Gobustan State Historical and Cultural Reserve () is located west of the settlement of Gobustan, about southwest of the center of

Baku Baku (, ; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Azerbaijan, largest city of Azerbaijan, as well as the largest city on the Caspian Sea and in the Caucasus region. Baku is below sea level, which makes it the List of capital ci ...

. It was established in 1966 when the area was declared a national historical landmark of Azerbaijan to protect the

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

rock carvings, mud volcanoes, and musical stones in the region. Gobustan State Reserve is rich in archeological monuments. The Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape within the reserve, covering 537 hectares, contains over 6,000 rock carvings that depict people, animals, battles, ritual dances, bullfights, boats with armed oarsmen, warriors with lances, camel caravans, and celestial symbols such as the sun and stars, dating back between 5,000 and 20,000 years. Gobustan State Historical and Cultural Reserve acquired national status in 2006, and Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape was inscribed on the

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World Heritage List World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritag ...

in 2007. Since 2011, the Petroglyph Museum has been operating within the reserve.

Prehistoric carvings

The rock carvings and

petroglyphs 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 ...

found in the part of the reserve called the Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape show scenes of prehistoric life in the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

. These well-preserved images illustrate ancient populations engaged in activities such as traveling by reed boats, hunting wild animals, and performing dances. The Norwegian anthropologist

Thor Heyerdahl Thor Heyerdahl KStJ (; 6 October 1914 – 18 April 2002) was a Norwegian adventurer and Ethnography, ethnographer with a background in biology with specialization in zoology, botany and geography. Heyerdahl is notable for his Kon-Tiki expediti ...

visited Azerbaijan multiple times between 1961 and his death in 2002 to study the site as part of his " Search for Odin". The language of the ancient population of Gobustan remains disputed, yet the petroglyphs provide valuable insights into the lives of prehistoric people who once inhabited the region. Over the course of thousands of years, more than 6,000 depictions of animals, humans, daily life, hunting, and dancing were carved into the rock. Most of these petroglyphs are found on large cliffs, spread across several ancient dwellings, and in some instances, newer images were carved over older ones. Many petroglyphs depict scenes from tribal life, and images found in the Seven Beauties cave suggest that women may have been involved in hunting. The earliest carvings featured naturalistic depictions of human and animal figures, often in irregular forms. Over time the representations became more accurate, with improved attention to proportions and details. The human figures typically have small heads and lack facial features. However, experts do not interpret this absence of facial features as a sign of lack of technical skill, as some carvings display a greater degree of complexity and detail. Gobustan Azerbaijan 01.jpg Gobustan 2.jpg Aserbaidschan 1987 025.jpg

Roman inscription

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

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

and

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

. It is the easternmost of all known Latin inscriptions and the only one discovered within 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 ...

. Most experts consider this inscription an indisputable proof of Roman military presence in eastern Transcaucasia in the 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

Gaval Dash is a natural musical stone found exclusively in Gobustan. Located at the entrance to the reserve, it is one of four "singing stones" in the area. When struck with smaller rocks, this large, two-meter-long stone produces a hollow, ringing sound similar to the

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, thoug ...

, or "gaval" in Azerbaijani. This unique resonance is thought to be caused by microscopic holes within the rock, formed by the region's dry climate and the effect of natural gas.

Mud volcanoes

It is estimated that about 300 of the world's 700 mud volcanoes are located in Gobustan and the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, described as the List of lakes by area, world's largest lake and usually referred to as a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia: east of the Caucasus, ...

. These volcanoes attract both scientists and tourists, with many visitors bathing in the mud, which is believed to have healing qualities. In April 2021, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for the new Mud Volcanoes Tourism Complex, which officially opened in June 2024. Covering an area of 12 hectares, the complex features a

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

path, footpaths, a

zip line A zip-line, zip line, zip-wire, flying fox, or death slide''Who Really Benefits from Tourism'', Publ. Equations, Karnataka, India, 2010. Working Papers Series. "Canopy Tourism"page 37/ref>Jacques Marais, Lisa De Speville, ''Adventure Racing'', ...

, an

observation tower An observation tower is a tower 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, and woo ...

, a parking lot, a souvenir shop, and therapeutic baths. The road infrastructure was upgraded with the extension of a 20-kilometer road from the Gobustan Reserve to the Gilinj mud volcano site and nearby volcanoes, creating the Baku-Gobustan-Mud Volcanoes tourism cluster. The Complex includes a Nature History Exhibition Hall showcasing a collection of animal skeletons from Azerbaijan and around the world, as well as a mineral exhibition featuring nearly 80 types of minerals found in Azerbaijan. There is also a 110-seat restaurant within the complex. 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 of the region were vastly different 20,000 to 25,000 years ago. Based on depictions of animals and human figures in Gobustan, it is believed that the climate was warm 10,000 to 12,000 years ago. People wore light clothing, with women dressed in short leather garments. Due to the permanently hot weather, abundant vegetation, and plentiful water, Gobustan was home to wild animals such as bulls,

horses The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 milli ...

deer A deer (: deer) or true deer is a hoofed ruminant ungulate of the family Cervidae (informally the deer family). Cervidae is divided into subfamilies Cervinae (which includes, among others, muntjac, elk (wapiti), red deer, and fallow deer) ...

, and

goats The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a species of goat-antelope that is mostly kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the famil ...

. Rock carvings and archaeological evidence also suggest the presence of

wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gr ...

, tigers,

foxes Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

, jackals, and other wildlife in the area. In 1968, the bones of an unknown large animal were discovered underground during excavation work near Atbulaq. The workers notified the Ministry of Culture of the Azerbaijan SSR. Upon examination, it was determined that the bones were the

cervical vertebrae In tetrapods, cervical vertebrae (: vertebra) are the vertebrae of the neck, immediately below the skull. Truncal vertebrae (divided into thoracic and lumbar vertebrae in mammals) lie caudal (toward the tail) of cervical vertebrae. In saurop ...

of the southern mammoth that once inhabited Gobustan.

References

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-Ma ...

's books. {{Authority control State reserves of Azerbaijan Environment of Azerbaijan World Heritage Sites in Azerbaijan Mud volcanoes 1966 establishments in Azerbaijan Art of the Upper Paleolithic category:Petroglyphs