АР23484177 "Interdisciplinary studies of the most ancient rock paintings of East Kazakhstan"

HomeResearchScientific and scientific-technical projects on grant and program-targeted financing ProjectsАР23484177 "Interdisciplinary studies of the most ancient rock paintings of East Kazakhstan"

АР23484177 "Interdisciplinary studies of the most ancient rock paintings of East Kazakhstan"

Competition name: Competition for grant funding for scientific and (or) scientific and technical projects for 2024-2026.

Project Manager: Olga Zaitceva, PhD in Archaeology, Head of the Altyn Altai Museum.

Identifiers:

h-индекс 6,
Scopus AuthorID: 56437738500 https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=56437738500,
Web of Science ResearcherIDN-8286-2014 https://www.webofscience.com/wos/author/record/381830,
ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4590-1238.

Project Research Team

№	Full name	Project position	Identifiers (Scopus Author ID, Researcher ID, ORCID, if any) and links to related profiles
1	Olga V. Zaitceva	Program Manager	Scopus Author ID: 56437738500, ORCID: 0000-0002-4590-1238, Researcher ID: N-8286-2014
2	Evgeny V. Vodyasov	Leading Researcher	Scopus Author ID: 56437756300, ORCID: 0000-0003-2277-2274, Researcher ID: L-9546-2016
3	Andrey A. Pushkarev	Senior Researcher	Scopus Author ID: 57073028900, Researcher ID: E-8561-2019
4	Mikhail V. Vavulin	Researcher	Scopus Author ID: 57190338453, ORCID: 0000-0003-0926-2288, Researcher ID: M-3932-2016
5	Aidar B. Sadibekov	Junior Research Fellow	Scopus Author ID: 57220780498
6	Maxim Y. Polovtsev	Engineer
7	Shugyla Medelbek	Engineer
8	Ajym M. Kymanova	Engineer
9	Marija A. Pohodjaeva	Engineer

Project abstract

The earliest stratum of rock art in East Kazakhstan is represented by paintings made with mineral colors based on ochre. These images are very vulnerable and exposed to natural deterioration. Many of the drawings are now practically indistinguishable by the human eye.
In the course of the project, it is planned to apply the whole range of available modern technologies (spectroscopy, laser scanning, photogrammetry, XRF) for documentation and digital restoration of rock art images. These modern non-contact and non-destructive methods will allow for the first time to reveal and study the lost drawings, which remained invisible for several millennia. Reconstructing the original appearance of artworks in a digital environment is now becoming the prevailing approach in the study and preservation of art heritage. In the case of ancient drawings, restoration by applying a new layer of paint over the faded original is a completely unacceptable technique. Digital reconstruction of the original color of dyes is based on their complex physical and chemical study. As a result, without causing the slightest harm to the originals, copies will be created in the digital environment, allowing us to recreate the original appearance of ancient paintings as accurately as possible.

The information system created during the project will make it possible to view and analyze three-dimensional models and raster images through a web browser. Thus, the reconstructed digital copies will be available to researchers of ochre rock art from all over the world and will allow to preserve the decaying masterpieces for posterity.

The digital reconstructions created during the project will be included in the expositions of the East Kazakhstan Regional Museum of History and Local Lore and the Altyn Altai Museum of the East Kazakhstan Technical University named after D. Serikbayev.

The developed methodology of visualization of poorly preserved rock paintings will provide new opportunities for documenting monochrome and polychrome drawings in other regions of Kazakhstan and Central Asia as a whole.

The virtual tours of the ancient rock art sites of East Kazakhstan created in the course of the project will also serve to popularize cultural heritage and develop cognitive tourism in the region.

Project goal:

The aim of the project is a digital reconstruction of the most ancient rock art drawings of East Kazakhstan on the basis of interdisciplinary research.

Project tasks:

Creation of a list of the earliest drawings of East Kazakhstan on the basis of all available published and archival sources;
Carrying out archaeological surveys to document the current state of known and identifying new drawings of East Kazakhstan. Primary documentation of ochre drawings and their landscape setting using modern methods and tools of geographic information systems, satellite geodesy, and aerial photography using UAVs;
Development of a technique for visualization of rock paintings made with mineral paints, optimized for poorly preserved images based on gigapixel imaging, imaging in different spectral ranges, processing of the obtained images by the method of decorrelation stretching (DStretch plugin) and the method of modification of color spaces;
Three-dimensional digitization of at least 10 grottoes with paintings using ground-based laser scanning and ground-based digital photogrammetry using the SfM (Structure from Motion);
Determination of the chemical composition of paints and sources of natural ochre materials for their production;
Digital restoration of ancient paintings and creation of at least 10 virtual tours allowing to "visit" hard-to-reach rock-art sites.

