Ibex and Hunter Petroglyph
2016 © Maxim Tabachnik
Ibex Hunt and Sun SymbolsHunting Scene with IbexSacred Ibex and Leopard HuntHunting with Tamed Snow LeopardsGoat PetroglyphIbex PetroglyphHunter with Bow PetroglyphHunting Scene PetroglyphMax by the Ibex Hunt SceneIbex Petroglyph with Sun MotifIbex and Hunter Petroglyph

Ibex and Hunter Petroglyph

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Lines pecked into dark basalt outline a large ibex with spiraled horns and a smaller human figure approaching it. The petroglyph (8th c. BC–5th c. AD) belongs to the open-air rock art of Cholpon-Ata, where many such scenes cluster along ancient routes. The pairing of hunter and mountain animal suggests a link between subsistence, status, and sacred forces of the steppe landscape.