Although Ikh Nartiin Chuluu Nature Reserve is known as a great wildlife destination where it’s pretty easy to see argali sheep and Siberian ibex, it’s also turning out to be a treasure house of archaeological and cultural artifacts and sites. Among them are inscriptions and petroglyphs, including the subjects of my painting, which are part of a variety of images on a large rock near a well. You can see them in the photograph below which I took in 2008.

Research into this facet of the reserve only began a few years ago through an Earthwatch-sponsored project “Archaeology of the Mongolian Steppe”. The over 70 sites recorded so far cover 6,000 years of human habitation, including at least one site dating from the time of Chinggis Khan.

“Petroglyphs, Ikh Nartiin Chuluu” will be in the upcoming Redwood Art Association show “Elements: Earth, Water, Fire, Air”, from February 23 to March 20.