The North-West, the Urals and the Far East of Russia

Abstract

The main problem related to rock art sites in Russia is the continuous process of their destruction, which occurs because of both natural and anthropogenic reasons (vandalism, quarrying, and construction of roads and reservoirs, etc). Today, vandalism by tourists is one of the major problems. Every year, a part of our cultural heritage -rock art sites -disappears, and the research and documentation of these sites cannot keep pace with this process. This is why a lot of art is lost forever, both physically and as a subject of study. Projects created to make rock art more popular, to attract youths to expeditions and volunteering, to make rock art museums, to protect and conserve this heritage, aim to tackle this problem. In recent years, the legal issues of saving petroglyphs have attracted the attention of scholars – unfortunately, the Russian legal system doesn’t cover these sites and they are rarely protected by the government.