Animal-drawn carts used to be the major means of transportation
in mountainous areas, though it is rather difficult to draw the
figures of them by chiseling on rocks. The numerous carts depicted
in the rock paintings of Yinshan Mountains, therefore, can be
regarded as one of their distinguishing characteristics.
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Figures of carts have frequently been found in Agui Valley,
Dengkou County, Bayannur League of Inner Mongolia. The stone beacon
tower built in Qin or Han Dynasty by the mouth of the valley
indicates that the valley used to be the only passage for going
into and out of the mountainous region and crossing the Yinshan
Mountains. A roughly depicted cartwheel with thirteen unevenly
arranged spokes of various thicknesses was found in the sixteenth
group of rock paintings at No. 5 Painting Site in Agui Valley. The
cartwheel in fact, represents a cart. In another painting, a
horse-like animal was carved in front of the cart, constituting a
picture of horse-drawn cart. By the foot of the Langshan Mount, the
painting of carts with awning was found on the cliff of the eastern
side of the mountain. Three two-wheeled carts are drawn in the
painting, each with long shafts that extend beyond the rear of the
cart. The awning was strutted by wooden sticks on the cart. All the
three carts in the painting were untarnished with the animals
standing by. Judging from the outline, we may infer that the carts
in the painting were mobile vehicles that carried people around in
their nomadic life.
Riderson the backs of horses, camels and oxen were depicted in
the rock paintings. Drawings of herding, hunting or even dancing on
horsebacks can also be found. The simplest symbol of a rider is a
thick line with neither head nor limbs drawn vertically on the back
of an animal. Riders with heads and limbs, or even with clothes and
harness, can only be seen in the more complicated paintings. A
painting discovered in Tongku Valley of Dengkou County depicts a
group ofriders slowly marching forward on horsebacks and
camelbacks. Some of the riders are even giving acrobatic
performance on horsebacks. The picture seems to be a record of a
migration on a considerably large scale.