Petroglyph group IV

It is the most numerous and varying in motifs Zalavruga group. Moreover, it is among the best groups in terms of the engraving quality characterized by a very careful picketage technique in most cases. In addition, the petroglyphs’ condition is good. 422 petroglyphs cover the area of 15 square meters. More than half of them show minute images of various prints and traces. They were left either by ski sticks or skis, or they are meese, deer and bears’ tracks, or they are traces of human feet. There is a great number of engravings showing hunting weapons such as arrows, bows, cockers with arrows and some spears as well. The image of oars and a life-size deer spoor are found in the group, too. The image of a tree is considered to be a rare one. The most popular motif of the images found in the group is hunting. One can see the scenes of winter moose hunting, summer white whale hunting, spring geese hunting. The scene showing the struggle between man and bear is not typical of the petroglyphs, which makes it especially interesting.

The scene of moose hunting covers half of the rock surface.It shows the end of the winter, the ground is covered with ice crust, and there are many men figures in the image. Obviously, all the images were engraved at the same time. The ancient artist considered the rock micro-relief details. As far as the number of tiny details and the engraving quality concerned, the left part of the rock surface cannot be compared to any other rock art images found in Northern Fennoscandia. The other composition considered to be as unique as the first one is located in the right rock area.It shows a boat with 12 men in it hunting the white whale. All the figures are characterized by the same intense pose. The men’s knees are bent and their hands are put out. All the men are holding short paddles except the one in the front. Most of the hunters have a kind of “snags” on their heads that are the details of the men’s headwear. The men’s noses and chins are clearly seen. Images 6, 7 and 12 have masculine sexual characters.