Expected and achieved results of the project:

Year	The results obtained from the research. Publications (with links to them) and patents; information for potential users
2024	The database on all known drawings of East Kazakhstan with pictures made by mineral pigments was created. On the basis of the created summary the volume and character of further field works were planned and specified. Granite massifs Kokentau and Boritastagan were defined as the most perspective places for archeological search of new drawings. Topoplanes and three-dimensional terrain models were created for each surveyed location using the method of aerial digital photogrammetry with the use of unmanned aerial vehicles in a resolution sufficient to take into account the key morphological features of the landscape. Precise coordinates of the location of rock surfaces and grottoes with drawings were determined using high-precision GNSS equipment with RTK (real time kinematic) or PPP (precise point position) technology. Using the mobile version of Dstretch, the boundaries of image distribution on the previously known ochre-painted drawings were clarified. New rock art sites were also discovered during the reconnaissance, and all the necessary topographic work was also carried out on them. A total of 32 new grottoes with ochre drawings were discovered in the Kokentau and Boritastagan mountain ranges. The optimal set of digitization techniques for different types of images was determined and tested. For images applied on light granites with red ochre, we achieved the best results when processing photos with DStretch plugin in YRD, YRE color spaces with level-15 exposure. As a result, more than 70 ancient images invisible to the human eye were revealed and drawings of poorly preserved images were corrected. The non-contact method of petroglyphs processing by DStretch plugin showed that DStretch is the most successful solution for fast visualization of poorly preserved images. The DStretch plug-in also proved to be promising for revealing drawings hidden under calcite patina. In the photographs with different lighting levels, after laboratory processing, new and sometimes unique characters and elements of already known figures were also discovered, which will allow further clarification of iconographic and semantic aspects of these images. Scopus article published (68th percentile): Zaitceva O.V., Vavulin M.V. & Vodyasov E.V. Seeing the Invisible: Digital Reconstruction and Identification of New Drawings of the Akbauyr Grotto // Siberian Historical Research. №4. 2004. pp. 100–112. DOI:10.17223/2312461X/46/4.
2025
2026

Year

The results obtained from the research.
Publications (with links to them) and patents; information for potential users

2024

The database on all known drawings of East Kazakhstan with pictures made by mineral pigments was created. On the basis of the created summary the volume and character of further field works were planned and specified. Granite massifs Kokentau and Boritastagan were defined as the most perspective places for archeological search of new drawings. Topoplanes and three-dimensional terrain models were created for each surveyed location using the method of aerial digital photogrammetry with the use of unmanned aerial vehicles in a resolution sufficient to take into account the key morphological features of the landscape. Precise coordinates of the location of rock surfaces and grottoes with drawings were determined using high-precision GNSS equipment with RTK (real time kinematic) or PPP (precise point position) technology. Using the mobile version of Dstretch, the boundaries of image distribution on the previously known ochre-painted drawings were clarified. New rock art sites were also discovered during the reconnaissance, and all the necessary topographic work was also carried out on them. A total of 32 new grottoes with ochre drawings were discovered in the Kokentau and Boritastagan mountain ranges.

The optimal set of digitization techniques for different types of images was determined and tested. For images applied on light granites with red ochre, we achieved the best results when processing photos with DStretch plugin in YRD, YRE color spaces with level-15 exposure. As a result, more than 70 ancient images invisible to the human eye were revealed and drawings of poorly preserved images were corrected. The non-contact method of petroglyphs processing by DStretch plugin showed that DStretch is the most successful solution for fast visualization of poorly preserved images. The DStretch plug-in also proved to be promising for revealing drawings hidden under calcite patina. In the photographs with different lighting levels, after laboratory processing, new and sometimes unique characters and elements of already known figures were also discovered, which will allow further clarification of iconographic and semantic aspects of these images.

Scopus article published (68th percentile): Zaitceva O.V., Vavulin M.V. & Vodyasov E.V. Seeing the Invisible: Digital Reconstruction and Identification of New Drawings of the Akbauyr Grotto // Siberian Historical Research. №4. 2004. pp. 100–112. DOI:10.17223/2312461X/46/4.

2025

2026

Infographics