Institute for the History of Material Culture RAS, 18 Dvortsovaya emb., St. Petersburg, 191186, Russia [lvishn@yandex.ru]

Abstract. Figures of archers with bundles of diverging lines above their heads represent a rare but recurrent motif in rock art of different parts of the world. The diverging lines are usually considered rays (solar symbols), hair or headgear decorated with feathers. It is only in southern Africa with its rich ethnographic and iconographic record that these lines have long been unanimously recognized as filleted arrows. The paper attempts to revitalize the old and now almost forgotten hypothesis that some similar drawings found beyond southern Africa also may depict archers who used their heads as quivers.

Keywords: rock images, archers, filleted arrows, head-quiver.

Received 19.04.2024, accepted 02.05.2024

DOI: 10.31600/2658-3925-2024-1-93-106

For citation: Vishnyatsky L. B. Head-quiver in rock art (in Russ.). Prehistoric Archaeology. Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies. 2024 (1), 93–106, DOI: 10.31600/2658-3925-2024-1-93-106

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