Authors Mariyashev A. N.
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The most characteristic plots are the battle scenes with participation of cavalry, images of standard-bearers, and scenes of hunting. According to several details: three-pronged horse shearing, form of the banners and glockenspiel, details of clothes, types of quivers for the arrows and diamond-shaped stone arrowheads, it is possible to refer these kind of plots to the Old Turk time and to date them in the time frame ofVI-XI centuries Before Christ (fig 25, 26).
Not less difficult is the task of interpreting the subjects of petroglyphs art. If examined attentively, it is possible to note that in Saak's Petroglyphs there are no plots of cattle pasture or images of sheep. In Petroglyphs of the Bronze Age there are no scenes showing the labor of farmers, with the exception of 1-2 arguable plots from Saimaly -Tash, where tillage is shown in the opinion of some experts. The art never directly reflects all endeavors and aspects of human activity.
In the primitive mind art was closely associated with religious ideas. On the rocks of the large sanctuary Tamgaly the figures of men with tails have been hammered out. These were priests disguised in an animal skins or mediators between people and spirits, and between people and gods.
The sun-headed anthropomorphic creatures are portrayed in this sanctuary, and it is likely that they are the divinities of the high order.
While analyzing many subjects, it is better to always keep in mind that in sanctuaries, similar to those in ancient Tamgaly , the Petroglyphs served as an obvious sign system for information transfer. In order to acquaint that the portrayed person is male, an artist would indicate a sign to show the gender. If only men took part in some rites, then the portrayer of this holy action tried to ensure that this detail clearly stressed, as it was very important. The functions of women were limited and therefore we can see on the cliffs images of child birth. In such a manner , it was clear what was portrayed and what was going on, to the ancient people, who visited sanctuaries with Petroglyphs.
Ethnographic research work and festival descriptions, preserved in ancient texts and folklore help to determine the meaning of some rituals. However, it is highly unlikely that all the subjects of a cult character can be decoded by this methodology. Using the materials on Petroglyphs it is possible, not only explain some particular scene, but also to reveal definite consistencies, to determine the boundaries of points and representation, of the ancient people.
The cult of fertility was more spread in Petroglyphs of Bronze Age in Semirechie. It was expressed through images of marriage ceremony (photo 32), child delivery, and images of a cow with calf, bull, goat, argali etc. The cult of fertility was closely related to the sun cult (table 3). The sun cult is evident in images of anthropomorphic personages with disks in the place of heads from which extend rays, "spots", and nimbus auras. In scenes of both cults the idea of sacrifice can be observed quite clearly. This is expressed in plots with bull sacrifice or animal hunting.
Masked images and images of and "giants", related to the opposition of good and evil forces, as well as chariots and holy animals can be determined to be cult plots. Parallels to each of these plots can be found in ancient mythological texts of the people of the Eurasian continent.
During the following Saak Age, nomadic art generated its own specific zoomorplyc code to mark the main zones of its world construct. In the art of the Saaks and the Skiffs birds were connected with the upper world, the herbivorous animals -with earth, snakes and chthonic creatures - with the world of dead.
The most outstanding plots of that period petroglyphic art are scenes of predators tormenting herbivorous animals. Large figures of different animals - deer, boars, camels, wild goats, and some images of famous ancestors are very impressive on the cliffs. Although zoomorphic in shape the art of Saak nomads reflected the same images and ideas as in the previous Age (table 4, 5).
Petroglyphs of the Turkic period are less conventional, as there are few plot combinations. The art of Turkic nations are more related to the epic tradition, known through written memorials and epitaphs. This art delivers to our present age the heroic image of the warrior-ancestor and the realities of his life. Among the number of cult subjects are images of cavalry warriors, standard bearers, single battles on horses, hunting scenes and images of wolf and horse. These images occupy an outstanding place in the ideology of ancient Turks and are related, first of all, with the military cult (photo 33).
