Imagination runs sky high in interpreting rock carvings

His team will also employ a new method to determine the age of the pictographs, one of whose messages seems to be that the region was one of the first in the world where skiing started.

Local archaeologists have already made up their minds on that issue, having declared in 2006 that Altay was indeed the birthplace of skiing. They point to the painting on the roof of a cave in Dundebulake village that seems to depict humans on skis, bending their knees as they travel alongside animals, including deer and moose.

The archeologists reckon the painting is about 12,000 years old.

In a research paper published in October, the International Centre of Rock Art Dating and Conservation under the Hebei Normal University in Shijiazhuang, capital of Hebei province said the rock art in Dundebulake is so well preserved because the pictographs were well hidden in the cave, in addition to which Altay's dry climate has been a useful preserving agent.

The researchers, some from Australia, says that the caves' sacred place in Tibetan Buddhism also helped protect the rock art, effectively deterring unauthorized entry into the caves.

Liu says the widespread occurrence of rock art suggests frequent cultural exchanges among nomadic tribes in ancient times, long before the Silk Road.

The research into the pictographs and rock art in Altay has provided evidence of a long history of human activities in the Altay region, he says.

"Previously we could only trace back about 7,000 years. Through the discovery of new pictographs, we can now stretch the history much further back."

Through the discovery of new pictographs, we can now stretch the history much further back."