The Mystery of Ancient Graffiti
A Prize for the Observant Eye
Graffiti scene from Arkharly. Only the later petroglyphs stand out/Olga Gumirova
At first glance, the stone canvas in the Arqarly Mountains of Jetisu might appear to feature only rough carvings of goats from the Middle Ages and modern era. It's easy to pass by it without noticing it at all. However, for the patient and observant viewer, an extraordinary sight unfolds—a slab densely adorned with petroglyphs dating back to the Bronze and Early Iron Ages. These ancient images become visible only during the early morning or near sunset—when the light hits the surface at just the right angle.
The ancient artist shamans created these figures using a unique and rare technique—graffiti. In archeology, this term has an entirely different meaning from the modern graffiti of spray-painted walls and fences. Archeological graffiti consists of lines carved or scratched into stone using a hard, sharp-pointed tool, sometimes as fine as the tip of a fountain pen.
The tools used by ancient artisans to carve stone have long been a subject of scholarly debate. They likely worked with a variety of implements, including pointed stones made from hard materials like obsidian as well as chisels and knives crafted from durable bronze and iron.
The artists’ skill is astonishing. With this technique, one wrong move could ruin the entire figure, as lines carved into stone cannot obviously be erased. But with their simplicity and expressiveness, some drawings rival even Picasso's graphic masterpieces.
The scene at Arqarly is a complex, multi-layered composition featuring overlapping figures of hoofed animals, predators, humans, arrows, and enigmatic lines of unknown purpose. This artwork evolved over millennia, and a detailed rendering has not yet been made due to technical challenges. Thus, researchers refrain from interpreting its content for now. Some lines are so fine that transferring them to paper is difficult, and even digital rendering comes with the risk of distortion.
Remarkably, out of more than 100 slabs covered with petroglyphs, this is the only one where all the drawings were made solely using the graffiti technique. Clearly, different artist-shamans worked on it across various eras—from the Bronze Age, around the second millennium BCE, to the Turkic and Modern periods. Did these artists replicate each other’s work or find inspiration in the creations of their predecessors? Did this technique serve a specific purpose, to convey special information? The truth continues to remain a mystery.
From the top of the hill there is a view of the valley and the Ile Alatau/Olga Gumirova