Russia

Petroglyphs of the Lake Onega and the White Sea

WHS Score 3.01 Votes 8 Average 3.69

The Petroglyphs of Lake Onega and the White Sea are two groups of rock art in the Republic of Karelia, over 300km apart.

Together they show some 4,600 figures carved into the rocks at the lakeshore. The petroglyphs include multi-figure realistic hunting scenes. They date from the Neolithic age and have been preserved without later additions, due to being covered by sand deposits.

Community Perspective: Martina went to Besov Nos at Lake Onega, while Alexander visited Zalavruga and Besovy Sledki at the same lake. The petroglyphs at the White Sea have so far been unreviewed.

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Site Info

Official Information
Full Name
Petroglyphs of the Lake Onega (ID: 1654)
Country
Russia
Status
Inscribed 2021 Site history
History of Petroglyphs of the Lake Onega and the White Sea
WHS Type
Cultural
Criteria
  • iii
Links
UNESCO
whc.unesco.org
All Links
UNESCO.org
News Article
  • Aug. 17, 2021 tass.com — Karelia opens road to White Sea petroglyphs

Community Information

  • Community Category
  • Archaeological site: Rock Art
Travel Information
No travel information
Recent Connections
View all (16) .
Connections of Petroglyphs of the Lake Onega and the White Sea
Geography
  • Full White Nights
  • River deltas
    "The petroglyphs of the White Sea include 3,411 figures divided into 11 groups extending over 11 sites spread over 7 islands on the Vyg River's delta". (AB Ev)
  • Arctic Ocean
    The White Sea is a Sea of the Arctic Ocean
History
  • Neolithic age
    "Criterion (iii): ... a unique source of data and representing a coherent image of the Neolithic culture period in the northeastern part of Fennoscandia." (OUV)
World Heritage Process
Human Activity
  • Erotic art
    "There are also scenes with erotic content that testify the rituals once held here, which were connected with such an important theme as the continuation of the human race." (Nomination file, p. 25)
  • Petroglyphs
    4,500 petroglyphs (AB ev)
  • Hunter-gatherers
    "The emergence of the petroglyphs dates back to the Neolithic era — along with associated archaeological sites, including settlements and burial ground, witnessing the culture of hunter-fisher-gatherers in the North of Europe. The petroglyphs attest to the beliefs and lifestyle of the hunter-fisher-gatherers over a period of 600-800 years, speak of the advanced development of this culture that used these rock art centres as meeting places and show significant artistic qualities and creativity of the Stone Age artists." (Official description)
Constructions
  • Hydro Power Stations
    During the construction of the Vygostrovskaya Hydroelectric Power Station, a dam was constructed. It buried the southern group of the petroglyphs of Besovy Sledki discovered by V.I. Ravdonikas in 1936. (nom file)
  • Protective Shelters
    Besovy Sledki
Timeline
Science and Technology
  • Recorded cultural discoveries
    "K. Grevingk, a geologist from Saint Petersburg, and P. Shved, a teacher from Petrozavodsk, discovered rock engravings ("Olonec carvings") on the eastern shore of the Lake Onega in 1848." (Nomination file, p. 39)
  • Underwater Archaeology
    "In 1972-1979, the research team of U.A. Savvateev performed purposeful and continuous field work in the Lake Onega and surrounding Prehistoric dwellings. (...) 11 new clusters were discovered in the course of the field works with a few figures discovered underwater in breakaway granite blocks in the vicinity to the capes (Kladovec Nos, Besov Nos, Peri Nos, Kareckij Nos). (...) Underwater studies, launched by U. A. Savvateev in 1972-73, were also continued. In 2008-2010, another granite slab with rock art near the cape Kladovec Nos was discovered by divers from Saint Petersburg." (Nomination file,
  • Recently discovered
    "In 1972-1979, the research team of U.A. Savvateev performed purposeful and continuous field work in the Lake Onega and surrounding Prehistoric dwellings. (...) 11 new clusters were discovered in the course of the field (...)." "In the late 1980-s and early 1990-s, Estonian researchers (...) discovered three previously unknown groups of images (Lebediny Nos A, B, C)". Component part "Petroglyphs on the peninsula Kochkovnavok (group "D")" was discovered "under the guidance of V. Poikalainen in 1989." Component part "Petroglyph on Mihajlovec island" "was discovered by N.V. Lobanova in 2009". "The petroglyph in the cape Chjornyj was discovered in 2016". For the White Sea components as well, "[d]uring the field works of 2005-2012, new groups of petroglyphs were discovered in Zalavruga in Erpin Pudas island, at the threshold of Zolotec and in nameless islands." (Nomination file, p. 40-41, 48, 53)
Visiting conditions
News
tass.com 08/17/2021
Karelia opens road to White Sea pe…
Recent Visitors
Reserved for members.

