Petroglyph group Ia

Central Rock

The central Old Zalavruga rock is covered with a great number of petroglyphs. They are located close to each another and sometimes overlap one another. There are images of very long boats (7) with a big number of rowers and their number varies from 18 to 27. There are also a lot of anthropomorphic images engraved in profile but some figures are engraved frontally. Two men are three-fingered. Their hands are put sidewise and their arms are shortened downward. The composition showing two people with one of them engraved face forward and the other one engraved in profile is worth mentioning. The composition is called the scene of defloration or an act of delivery. The central rock group has some very expressive images of horned deer or bears but the latter are small in number. Three deer images stand out of all the other engravings due to their length of 3 meters. They were the last ones to be engraved. The rock surface had already been covered with engravings made before and the three deer images overlapped some of the previously made engravings.

North-East Slope

Some petroglyphs areas are in good condition but some part of surface is damaged by weathering. Man is the main subject of the petroglyphs. Man is fighting, hunting deer or whales or taking part in ski treks. Typically, the images are small sized. There are a lot of compositions with a great number of figures and these compositions are linked. The engraving of a deer which hind limb is joined with a spiral is considered to be unique. The spiral might stand for a solar symbol. There are some images of nontypical boats and there are no rowers in them. The boat images have engraved streaks forming a kind of “windows” and the boat nose has form of an extended overhang. These images probably show wood framed boats which differ from typical dugout boats. The north-west slope has two incredibly expressive scenes of skiing treks. One of the engravings shows 3 men. They differ in height, core width and face features. The last skier in the procession is carrying something on his back, which might be a backpack. The other scene shows 4 skiers moving in the same direction but their gender cannot be defined. The figures differ, too. The last skier is carrying a “backpack”, the third one who is the tallest of all the others has a plump stomach and the first and the second ones look like teenagers judging by their sizes and proportions. The bottom part of the north-west slope has another, a phallic one, image of a man, which is not typical of the petroglyphs. The man’s body is a bit turned and one can see two legs. The man’s hand is up and is touching the back of head, which makes the engraving special because the man looks like an “ancient thinker”.