Pages: 229-248 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.55086/sp264229248

The article primarily examines petroglyphs from Ladakh and Western Tibet, and to some extent from Gilgit-Baltistan. Tamgas, which appeared in the region during the Kushan dynasty, occupy a prominent place among them. Seventeen compositions featuring these symbols are examined. Tamgas are always accompanied by narrative images. Of great interest are the figures of a person holding a tamga or touching it, or situations where the tamga is the center of the composition. In addition to tamgas, 21 compositions with several people or with one anthropomorphic figure are analyzed. These motifs and attributes of the figures have parallels in the Iranian world. Of particular note are three scenes depicting people on a Saka torque from Pattan, as well as certain images from Gandhara and Kashmir art that have parallels in nomadic art. The article’s conclusions revise the dating of a series of artefacts and the interpretation of their subjects. Some of the petroglyphs were produced not by local shepherds, but by representatives of the Indo-Scythian state and the Kushan Empire.

Keywords: anthropomorphic images, petroglyphs, tamgas, Upper Indus, Indo-Scythians and Kushans, analogies in the Iranian world, 1st c. BCE — 4th c. CE

Information about authors:

Sergey Yatsenko (Moscow, Russian Federation). Doctor of Historical Sciences. Russian State University for the Humanities. Miusskaya Sq., 6, Moscow, 125993, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0002-5103-9736

Valeria Denisenko (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Akademik Lavrentiev Ave., 17, Novosibirsk, 630090, Russian Federation
E-mail: [email protected]
ORCID: 0000-0002-2642-1415