Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape in Azerbaijan

Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape - Azerbaijan

Short Report

Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape reserve covers three areas of a plateau of rocky boulders rising out of the semi-desert in the central Azerbaijan, with a unique collection of more than 6,000 rock engravings evidence of 40,000 years of rock. The site also features the remains of inhabited caves, settlements and burials, which reflects an intense human use of the inhabitants of the area during the wet period that came after the last ice age, from the Paleolithic to medieval. The site, which covers an area of 537 ha, is part of the larger protected Gobustan Reservation.

Wonderful Universal Importance

Gobustan Reservation is of outstanding universal value for the quality and density of its rock art engravings, for the considerable documentation collection of rock art images presents for hunting, fauna, flora and lifestyle in prehistoric time, and for the cultural continuity between prehistoric and medieval times, the site reflects.

The most remote and unspoiled landscapes are Jinghirdag Moutain-Yazylytepe Kichikdash hill and mountain. These areas must be fully protected with a view to ensuring that they are keeping their authenticity. The most visited site, Boyukdash, several disturbances in the form of installations, such as A jail and stone quarry, which should be managed as part of a management plan. The knowledge of site does not extend evenly over the entire rock-reservation. It would be desirable for a comprehensive study of the broader framework in order to ensure a high degree of protection to ensure the overall integrity of rock paintings corpus. The legal safeguards for property is sufficient. There is a need to complete the documentation, to introduce active measures for the conservation and improvement of technical competence for staff to carry out urgent measures.

Historical Data

Initial discoveries were made in 1939-40 and systematic explorations were carried out by 1. M. Djafarsade from 1947 onwards. He is registered and analyzed more than 3,500 images at 750 stone. This early inventory was extended by R. Djafarguly there has made further discoveries and made excavations. Since 1965, excavations have taken place in more than 20 prehistoric sites and many Bronze Age have been discovered. Excavations carried out by D. Rustamov of cave uncovered a 2 m stratigraphy for 10,000 years. This material included a fallen etched fragment, which gave a terminus ante quem for this humanoid figure, although no further details. In 1966 were protected as state Historical-Artistic reservations as part of the wider Gobustan Reservation rock-reservation.

Source:whc/unesco