Dahekou Rock Paintings
大河口岩画 · Dahekou Cliff Art · Danba Dahekou · Tibetan-Buddhist Dahekou
Bronze Age to Tibetan Empire (Shang-Zhou to Tubo)·Qiang, Proto-Tibetan, Tibetan Bon·🇨🇳 Sichuan Province, Garzê Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Danba County, China
About
About Dahekou Rock Paintings
Red hematite cliff paintings on Dadu River tributary sandstone 30 km from Danba's Jiaju Tibetan villages, preserving a 3-km gallery of over 300 figures at 1900–2200 m. Images include suspended human silhouettes with triangular skirts, standing yaks, sun-heads, intersecting grids and Tibetan mantra-like signs, painted and pecked on sheer cliffs 10–40 m above valley floor. Attributed to proto-Tibetan Qiang and later Tibetan Bon shamanic communities (c.1500 BCE–8th c. CE), the site bridges Sichuan basin rock art (Huashan, Zuojiang) with Tibetan plateau traditions (Tsagaan Salaa fringe). Nearby watchtowers (diaolou) and cliff tombs indicate continuous ritual use of the gorge.
Why it mattersRare Sichuan-Tibet ecotone rock art linking lowland Zuojiang traditio to plateau Tsagaan Salaa high art on a single river system.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Whether triangular-skirt figures depict early Qiang priest costumes
- 02Meaning of grid-mantra palimpsest
Theories
- 01Dadu River gorge pilgrimage marking yak migration between summer high pastures
- 02Bon shamanic calendar gallery predating Buddhism
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.1500 BCE – 800 CE
- Period
- Bronze Age to Tibetan Empire (Shang-Zhou to Tubo)
- Culture
- Qiang, Proto-Tibetan, Tibetan Bon
- Builders
- Qiang-Tibetan valley pastoralists of Dadu River gorges
- Purpose
- Gorge cliff shrine marking river crossing and Bon ritual calendar linking valley fertility and yak herding
- Abandoned
- c.800 CE with Tibetan Buddhist conversion
- Rediscovered
- 1980s Sichuan Institute survey
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
1500–1000 BCE
Earliest pecked yab outline panels
500 BCE–200 CE
Red painted triangular humans and sun-heads
600–800 CE
Mantra-like incised signs overlay
On the ground
Structures & features
30.6570° N · 101.8890° E · 1950 m · 3 mapped features
Dahekou Main Painted Cliff
painted cliffCentral sandstone 12-m panel with sun-heads and grids
30.6575° N · 101.8895° ENorth Gorge Pecked Panel
pecked panelYak herd and triangular humans on river bend
30.6590° N · 101.8870° EMantra Cliff Overlay
inscriptionUpper incised signs over red paint near watchtower
30.6560° N · 101.8910° E