Gobustan State Historical and Cultural Reserve ( az, Qobustan dövlət tarixi-bədii qoruğu) is located west of the settlement of Gobustan, about southwest of the centre of

Baku Baku (, ; az, Bakı ) is the capital and largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and of the Caucasus region. Baku is located below sea level, which makes it the lowest lying national capital in the world an ...

. It was established in 1966, when the area was declared a national historical landmark of

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

in an attempt to preserve the

prehistoric Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The us ...

rock carvings,

mud volcano A mud volcano or mud dome is a landform created by the eruption of mud or slurries, water and gases. Several geological processes may cause the formation of mud volcanoes. Mud volcanoes are not true igneous volcanoes as they do not produce ...

es and musical stones in the region. Gobustan State Reserve is very rich in archeological monuments.

Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape Qobustan or Gobustan may refer to: * Gobustan District, Azerbaijan * Qobustan (town), administrative center of Gobustan District, Azerbaijan * Qobustan, Baku, a settlement and municipality in Azerbaijan ** Gobustan National Park, World Heritage Site ...

within the reserve, which covers an area of 537 ha, has more than 6,000 rock carvings, which depict people, animals, battle-pieces, ritual dances, bullfights, boats with armed oarsmen, warriors with lances in their hands, camel caravans, pictures of sun and stars, on the average dating back to 5,000-20,000 years. Gobustan State Historical and Cultural Reserve acquired national status in 2006, and Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape was inscribed on the

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

World Heritage List A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

in 2007. As of 2011, the Petroglyph Museum functions in the reserve.

Prehistoric carvings

The rock carvings and

petroglyph A petroglyph is an image created by removing part of a rock surface by incising, picking, carving, or abrading, as a form of rock art. Outside North America, scholars often use terms such as "carving", "engraving", or other descriptions ...

s, located at the part of the reserve called Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape, display mesmerizing images of prehistoric life in the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historica ...

. The well-preserved sketches display ancient populations travelling on reed boats; men hunting antelope and wild bulls, and women dancing. The controversial

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

anthropologist

Thor Heyerdahl Thor Heyerdahl KStJ (; 6 October 1914 – 18 April 2002) was a Norwegian adventurer and ethnographer with a background in zoology, botany and geography. Heyerdahl is notable for his ''Kon-Tiki'' expedition in 1947, in which he sailed 8,000& ...

returned many times to Azerbaijan between 1961 and his death in 2002 to study the site in his " Search for Odin". The language of the ancient population of Gobustan is disputed, but the petroglyphs still give information about the lives of prehistoric people who lived there. More than 4,000 pictures of animals, humans, natural life experiences, hunting, and dancing were carved over a span of thousands of years. Most of the petroglyphs are on large cliffs, divided among multiple ancient residences, and in some cases they have been carved over older images. The first carvings depicted natural human and animal figures, often irregularly, but over time they began to more closely resemble the measurements and proportions of their subjects, including such details as the foot muscles of people in hunting scenes. The heads of the human figures tend to be small and carved without noses, mouths, eyes, or ears. However, experts do not interpret this lack of facial features as an indication that the Gobustan artists lacked technical skill, since some of the carvings demonstrate a higher degree of complexity and detail. Many scenes from tribal life are depicted among the petroglyphs, and images from the Seven Beauties cave suggest that women may have participated in hunting. Gobustan Azerbaijan 01.jpg Gobustan 2.jpg Aserbaidschan 1987 025.jpg

Roman inscription

In June 1948, the chief of the archaeological expedition of the Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of the Azerbaijan SSR Ishag Jafarzadeh discovered a Latin inscription on a large rock near the southeastern slope of the Boyuk-Dash mountain, which reads: Because of its uniqueness and mysteriousness, the inscription attracted attention of specialists in Latin epigraphy and history of ancient

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and

Transcaucasia The South Caucasus, also known as Transcaucasia or the Transcaucasus, is a geographical region on the border of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, straddling the southern Caucasus Mountains. The South Caucasus roughly corresponds to modern Arme ...

