Site map
About KarRC RAS
Scientific Ñouncil
Institutes
KarRC RAS structure
Core facility
Scientific library
Scientific journals
Scientific archives
Scientific societies
Doctoral studies
Staff
KarRC RAS
in social media
VKontakte Telegram Youtube
KarRC RAS in Mass Media Young Scientists Council Scientific information resources of KarRC RAS Unique scientific units Public procurement Countering corruption Useful links Photogallery
News
June 9, 2022
Scientists from the Karelian Research Centre RAS will carry out integrated monitoring of the World Heritage Site “Petroglyphs of Lake Onega and the White Sea”. On June 8th, the research plan was discussed between KarRC RAS Director General Olga Bakhmet and Head of the Republic of Karelia Cultural Heritage Protection Administration Yulia Alipova.
This summer, scientists are starting integrated studies in the area of White Sea and Lake Onega petroglyphs. This monitoring is required by the new status of the archaeological sites: on July 28, 2021 petroglyphs of Karelia were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Staff of KarRC RAS institutes have a rich background of petroglyph-related research. Scientists have prepared the World Heritage nomination papers. A major contributor to this process was Senior Researcher at the Archaeology Section of the Institute of Linguistics, Literature and History KarRC RAS Nadezhda Lobanova, who has dedicated many years to studying petroglyphs and who keeps discovering new images on rock. KarRC RAS staff have comprehensively surveyed the areas with the unique sites. They produced a description of the territory with petroglyphs and the surrounding landscape and assessed the current and potential threats, including anthropogenic ones.

– The task for us now is to continuously monitor the sites: human pressure, state of natural objects and the rock images themselves. The work will involve specialists in archaeology, geology, hydrology, soil science, botany, landscape science, etc. KarRC RAS research vessels will be used in the surveys. Our mission is to plan for all the arrangements for this regular monitoring for years ahead. The output from this year’s activities will be used to prepare the Republic’s report to UNESCO, – KarRC RAS Director General Olga Bakhmet told.



In particular, specialists from the Northern Water Problems Institute KarRC RAS will study how hydrometeorological conditions have influenced the state of the petroglyphs. Geologists will study the structure, composition, and petrographic characteristics of the rocks on which the petroglyphs had been carved. Experts in botany will assess the current state and the dynamics of the lichen, moss, herbaceous, and dwarf-shrub layers. Forest monitoring includes the analysis of the state of forest ecosystems inside the heritage site and of human activities in the buffer zone forests. Human pressure monitoring includes estimation of visitor numbers and monitoring of wrongdoings.

The research team will meet at KarRC RAS in the nearest future to decide on the schedule and the action plan for the monitoring.

Photos: KarRC RAS Science Communication Office

See also:

April 28, 2025
Karelian biologists ran successful trials of a technique for detecting fish infection with helminths based on traces of their DNA in water

Specialists of the Institute of Biology KarRC RAS were the first in the republic to test the method of environmental DNA analysis (eDNA) to detect a model fish parasite in an area impacted by trout farms. This is especially important in the context of a growing number of fish farms that use the practice of transporting stock (fry) from between water bodies, which creates a risk of new parasites appearing in lakes. Currently, fish have to be captured and examined to detect an infection, and for the output to be accurate the sample should be at least 15 fish. This may be problematic in the wild and costly in cage facilities. The eDNA diagnosis system can detect the presence of parasites directly in water samples.
More
All news