Bull geoglyph twice as old as Nazca Lines (Peru), predating Uffington Horse (UK) found in Siberia

The discovery was made close to the village of Khondergey in the south-west of the Republic of Tuva, close to Russia’s border with Mongolia. 

The stone bull was part of an Early Bronze Era burial more than 4,000 years ago, making the geoglyth one thousand years older than England’s chalk-cut White Horse, and twice as old as the Nazca Lines in Peru. 

Only the backside of the bull with the hind legs and a tail was preserved, the front part was unwittingly destroyed in 1940s by road construction. 

This is the first such discovery not only for the Republic of Tuva, but across Central Asia.

The stone bull was part of an Early Bronze Era burial more than 4,000 years ago, making the geoglyth one thousand years older than England’s chalk-cut White Horse, and twice as old as the Nazca Lines in Peru. Pictures: Institue of the History of Material Culture

‘The bull motif is very typical for the Central Asia cultures of the Early Bronze Era. Later in the Scythian times bulls were replaced by deers.

'We do see bulls as petroglyphs around Tuva and the neighbouring territories - but coming across the animal geoglyph is a unique discovery for the whole region of Central Asia. We didn’t previously find such stone compositions’, said head of Tuva Archaeological Expedition, Marina Kilunovskaya. 

The expedition united archaeologists from the St Petersburg-based Institute of the History of Material Culture, Russian Academy of Sciences, Krasnoyarsk and the Republic of Tuva. 

Members of the expedition hope that the unique bull will be preserved as part of a protected site.