A rare rock carving depicting a four-horse chariot has been discovered in the Helan Mountains. [Photo provided to China Daily]

A rare rock carving depicting a four-horse chariot has been discovered in the Helan Mountains of Ningxia Hui autonomous region, offering new clues about cultural exchanges across the Eurasian grasslands and potentially extending the known history of the region's rock art traditions, an expert said recently.

The carving is the first of its kind found in the local area. It is also rare nationwide, according to the Helan Mountains rock art management office based in Yinchuan, the region's capital.

Zhang Jianguo, deputy director of the management office, said in an interview with China Daily that the rare four-horse chariot image was found in late May on a partially buried boulder in an alluvial fan area during a routine re-survey of the Helan Mountains rock art area. The discovery was recently announced to the public.

A sketch (inset) of a rare rock carving depicting a four-horse chariot has been discovered in the Helan Mountains. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The carving, measuring 24 by 20 centimeters with grooves roughly 1.5 millimeters deep, was surrounded by thick grass. Only about 15 cm of the rock was exposed above ground, making it difficult to spot.

Zhang said staff members discovered the carving with their eyes and years of experience examining the mountains' rock art, without using any specialized equipment.

According to Zhang, the image depicts wheels, a carriage and an axle, the vehicle pulled by four horses.

Though part of the carving was damaged, possibly due to weather, its basic composition remains clear, he added.

According to the management office, about 20 chariot-themed petroglyphs have been recorded across the Helan Mountains. Those previously discovered depicted two-horse chariots.

Zhang said the number of horses depicted may offer clues about the society that produced the image.

Using horses to pull a vehicle required considerable skill in domestication and control, he explained, adding that two or four horses also had to move in coordination and exert force together.

Zhang said that the carving places relatively little emphasis on the chariot carriage itself. The four horses are clearly depicted pulling a vehicle with large wheels but a relatively small carriage. This suggests that transporting cargo may not have been the primary function. Likewise, the person depicted inside the chariot is understated, suggesting that the image was not primarily intended to emphasize its use as a war chariot.

Staff members conduct a re-survey of rock art in the Helan Mountains in Ningxia Hui autonomous region. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Researchers thus believe the image may have conveyed social status. The carriage did not need to be large if it was meant to carry only one person, regardless of who that person was. In that sense, the four-horse chariot itself may have symbolized the rider's rank, reflecting the era's social hierarchy and ritual system.

Similar four-horse chariot images have been documented in Central Asia, Mongolia, southern Siberia, as well as in China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

Zhang said the distribution is notable because many of these areas lie along the broad Eurasian grassland corridor, a major zone of human movement and cultural interaction.

The four-horse chariot images share similarities in their basic composition, which may reflect contacts and exchanges among ancient populations moving across the grasslands, Zhang added.

In terms of carving technique and composition, Zhang said the image cannot necessarily be identified as made with a bronze tool, but a metal tool was likely used.

The grooves are very fine, with several small pecked marks visible inside them. The marks are dense and relatively uniform, suggesting the image was created by repeatedly striking the rock with a metal tool, he explained.

According to Zhang, the rock art discovered in the Helan Mountains has broadly been dated to between about 10,000 and 3,000 years ago.

Zhang said the newly discovered carving, however, is preliminarily estimated to date to roughly 3,000 to 2,000 years ago.

If the preliminary dating is confirmed, the significance would extend beyond this single carving: it could suggest that the rock art tradition in the Helan Mountains continued much later than previously thought.

"The dating of rock art is a difficult challenge," Zhang said. "There is still no precise method."

However, the finding suggests that the region's rock art tradition may have continued over a very long period, pointing to a relatively stable human presence.

The Helan Mountains rock art protection zone, located in the middle section of the eastern Helan Mountains, contains nearly 6,000 petroglyphs, including more than 700 images of human faces. According to the management office, the carvings record hunting, herding, and ritual scenes, offering a window into the lives of ancient peoples.

The management office has cooperated with other institutions, including the Nanjing Museum, Lanzhou University, and Fudan University, on rock art conservation research. It has also mapped the rock art areas and digitally documented the carvings, giving each a digital identity.

The newly discovered four-horse chariot carving will be incorporated into the digital conservation system, providing valuable physical evidence for interpreting the cultural significance of Helan Mountains rock art and studying the development of human civilization, the management office added.