Kalbak-Tash Archaeological Complex in Altay

The Kalbak-Tash archaeological complex is one of the most important collections of rock petroglyphs not only in Altay, but all over the world. The earliest petroglyphs appeared here in the Neolithic era (6 thousand years BC). The latest petroglyphs of Kalbak-Tash are dated to the era of Turkic rule (7th century BC). 

Petroglyphs Kalbak-Tash means "Flat Stone" in translation. Here tourists can see the largest collection of rock petroglyphs in Altay, which are located on a hill above the Chuya Highway. Some of the subjects of the Kalbak-Tash rock petroglyphs look so fantastic that they still cause discussions in scientific circles. 

The first petroglyphs appeared in Kalbak-Tash in the Neolithic era from the 6th to the 4th millennium BC. The first rock carvings on the flat stones of the surrounding rocks were hollowed out by the Altay tribes who lived in the Valley of Chuya and Katun.

Epochs changed, trade began to develop and the Chuya Valley became the only road that connected the vast territories of Siberia and China. Numerous caravans passed along this road and there is a version that representatives of many nations left their drawings here. To use modern terms, Kalbak-Tash has been a kind of social network for several millennia, where representatives of different peoples left absolutely amazing petroglyphs depicting their history and traditions. 

Depending on the style and technique of hollowing out images, researchers date petroglyphs to the following epochs: Neolithic, Bronze Age, Scythian period, Turkic period. Neolithic drawings look the most crude. They were made with stone tools. These drawings were not hollowed out with lines, but with an entire image.  

With the advent of metal tools, the contours of the drawings became clearer. In the Scythian, and even more so in the Turkic period, people already possessed strong tools made of iron, so some later drawings were made using thin lines. 

In different parts of the Kalbak-Tash complex, archaeologists have discovered about 3 thousand petroglyphs, but the central stone is of the greatest interest. The images on it belong to the Neolithic and Iron Age periods. Most of the petroglyphs depict animals, people and hunting scenes, this is the traditional plot of petroglyphs around the world. Some animals have an obviously fictional appearance. There is also an elephant, which could only be seen by people from India. 

In the upper part of the central stone there is a completely mysterious image of people who look very much like aliens. There is a big man in the center. There are five other smaller people standing next to him. On their chests, images are clearly hollowed out, similar to television screens. The figures of these people are very unusual, as if they are in spacesuits, they all have tails. 

One of the versions concerning the appearance of these aliens on the stone Kalbak-Tash concerns the afterlife. Scientists suggest that this screen on the chest was a symbol of the portal through which the human soul goes to another world. A dragon is depicted above a group of "aliens", which is very similar to Chinese drawings. According to another version, it depicts a procession of men at the ritual of initiation of young men into warriors.  

On one of the stones there is an image that looks very much like a flying space rocket. The appearance of a space rocket is quite familiar to all people who live in the 21st century, but scientists are still arguing about which object looked like a rocket several thousand years ago. 

Among the huge number of images of animals, chariots, warriors and just ornaments, you can also see an image of a sexual plot. On the left side of the main stone there is an image of two men. The context of this drawing can be interpreted as quite sexual.

On one of the stones of the Kalbak-Tash archaeological complex there is a sanctuary of the goddess Umai-Ene, which symbolizes Mother Earth. This is a small stone to which ancient people attributed magical properties. They believed that if a woman sat on this stone, the goddess Umai-Ene would grant her the opportunity to conceive a child.