뉴스레터

The Northeast Asian History Foundation and Kazakhstan conducted a joint investigation in the historical sites with rock paintings in central and eastern Kazakhstan in August 2009. The investigation was carried out based on an agreement signed between the Foundation and the Margulan Institute of Archaeology under the Education Committee of the Ministry of education and science, Kazakhstan. It was designed to examine the world of the prehistory and ancient rock paintings and the status of its research in Kazakhstan, build a network and promote joint research among academic research institutes and researchers, and understand the lineage with the Korean culture.

The investigation was conducted at a total of 13 historical sites with four areas including "Simgent" in the south, four areas of Semirech'e in the southeast and five areas including Ust-Kamenogorsk in the northeast of Kazakhstan from August 3 through 31, 2009. It came on the heel of Korea-Russia and Korea-Mongolia joint investigations into rock paintings that were carried out in Hakasko-Minusinsk basin of southern Siberia and Tuva Republic in 2006 and Gobi Altai, Khovd and Uvs aimag of northwestern Mongolia in 2007 ~ 2008, respectively.

The investigation was joined by experts from Korea, Kazakhstan and Russia. Zainula Samasev (the head of the investigation group from the the Institute of Archaeology), Sageombai and Erdos (researchers of the group), Nikolay Bokovenko (senior fellow at the Institute for the History of Material Culture of Russian Academy of Sciences) and I consisted of the investigation team and promised to share all the materials collected in the investigation process and write a research report together.

The affinity between Korean culture and hunting and nomadic culture of Central Asia

In addition to the rock paintings of the Stone Age found around Aktau in the east of the Caspian Sea, countless number of rock paintings drawn in various periods like Aeneolite, Bronze Age, Iron Age, the age of the Huns and the Turk period have been discovered in Kazakhstan. Among the historical sites, Tamgaly became a UNESCO World Heritage Site thanks to its historical, cultural and formative value. However, such relics as "South Kandik" are newly found so that their whole aspects have not yet been revealed.

The joint investigation team tried to photograph and record academically significant shapes as much as possible. During the process, some shapes came to my eyes - paintings of hunting a wild animal, a warrior of Sakas (Sarmatians) holding a hatchet for fighting, a cavalry Turk soldier holding a flag (picture 1), fighting Turk soldiers armed with spears and parade of ancient carriages moving in line. These pictures resulted from translating the prehistory and ancient culture which blossomed in Kazakhstan into visual language.

The reason these shapes are drawing attention is that they were illustrated in the same style in ancient rock paintings excavated in the northeast of Baikal Lake, southern Siberia, mountainous Altai and Mongolia, and that similar shapes are found in Goguryeo mural paintings. The similarity can be used as a new clue allowing discussions both about the universality of the ancient culture in Kazakhstan and other Central Asian region, and the affinity with the hunting and nomadic culture illustrated in Goguryeo mural paintings.

I plan to derive the universality of the prehistory and ancient paintings of Central Asia from comparing and analyzing the pictures collected in this investigation with the existing paintings found in southern Siberia and Mongolia, and use them as a basis for discovering the history of art and culture of Goguryeo mural paintings in relation to Central Asia and the origin of the Korean culture that is distinguished from the Chinese culture at that time.