The Ural pictograms (russian: уральские писаницы) are prehistoric
pictograms
A pictogram, also called a pictogramme, pictograph, or simply picto, and in computer usage an icon, is a graphic symbol that conveys its meaning through its pictorial resemblance to a physical object. Pictographs are often used in writing and gr ...
in
Ural
Ural may refer to:
*Ural (region), in Russia and Kazakhstan
*Ural Mountains, in Russia and Kazakhstan
*Ural (river), in Russia and Kazakhstan
* Ual (tool), a mortar tool used by the Bodo people of India
*Ural Federal District, in Russia
*Ural econ ...
dated to 3,000–2,000 years BC
['' Khimiya i Zhizn'', 9, 1974, p. 80] and located along the coasts of
Tagil River
The Tagil (russian: Тагил) is a river in Sverdlovsk Oblast, Russia. It is long, with a drainage basin of . The average discharge is . The river has its sources on the eastern slopes of the Ural Mountains, east of Verkhny Tagil. From there, th ...
,
Neyva River
The Neyva (russian: Нейва) is a river in the Sverdlovsk Oblast of Russia, which flows out of Lake Tavatuy along the slopes of the Ural Mountains through the urban-type settlement Verkh-Neyvinsky and the towns of Nevyansk and Alapaevsk. It is ...
,
Rezh River,
Yurozan River and some other sites. The color of the pictograms is different, varying from
ochre
Ochre ( ; , ), or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colours produced ...
, probably mixed up with blood, to lilac and brown, while the thickness is between 10 and 20 mm. The existence of the Ural characters was known long ago.
Peter the Great
Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...
in 1699 ordered the scrivener
Yakov Losyov Yakov (alternative spellings: Jakov or Iakov, cyrl, Яков) is a Russian or Hebrew variant of the given names Jacob and James. People also give the nickname Yasha ( cyrl, Яша) or Yashka ( cyrl, Яшка) used for Yakov.
Notable people
People ...
to go there and make an exact copy.
The Ural pictograms span for about 800 km from north to south. The northernmost ones were found on the rivers Kolva and Vishera, while the southernmost ones were detected at Belaya River. The majority of Ural pictograms, however, were discovered along the Tagil River.
Characteristics
The Ural pictograms are tied to the indigenous Ural population.
The pictograms were painted by finger or some tool from the ground level and artificial elevations, which allowed painting at the height of over three meters.
Some pictogram lines are 4-5 cm thick. The images are generally aligned to the south. The Ural pictograms include the images of birds, animals, humans and various
geometrical figure
A shape or figure is a graphical representation of an object or its external boundary, outline, or external surface, as opposed to other properties such as color, texture, or material type.
A plane shape or plane figure is constrained to lie on ...
s. The images of animals mainly depict moose, deer and roe deer. The birds are generally represented by
waterfowl
Anseriformes is an order of birds also known as waterfowl that comprises about 180 living species of birds in three families: Anhimidae (three species of screamers), Anseranatidae (the magpie goose), and Anatidae, the largest family, which in ...
, mainly ducks and geese. Other images depict snakes and bear. Several pictograms of living beings feature skeleton pattern, showing the internal organs.
In 2001 a carved image was found at the River Rezh, which disproved the long-standing opinion that all Ural pictograms are painted.
Interpretations
According to Russian researcher Valeriy Chernetsov, who published ''The Rock Images of Ural'' (1st volume in 1964, 2nd volume in 1971), the Ural pictograms generally depict the hunting utensil.
The pictograms, however, as emphasized by Chernetsov, have no direct association with fishing as no images of fishes have been found on sites.
See also
*
Kamyana Mohyla
Kamyana Mohyla ( uk, Кам'яна Могила; literally: "stone grave") is an archaeological site in the Molochna River (literally: "Milk river") valley, about a mile from the village of Terpinnia, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Ukraine. Petroglyphs ...
*
Vinča signs
Vinča ( sr-cyr, Винча, ) is a suburban settlement of Belgrade, Serbia. It is part of the municipality of Grocka. Vinča-Belo Brdo, an important archaeological site that gives its name to the Neolithic Vinča culture, is located in the villa ...
Notes
External links
* {{commonscat-inline, Rock paintings of the Ural
Palaeography
Rock art in Europe
Culture of Sverdlovsk Oblast
History of Sverdlovsk Oblast