Rock artists in Sycachi-Alyan, 12 Millenniums ago (1)

<Trip to Siberia, Russia>
 Sycachi-Alyan is the Nanai indigenous settlement on the right bank of the Amur, located 75 km north from Khabarovsk. map to Sycachi-Alyan 
Its population is 300. There have been found totally 300 rock drawings of the disguised images of animals, birds, snakes, and boats, which had been created in 12 millenniums B.C. to first half of the millennium 1 A.C.  One guidebook describes these rock arts as this; “It seems some powerful spirit scattered huge rocks with faces of northern gods, witch masks, scenes of hunting and those from legends and tales”. The place has been sacred for Nanai and the other Priamurye low-number peoples. The sacred complex is named Sycachi-Alyan petroglyphs after the Nanai settlement nearby.  < (2) >  

This mysterious place had lured me to travel to the far east of Russia, Siberia. I arranged one night's stay at the lodge of Sycachi-Alyan, two local guides who speak only Russian, and a taxis to and from Khabarovsk. I was planning to visit there while I would be in Khabarovsk for 6 days from August 29, 2013 to September 4. A local guide is must, because the majority of the petroglyphs are hardly accessible and known only by a small number of specialists, local hunters and fishermen. 

    

But two weeks before my departure, the Amur regions were hit by the massive flooding, the most devastating in the century with the lodge standing near the river also submerged. I postponed my trip until September 19, hoping the village would be recovered from the flooding at that time. But when I landed on the Amur region, I found no transportation to Sycachi-Alyan from Khabarovsk as the route was still shut down and the city people did not care about that remote small village after the disaster. So I visited the Archeology museum which exhibits the Sycachi-Alyan rocks at the front garden, which were all brought in from the original places. I also visited the historical library of the city to look for the guide books on the Sycachi-Alyan and its rock paintings. Those provide me with the useful knowledge for this blog. I list them at the last part of this blog. Bellow on the left is the Archaeology Museum and the old habarovsk Library on the right; 

    

(to be continued)