Community Reviews

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First published: 17/11/21.

Alexander Barabanov

Petroglyphs Of The Lake Onega And The White Sea

Petroglyphs of the Lake Onega and the White Sea (Inscribed)

Petroglyphs of the Lake Onega and the White Sea by Alexander Barabanov

Visited Belomorsk cluster in October 2021. Logistics – flight to Karelia’s capital Petrozavodsk, then 370 km by rented car via surprisingly good road to Belomorsk. Petrozavodsk’s national museum of Karelia has dedicated room with a couple of original stone petroglyph stelas and description.
There is also museum in Belomorsk, but unfortunately it’s closed on Sundays and I didn’t visit. There are two main areas in this cluster – Zalavruga and Besovy Sledki (translated as Demon’s footprints). Between them a number of minor sites are also inscribed, but they require very detailed map to be identified among the forest and river shores and the glyphs are faded.
Zalavruga – is the largest concentration of rock art with over 2,000 figures. A brand new road was completed in 2021 to the site, located on the outskirts of Belomorsk, but from the parking you still have to cross pedestrian bridge and then walk for approximately 2 km. During my research new wooden floorings were in process of installation, so I carefully walked over stone plates. Visibility of petroglyphs was not great due to wet cloudy weather, however, I still was able to identify all “iconic” figures, like whale hunting scene, big deer, 3 skiers, etc. Unfortunately, on Sundays it is difficult to arrange excursion here due to museum closure, but it would probably worth it in order not to miss anything important.    
Besovy Sledki – is a covered pavilion (recently renovated) open daily from 10 to 19 with entrance fee of 30 Rubles. …

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First published: 22/07/21.

Martina Rúčková

Petroglyphs Of The Lake Onega And The White Sea

Petroglyphs of the Lake Onega and the White Sea (Inscribed)

Petroglyphs of the Lake Onega and the White Sea by Martina Rúčková

After ticking off most WHSs in Russia, Ivan and I are trying to visit the most of the tentative sites that seem to be in for a subscription. And especially those more remote ones, so we don't have to return there once we'll leave Russia for good. So we did one of our weekend trips by night train and rode to Petrozavodsk to visit the petroglyphs of Lake Onega and Kenozero National Park.

As far as this site is concerned, it can be done as a round trip whilst visiting Solovetsky islands and Kizhi pogost. Night train from Moscow is a comfortable way to travel, you save on hotel and for a decent price can either get a first class compartment with two beds, or second class with four - Russian Railways offer the opportunity to buy out the whole compartment and that's what we did. The demand is so high in summer they're sending out two-storey trains so I would not recommend getting on the platzkart, as you will wait ages to get to the bathroom. Anyway, there's also an option to fly out from Moscow, with Pobeda from Vnukovo Airport. It saves you time.

Since time was short and distances long, we rented a car that we picked up (opted for a 4WD, as many parts of our trip consisted of dirt and gravel roads) at the train station and off we went. A short trip to the Kivach waterfall and then we were set for …

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