Kalbak-Tash Yaloman Terrace — Chuya River Bench Petroglyphs
Yaloman Terrace · Chuya Bench
Bronze Age to Early Iron (2000 BCE – 500 BCE)·Karasuk to Pazyryk·🇷🇺 Altai Republic, Onguday district, left bank Chuya at Yaloman village river terrace 2 km upstream from main tract, Russia
About
About Kalbak-Tash Yaloman Terrace — Chuya River Bench Petroglyphs
Low river terrace at Yaloman village on the Chuya left bank, opposite the famous Kalbak-Tash cliffs, with 45 panels including Bronze Age sun disks and Early Iron Age long-horned yak riders distinct from main Chuya right-bank assemblage. Accessible without climbing, at river road level.
Why it mattersPaired Yaloman terrace shows Kalbak art was bilateral river theatre, not just right bank
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Yaloman vs Kalbak contemporaneous workshop?
- 02Yak domestication iconography
Theories
- 01Paired bank ritual crossing
- 02Fording shrine at Yaloman
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.2000–800 BCE
- Period
- Bronze Age to Early Iron (2000 BCE – 500 BCE)
- Culture
- Karasuk to Pazyryk
- Purpose
- River landing shrine opposite sacred cliff
- Excavation
- Unexcavated
c.1500 BCE
Sun disk pecked
1970
Altai ped expedition maps terrace
On the ground
Structures & features
50.4150° N · 86.8000° E · 800 m · 3 mapped features
Sun Disk Panel Yaloman
petroglyphRayed sun 80 cm with 16 spokes mid terrace
50.4152° N · 86.8003° EYak Rider Boulder
petroglyphRider on long-horned yak with lance
50.4148° N · 86.7996° EBeach Cobble Scatter
scatterRiver beach with portable pecked cobbles
50.4154° N · 86.8006° E