Alexander Linevsky
The time and place of the conference were not chosen randomly — exactly 100 years ago, in August 1926, Alexander Linevsky, an ethnography student at Leningrad State University’s School of History, while leading an expedition to study the lifestyles of Pomors, met a local resident, Grigory Matrosov, an Old Believer from the village of Vygostrov, who showed him pictures carved into rocks by ancient people. This is how Alexander Linevsky made the greatest discovery of his life — he found and described the petroglyphs. It determined his future life not only as a scientist, but also as a writer, because the famous book by Alexander Linevsky, reprinted dozens of times, "An Old Tale Carved out of Stone", has probably been read by every child in our country.
Accordingly, the event was timed to the 100th anniversary of the discovery of Besovy Sledki petroglyphs on the White Sea coast — an event that became the starting point for systematic study of the unique heritage of the Russian North.
Irina Novak (left), Director of the Institute of Linguistics, Literature and History KarRC RAS
Welcoming the conference participants on behalf of the leader of the Karelian Research Centre RAS Olga Bakhmet, the Director of the Institute of Linguistics, Literature and History Irina Novak reminded that the ancient petroglyphs of Karelia became the first rock art site from Russia to be included in the UNESCO list. The White Sea and Onega petroglyphs are among the largest and most expressive monuments of prehistoric rock art in Eurasia. What makes them exceptional is that they have made it to our days almost in their original form and intact. They are a sort of a message from the distant past, created 7,000 years ago.
Irina Novak stressed the key role of scientists from the Karelian Research Centre, Yuri Savvateyev and Nadezhda Lobanova, who initiated and carried out enormous work to have the White Sea and Onega petroglyphs recognized as World Heritage sites.
The Institute of Linguistics, Literature and History KarRC RAS continues active research and documentation of rock art, now using modern and efficient methods and approaches. The effort is multidisciplinary, involving specialists in natural sciences from Karelian Research Centre’s Forest Research Institute and Institute of Geology, as well as from St. Petersburg State University.
-- Researchers keep discovering new images and finding new similarities between the Onega and White Sea sites. In the current field season, e.g., they managed to explore images on a broken-off granite rock fragment lying on the bottom of Lake Onega, -- informed Irina Novak.
Denis Maksimov, Director, State Center for the Management, Conservation, and Study of Petroglyphs of Karelia
The first talk at the plenary session was given by Director of the State Center for the Management, Conservation, and Study of Petroglyphs of Karelia Denis Maksimov, who offered a detailed account of the Centre’s background and main activities, with focus on building awareness of the White Sea and Onega petroglyphs, organizing exhibitions, producing promotional merchandise and souvenirs, participation in relevant events.
Nadezhda Lobanova, Senior Researcher, KarRC RAS
Renowned archaeologist and petroglyph researcher Nadezhda Lobanova devoted her talk to the history of the discovery and study of the first groups of petroglyphs — at Besovy Sledki and Old Zalavruga sites. Her lecture, as well as the talk by Natalya Vilk, Researcher at the Karelian Center for the Management, Conservation and Study of Petroglyphs, contained many curious and even unexpected facts concerning the life of the discoverer of the White Sea petroglyphs, Alexander Linevsky. The speakers claimed, for instance, that one can, with a high degree of probability, name the exact date when the petroglyphs were discovered as August 14, 1926. The scientists reached this conclusion by analyzing entries from Alexander Linevsky's personal diary and comparing them with archives of the Solovetsky weather station, since that day was one of the hottest in August 1926, as Alexander Linevsky mentioned on the day he discovered the petroglyphs.
On the other hand, Natalya Vilk’s studies of archives related to Alexander Linevsky have led her to the conclusion that he was not merely a nobleman, but was actually of imperial descent.
Director of the Republic of Karelia National Museum Mikhail Goldenberg talked about the museum’s work to raise awareness about petroglyphs and its exhibition activities. He also shared many historical details related to the discovery and preservation of the rock art.
During the conference, leading archaeologists, restorers, museum specialists, and cultural heritage protection experts delivered a total of more than 25 presentations. Naturally, presentations about the petroglyphs of Karelia and the personality of Alexander Linevsky formed a separate theme, but there were also presentations on the rock art of Kanozero, the Tomsk Pisanitsa, Shulgan-Tash, Kola Peninsula, Minusinsk Basin and Transbaikalia.
According to the conference organizers and participants, this large-scale science- and practice-oriented event, dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the discovery of the first White Sea petroglyph site, Besovy Sledki, has offered specialists an excellent opportunity to share their own experiences and to discuss the results of the activities implemented at rock art sites across Russia. The conference has helped specify the challenges and tasks related to the documentation and conservation of the unique heritage for future generations, improve the management system, methodologies and approaches for its preservation, presentation and promotion.
Konstantin German, Senior Researcher, Archaeology Section, Institute of Linguistics, Literature and History KarRC RAS
Konstantin German, Senior Researcher at the Archaeology Section of the Institute of Linguistics, Literature and History KarRC RAS, noted that one of the important outcomes of the conference was the demonstration of how much the Republic of Karelia has done for the preservation, study and promotion of rock art. Among the outputs, the scientist mentioned the new pavilion, infrastructural development of walking trails at rock art locations, and the construction of the wonderful visitor center, which can serve as a venue for conferences.
-- There are not so many specialists in rock art in Russia, so it is important that a large part of them took part in this conference and learnt about the results of our work, while the presentations and discussions of these days will be of help in further studies of petroglyphs, -- remarked Konstantin German.