. It is the easternmost of all known Latin inscriptions, and is the only Latin inscription found on the territory of ancient

Caucasian Albania Caucasian Albania is a modern exonym for a former state located in ancient times in the Caucasus: mostly in what is now Azerbaijan (where both of its capitals were located). The modern endonyms for the area are ''Aghwank'' and ''Aluank'', among t ...

. Most experts consider this inscription to be an indisputable proof of the presence of Roman troops in the eastern part of Transcaucasia in late 1st century BC. An alternative theory suggests that the inscription might have been left by a Roman centurion who carried out a secret intelligence or diplomatic mission.

Gaval Dash

The Gaval Dash is a natural musical stone which can only be found in Gobustan,

. It stands at the entrance to the reserve, and is one of four "singing stones" found there. When this big, two-meter-long stone is struck with smaller rocks, it makes a hollow, ringing sound, resembling the sound of a

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called " zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, tho ...

, or "gaval" in Azerbaijani language. This unique resonance is created by microscopic holes inside the rock, which are believed to result from the dry climate and the effect of natural gas in the region.

Mud volcanoes

It's estimated that 300 of the planet's estimated 700

es are located in Gobustan,

, and the Caspian Sea. Mud volcanoes of Gobustan are a popular attraction for both scientists and tourists, the latter often bathing in mud, which is thought to have medicinal qualities. In April 2021, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for the new Mud Volcanoes Tourism Complex, which will cover the area of 12-hectares, and include a

quad bike An all-terrain vehicle (ATV), also known as a light utility vehicle (LUV), a quad bike, or simply a quad, as defined by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI); is a vehicle that travels on low-pressure tires, with a seat that is strad ...

path, footpaths, a

zip line A zip-line, zip line, zip-wire, flying fox, or death slide is a pulley suspended on a cable, usually made of stainless steel, mounted on a slope. It is designed to enable cargo or a person propelled by gravity to travel from the top to the bot ...

and an

observation tower An observation tower is a structure used to view events from a long distance and to create a full 360 degree range of vision to conduct long distance observations. Observation towers are usually at least tall and are made from stone, iron, an ...

, a parking lot, a souvenir shop, as well as therapeutic baths. There are also plans to improve road infrastructure by extending a 20-kilometer road from the Gobustan Reserve to “Gilinj” mud volcano site and nearby volcanoes and create the Baku-Gobustan-Mud volcanoes tourism cluster. Sea water and subterranean gas is what makes these mud volcanoes come alive (36450111543).jpg (L) palçıq vulkanları, qobustan 033.JPG (L) Palçıq Vulkanları, Qobustan 040.jpg Gobustan mud volcano.jpg

Flora and fauna

The natural conditions were completely different 20-25 thousand years ago. Judging by the depictions of animals and human figures in Gobustan, the region had a warm climate 10 to 12 thousand years ago. People were wearing light clothes, and women were wearing short leather dresses. Because of the permanent hot weather, greenery and abundant water, these places were the habitats of wild animals: bulls, horses, deer, goats, and other animals lived in Gobustan. According to the rock drawings and the archeological findings, wolves, tigers, foxes, jackals and other wild animals inhabited this area in ancient times. In 1968, while cutting deep stone layer near Atbulakh, large bones of an unknown animal were discovered. The workers informed the Ministry of Culture of Azerbaijan SSR, not knowing what those bones were. After the investigation of the discovered bones, it was determined that these bones were the VI bone of the neck of the southern elephant, which lived in Gobustan.

External links

Official website
from "Window to Baku"

from a site devoted to

Jean Auel Jean Marie Auel (; ; born February 18, 1936) is an American writer who wrote the '' Earth's Children'' books, a series of novels set in prehistoric Europe that explores human activities during this time, and touches on the interactions of Cro-Mag ...

's books.

References

{{World Heritage Sites in Azerbaijan State reserves of Azerbaijan Environment of Azerbaijan World Heritage Sites in Azerbaijan Mud volcanoes