 152 stones with 436 cupules have been discovered and registered. The cupules found were hollowed out of the rock with stone tools of a harder rock, such as flint, basalt, hornstone or jasper, by primitive craftsmen of the ancient cultures inhabiting the territory of Gobustan.

Still other researchers believe they may be astral maps of constellations, or that they indicate the direction of currents of water; perhaps they symbolize the female sex or they served as a place to make offerings to the gods.Burial mounds and sacred sanctuaries Alongside the settlements in Gobustan, various grave monuments, especially numerous Bronze Age mounds, have been explored through archaeological excavations. The Gobustan mounds are typically of circular stone with a separate cover. Skeletal remains, several petroglyphs, Bronze Age archaeo-logical objects, and many anthropomorphic headstones have been found. Megalithic monuments, called dolmens, have also been recorded in Gobustan. These constructions are in the shape of a large stone box covered with a flat plate.Since 1961, excavations and research of some 40 mounds and kurgans (tumuli) belonging to the Bronze Age and later periods have been conducted by archaeologists F. Muradova and C.Rustamov. They found clay and ceramic dishes, adornments (mainly beaded necklaces from seashells and amulets from river stones), weapons and other objects. At present, more than 100,000 archaeological artefacts are stored in the Gobustan Reserve funds. They attract the interest of geologists, botanists, soil scientists and investigators in other fields of science.The most remarkable view of Gobustan is from the higher peaks scattered with boulders. These rocks, very close together, have formed caves for the ancient inhabitants for thousands of years, serving as places of worship and rituals honouring their ancestors and the mountains. Up to the present, the tradition of worshipping around Gobustan continues. According to local lore, it is customary for wedding participants and guests to go to Boyukhdash Mountain to dance in front of the petroglyph of the ‘Yalli’ dance. Another noteworthy example is the Garaatly temple on Kicikhdash Mountain. Modern-day pilgrims visit the temple and typically tie coloured strips of cloth to the branches of nearby bushes and trees or build miniature houses with stones, hoping for their wishes to be granted.

The Gobustan National Historical and Artistic Reserve

The Gobustan National Historical and Artistic Reserve, located on the Absheron Peninsula, 60 km south of Baku, was first established as a State Reserve in 1966, It comprised 4,530 ha of the Boyukdash, Kichikdash, Jingirdagh mountains and Yazili hill to be taken under protection The Reserve gained national status in 2007.The quality, density and significance of its collection of rock engravings is such that in 2007 the Reserve was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape. The World Heritage site covers an area of 537 ha.In 2011, large-scale construction work was carried out, and in 2012, the administrative building and a museum equipped with modern technology were opened. In 2012, Gobustan National Historical and Artistic Reserve was one of eight museums chosen for the European Museum of the Year Award. Integration of the ‘Gobustan route’ into the cultural tourism itineraries categorized as ‘ancient writings on stone’ was ensured by certification of the European Cultural Rural Institute in 2015.The Gobustan Reserve currently has scientific departments for Exposition, Excursion, Innovation and Storage.Deciphering our cultural past Scientists have been engaged in deciphering the rock carvings of Gobustan for more than three-quarters of a century. Judging by the abundance of petroglyphs found, this work will take many more years, as almost every rock drawing is a coded message from past generations of ancient artists.

The artists very often applied a new image over an old one to suit their own purpose. They also had their own language. Some of whose characters are clear to us, while other characters still give rise to endless speculation and myriad theories, some quite fantastical. Research within the project ‘Establishing a digital database of rock images’, launched in Gobustan in 2016, is still in progress. The purpose of the project is to re-document the rocks in the conservation area to create a digital database of Gobustan rock images and a new catalogue. As a result of the 3D photography method, 521 new images were found in Jingirdagh-Yazilytepe, where previously 877 images had been recorded. The newly discovered drawings are mainly goats, deer, lions, various abstract designs, tamgas, and vehicle pictures typical of Yazilytepe. And a completely new monument complex was discovered. In this new area, called ‘Sona gaya,’ more than 100rock images were recorded on 30rocks.

Perhaps the most important point to be made about Gobustan and its extraordinary rock art is that by carving silhouettes of animals, people and boats into the rocks with sharp stones, primitive humans thus recorded information for the first time and stored it for future generations. It was a true information revolution, a launch pad for the cultural history of humankind. The ancient inhabitants of Gobustan played a very important role here. According to Azerbaijani researchers the Gobustan records in this book of stone are many thousands of years older than the first pictographic tablets from Mesopotamia. Only the Blombos engravings in South Africa, which are more than 75,000 years old, precede Gobustan’s as carriers of cultural information. Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape.


https://www.worldheritagesite.org/list/Gobustan+Rock+Art

https://www.gobustan-rockart.az/

https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1076



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