NEW MATERIALS ON THE EARLIEST IMAGERY OF KURMAN-TAU ROCK ART SITE (South-Eastern Altai)
The paper presents a history of discoveries of the most ancient imagery of Kurman-Tau rock art site in the Kosh-Agach district of the Republic of Altai, as well as the results of recent research by the authors. Modern methods of documenting rock art have made it possible to correct some details of the previously published images and reveal some new ones. The site now counts 9 panels with the earliest images, which are made in the techniques of pecking, painting and engraving, and which include figures of an aurochs, wild horses, deer and an ibex. In terms of style, these images are comparable to the earliest petroglyphs of other sites in Altai, as well as the Minusinsk Basin and Mongolia; the dating of this stratum has not yet been precisely determined, but their Neolithic age is most probable. The paper includes the illustrations showing new materials and documentation methods used.