Historiography of Early Medieval Sculptures of Altai

This paper deals with the history of the study of early medieval sculptures of Altai, which dates back more than two hundred years. They conditionally distinguish three periods in their study: 1 – the beginning of the XVIII – 60-s of the XIX century; 2 – 1860s – 1920s; 3 – 1920s – up to the present. If in the first period the participants of ore-prospecting parties and the first natural-scientific expeditions simply recorded stone sculptures, the second period is marked by the first archaeological excavations of memorial enclosures, sketches and publications of sculptures. The third, modern stage is characterized by large-scale and systematic archaeological works, their state funding, foundation of research organizations. It was during this period that the largest amount of statues was discovered, the number of which today is 320. Despite the long history of the study of Altai statues, it is necessary to keep working on various aspects in the interpretation of early medieval sculptures and memorial sites: their semantics, the costume of Turkic-speaking nomads, the identification of female statues, the tradition of placing votive, non-functional things in memorial enclosures etc.