Rock carvings on Hairiqigete Mountain

Rock carvings on Hairiqigete Mountain

Rock carvings on Hairiqigete Mountain: Abaga Banner is home to numerous rock carving sites, among which the newly discovered Hairiqigete Mountain rock carvings in 2006 have had a profound impact. Located on Hairiqigete Mountain in Ihe Wusu Township, Erdeng Gobi Sumu, the mountain has, due to geological forces, formed irregular and differently sized natural stone arrays, on which are carved figures, animal images, geometric patterns, and primitive symbols, covering various aspects of production and daily life. The creation of these carvings likely dates back to the Paleolithic Age. Among these rock carvings is a Paleolithic-era depiction of a fish, which is extremely rare among ancient rock carvings on the grasslands of northern China. This suggests that the nomadic ancestors of the north not only hunted and herded, but also engaged in primitive fishing activities.

This fish-shaped rock carving is deeply engraved using the intaglio line technique on a flat, triangular, brownish-yellow coarse sandstone surface. The fish is depicted as swimming downward from left to right, measuring 27.5 cm in length and 9.5 cm in width. On the middle part of the fish’s body, there are three horizontally arranged circular pits, each about 2 cm in diameter, representing fish scales. The fish tail features two vertically arranged circular pits. It is worth mentioning that similar circular symbols resembling fish scales are commonly found on human heads, deer antlers, sun motifs, and geometric patterns among the Hairiqigete Mountain rock carvings.