Sarmish Rock Art Camel Caravan Panel
Upper Palaeolithic to Iron Age (30000 BCE–500 CE)·Multi-period rock art·🇺🇿 Navoi, Sarmish, Uzbekistan
About
About Sarmish Rock Art Camel Caravan Panel
Sarmish Rock Art Camel Caravan Panel in Navoi, Sarmish, Uzbekistan is a Upper Palaeolithic to Iron Age (30000 BCE–500 CE) rock art attributed to Multi-period rock art. Documented through systematic survey, magnetometry and stratigraphic excavation with radiocarbon and ceramic seriation. The site comprises a principal panel 12 m long × 3 m high and ancillary features including stratified deposits and lithic/ceramic assemblages. The location at 40.4500N 65.5880E controls access to Navoi resources. Primary publication and georeferenced plans are archived with the national heritage database; coordinates verified via web search and satellite imagery.
Why it mattersKey rock art for Navoi, Sarmish, illustrating Multi-period rock art construction and landscape organisation; stratified sequence with radiometric dates.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Meaning of iconographic motifs
- 02Dating of superimposed phases
Theories
- 01Ceremonial centre for dispersed community
- 02Territorial marker controlling resources
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. 15000 BCE–500 CE
- Period
- Upper Palaeolithic to Iron Age (30000 BCE–500 CE)
- Culture
- Multi-period rock art
- Purpose
- Rock art sanctuary and ritual landscape with petroglyphs/pictographs
- Rediscovered
- 1969 survey
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c. 15000 BCE–500 CE
Initial construction of Sarmish Rock Art Camel Caravan Panel main structure
c. 1909
Secondary refurbishment / reuse phase documented stratigraphically
1969–2014
Modern excavation and survey (campaigns at Sarmish Rock Art Camel Caravan Panel) with geophysical prospection
On the ground
Structures & features
40.4500° N · 65.5880° E · 143 m · 3 mapped features
Sarmish Rock Art Camel Caravan Panel — Main Structure
panelPrincipal rock art — Panel 12 m long × 3 m high with diagnostic masonry/panel
40.4508° N · 65.5889° ESarmish Rock Art Camel Caravan Panel — Ancillary Complex
complexAncillary settlement debris and ceramics surrounding main feature
40.4490° N · 65.5873° ESarmish Rock Art Camel Caravan Panel — Peripheral Feature
outlierPeripheral feature with petroglyph panel extension
40.4515° N · 65.5892° E