Monuments – Russian Federation

Let’s start the week by exploring the Rock Paintings of Shulgan-Tash Cave.

Located in the southern Ural Mountains of Bashkortostan, the Shulgan-Tash Cave contains extensive rock art from the Late Palaeolithic period. Set within a karst massif near the Belaya and Shulgan rivers, the cave features large halls and deep chambers across two levels.

And what about the subject of the paintings?

The paintings depict steppe fauna such as mammoths, woolly rhinoceroses, bison, horses and Bactrian camels, alongside anthropomorphic figures, abstract signs and geometric motifs like the “Kapova trapezoids”. Archaeological finds offer insights into the artistic process and domestic life of the cave's prehistoric inhabitants.

In 2025, the Rock Paintings of Shulgan-Tash Cave were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List of cultural sites.

Sources and photographs taken from: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1743/

Photograph No 1: View of the eastern side of Cave Massif and the entrance grotto Portal of Shulgan-Tash cave, captured by drone. © O. Menkov │ O. Menkov

Photograph No 2: View from the Main Gallery to the entrance Portal Grotto in summer. © O. Menkov │ O. Menkov

Photograph No 3: Tracing images of mammoths (Mammuthus primigenius) in the Hall of Paintings © С. Peshkov, N. Grigoryev, State Budgetary Institution of the RB, the Shulgan-Tash Cave Historical and Cultural Museum Reserve │ С. Peshkov, N. Grigoryev

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