Gobustan occupies the south-eastern spur of the Great Caucasian Range and situated 60 km south of Baku. It is a monticulate semi-desert area dissected by numerous gullies and ravines and Gobustan, in translation, means “ravine land”. Caves and rock outcroppings surround the region. Settled since the Stone Age the area is one of the major and most ancient museums of rock engravings (petrogliphs) in the world.

It was here in Gobustan, in the area of this fantastic destruction of mountains Beyukdash, Kichikdadh, Jingirdag, Shongardag and Shikhgaya, in the ‘sea of rocks’, the witnesses to the past of Azerbaijan people of the Stone Age and subsequent periods are concentrated: these are rock carvings, settlements, tombstones etc. Among them ancient rock carvings are of a particular prominence. Ancient people used to cover the stone blocks near the caves and the walls of the caves with images of human beings and animals and various signs which had been carved with stone implements and, sometimes, with metal tools. These prehistoric art monuments reflect culture, economy, world outlook, customs and traditions of ancient Azerbaijan people.

The petroglyphs of Gobustan were not discovered by an archeological expedition. In fact, their revelation came about quite by accident. In the 1930s, work was going on there in a stone quarry. The area is full of huge boulders and rock formations. One of the quarry workers noticed some unusual carvings on the rocks. The more the rocks were cut out, the more the paintings could be seen. Before they had been hidden from view inside a huge pile of boulders.) Even more paintings were found inside what appeared to be man-made caves. Work at the quarry soon stopped so that the paintings could be examined more carefully. In 1939, archeologist Isaak Jafarzade began the first archeological investigation of the petroglyphs at Gobustan. Due to assiduity of the archeologists such as I.M. Jafarzade, D.Rustamova, F.M. Muradova and so on, from that time to nowadays about 6000 rock pictures have been discovered and recorded in Gobustan. As a result of archeological excavations 40 barrows and scientifically attributed 105 thousand subjects of material culture were found. The most ancient petroglyphs have been identified as belonging to the 10-8th century BC. However, it is assumed that life existed here even earlier and that Gobustan was one of the cradles of civilization.

Gobustan may be seen as a unique source of knowledge on the period from the 10,000 B.C. to the Middle Ages covering the fields of history, culture, art and archaeology. A thorough and detailed study of Gobustan’s rock drawings, particularly their overlapping and also their style, themes, way of composition, and technique of performance as well as comparison with similar dated rock drawings in this and other countries allow some suggestions about their dating. The rock drawings of Gobustan are very diverse as to their themes and content. Among them one can find pictures of human beings, wild bulls, deer, bezoar goats, lions, gazelles, horses, wild asses, some of them being nearly life-size. There are also drawings on some rocks, representing collective labour processes, reaping, sacrifice, hunting scenes, battle scenes. There is a picture of a group dance for instance, which is done in a circle with arms on each other’s shoulders – forerunner of the yalla danced in Azerbaijan to this day. Linguistically “yalla” is cognate to “yal” which means “food”. The “food dance” was presumably a magic rite done before hunting. It might also have served as good training for huntsmen-nimble synchronous movements are essential in collective chase. A very attractive relic of the past is so called “gaval dash” (tambourine stone),  which emits a booming sound when it is struck, was probably used for accompaniment to the yalla dance.

The rock drawings dating back to remote centuries suggest that the climate of Gobustan in the distant past was damp and close to subtropical. This is evidenced by the pictures of people wearing loin-cloths as being typical of the inhabitants of tropical countries, and also by the representations of bulls, deer, and pigs whose existence is impossible without perennial water reservoirs and rich pastures. Rainfall was heavy enough in those ancient times, rivers and springs abounded in water, the herbage of the area was rich and diverse. An abundance of food made it possible for countless herds of herbivorous animals to graze in the pastures of Gobustan.