Journal of Anthropological Archaeology xxx (xxxx) 101311 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Anthropological Archaeology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jaa An integrative examination of elk imagery in Middle Holocene Cis-Baikal, Siberia Robert J. Losey a, b, ⁎ , Vladimir I. Bazaliiskii c , Tatiana Nomokonova b a Department of Anthropology, University of Alberta, 13-15 Tory Building, Edmonton, AB T6R 3H8, Canada b Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Saskatchewan, 55 Campus Drive, Saskatoo n, SK S7N 5B1, Canada c Department of Archaeology and Ethnography, Irkutsk State University, Karl Marx Street 1, Irkutsk 664003, Russia ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Archaeological imagery Si beri a Elk Forager cemeteries Rock art Mobiliary art Cis-Baikal ABSTRACT Elk are common in forager archaeological artwork of northern Eurasia. During the Middle Holocene, the peoples of Cis-Baikal produced numerous elk depictions in rock art and mobiliary items. Most of the rock art has now been destroyed. However, Cis-Baikal’s cemeteries and habitation sites are increasingly well docu- mented, with the former generating numerous elk images. To better understand this imagery, we frst dis- cuss elk biology and behavior. We then contextualize the imagery within other forms of archaeological data, including cemetery location, dietary patterns, and human population changes and dispersals. We integrate these fndings with a model of northern Eurasian forager cosmologies and ideologies. Elk were not a dietary stable in Cis-Baikal. Instead, diets often had a substantial aquatic component, and red deer and roe deer were the most commonly used ungulates. All of Cis-Baikal’s Middle Holocene cemeteries were located near bodies of water. Elk’s ability to cross a fundamental boundary, that between the terrestrial and aquatic worlds, resulted in these animals being considered liminal beings. The elk depicted perhaps were cosmo- logical forces, transporting the souls of the dead to the underworld. They also may have been constituted a generative life force and assisted souls in returning to the living world. 1. Introduction Specialists now produce most archaeological data and present their results in discrete packages, at times with limited reference to other rel- evant data. At the same time, integrating such specialized datasets clearly can provide novel and compelling understandings of human his- tory, experience, and practice. Archaeological imagery, whether as rock art or portable items, is a case in point. Its interpretations are most convincing when analyses integrate information on the imagery’ s broader contexts. For example, elk (Alces alces) are common in the im- agery of many northern European foraging societies during the Holocene. Researchers have explored these items’ intra-site and land- scape contexts, the subsistence practices and settlement patterns of communities creating them, and even forager ethnographies and epic poetry to interpret this imagery (Bolin, 2000; Kashina and Zhulnikov, 2011; Lahelma, 2007; Ma lmer, 1981; Ma ntere and Kashina, 2020; Tilley, 1991; Zhulnikov and Kashina, 2010; Zvelebil, 1997). In Siberia and the Russian Far East, elk also are abundant in Holocene rock art, particularly along the rivers of the southern boreal forest zone—the Lena, Angara, Enisei, and Tom (Devlet and Devlet, 2005; Martynov, 1991; Melnikova et al., 2012; Okladnikov, 1959, 1966, 1974b; Okladnikov and Martynov, 1972; Okladnikov and Zaporozhskaia, 1959, 1972; Sher, 1980). Such elk images are sometimes found in com- positions similar to those in northern Europe, including being proximate to boats (Kulikova, 2014; Zaika, 2003a,b), suggesting that a common elk theme at times spanned large portions of Eurasia (Martynov, 1991). Interpretations of much of this Siberian imagery remain poorly inte- grated with in-depth understandings of regional prehistory, which in some places has only emerged in the last two decades or so. One of the major centers of elk imagery in Siberia is the Angara River region downstream from Lake Baikal (Fig. 1). The Anga ra’s rock art is both compelling and frustrating. Several dams built on the An- gara have rendered most of this rock art fooded and inaccessible, the exception being that found on the upper Lena River. Further, most in- formation about this rock art comes from Okladnikov’ s reports, which were written decades ago (Okaldnikov, 1960, 1966, 1976b). Oklad- nikov demonstrated clearly that elk were predominant in the river’s rock art. Typically, this elk imagery involves naturalistic full-body de- ⁎ Corresponding author at: Department of Anthropology, University of Alberta, 13-15 Tory Building, Edmonton, AB T6R 3H8, Canada. E-mail address: robert.losey@ualberta.ca (R.J. Losey). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2021.101311 Received 30 December 2020; Received in revised form 9 April 2021; 0278-4165/© 2021