One of the most significant finds of the Okunev culture is a stele discovered on the banks of the river in the Khakass village of Askiz. It dates from the end of the 3rd–the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. The stele was found by an employee of the museum, Era Sevastyanova. The stone lay with others at the edge of the arable land: it was moved there in the course of agricultural work. It was not possible to establish the original location of the stele.
The monument of a distant era is a massive slab of reddish-brown sandstone. In the upper half, in dotted technique, a schematic depiction of an anthropomorphic face with three circles of eyes and an oval mouth is engraved. Above the eyes there are three rays with arched bases. The face is crossed by two paired transverse lines. The ends of the two lower lines are smoothly lowered down. The top shows “nostrils”, curved “antennae” and sharp-angled protrusions. An oval “earring” is embossed above the left bend. The main image at a later time was obscured by two large figures of surreal animals with “bear” heads, obese bovine bodies covered with “painting” in the form of scales, and short three-toed “bird” paws. Anthropomorphic faces are “suspended” on the tails. There are four oblique crosses under the feet of the lower animal, and a round hole is carved even lower. On the back of the upper figure, one can see an incomplete image of a horned animal, possibly engraved earlier. Above — the figure of another animal, applied over the “ray” and “third eye” of the mask. Above it, on either side of the central ray, are figures of two birds.
All individual elements of the images, engraved on the slab, have analogies in the monuments of the fine arts of the Okunev culture. Each of the elements carries a symbolic meaning. The anthropomorphic face was the first to be made, but relatively quickly lost its cult significance, and other drawings were applied over it. The images of two fantastic creatures are unique: they consist of parts of different animals. Here you can see the head of a predator with fangs, a snake tongue, horns, a bull’s tail, bird’s claws, and a kind of scales, even short lines like wool are visible.
The monument of a distant era is a massive slab of reddish-brown sandstone. In the upper half, in dotted technique, a schematic depiction of an anthropomorphic face with three circles of eyes and an oval mouth is engraved. Above the eyes there are three rays with arched bases. The face is crossed by two paired transverse lines. The ends of the two lower lines are smoothly lowered down. The top shows “nostrils”, curved “antennae” and sharp-angled protrusions. An oval “earring” is embossed above the left bend. The main image at a later time was obscured by two large figures of surreal animals with “bear” heads, obese bovine bodies covered with “painting” in the form of scales, and short three-toed “bird” paws. Anthropomorphic faces are “suspended” on the tails. There are four oblique crosses under the feet of the lower animal, and a round hole is carved even lower. On the back of the upper figure, one can see an incomplete image of a horned animal, possibly engraved earlier. Above — the figure of another animal, applied over the “ray” and “third eye” of the mask. Above it, on either side of the central ray, are figures of two birds.
All individual elements of the images, engraved on the slab, have analogies in the monuments of the fine arts of the Okunev culture. Each of the elements carries a symbolic meaning. The anthropomorphic face was the first to be made, but relatively quickly lost its cult significance, and other drawings were applied over it. The images of two fantastic creatures are unique: they consist of parts of different animals. Here you can see the head of a predator with fangs, a snake tongue, horns, a bull’s tail, bird’s claws, and a kind of scales, even short lines like wool are visible.
