Vandals have marred a unique monument of architecture in the Tarnog District: they put drawings over petroglyphs of the Tiunovsky sanctuary.
It is an altar plate and a boulder. The latter is speckled with writings and drawings. The archeologist Ivan Nikitinsky was engaged in their interpretation. It came to light that the people living there in the 14th-16th centuries had drawn their own worldview.
“They found such a suitable huge stone, oriented it in the cardinal directions and on top of it, on the dome, depicted the world as they saw it. Here are carved the high sun and the sunset, the tree of life, a stairway to heaven and a ladder to the ground. There is also a pantheon of gods, including an anthropomorphous being with a sun-like head and a lightning instead of the trunk, and the goddess mother of all flesh who is coming down to the world of people” - the archeologist explained.
Unknown vandals have scratched their own drawings on the ancient sanctuary. Thus the monument which is unique for both Russia and Europe has been damaged. Now archeologists are waiting for reaction of the RF Culture Department.
Author: Vera Ivanova