Brief description: Gobustan is a geographical area, which consists of ravines located between the south-eastern foot of the Great Caucasian mountains and Caspian Sea. The territory of Gobustan borders in the north on the southern foot of the Great Caucasian Range, in the west - on the river Pirsaat, in the south - on the mountains Harami and Mishov. In the east - on the Caspian Sea and Absheron peninsula. The preserve is located in 70 kilometers from the capital of Azerbaijan - Baku city and covers the area of the mountains Bejukdash, Kichikdash, Djingirdag, Shongar and Shikhgaya. The climate of the area is dry subtropical. Gobustan State historical-artistic preserve is an open-air museum. The preserve studies rock carvings, records and protects them. Gobustan rock carvings were discovered at the foot of the mountain Djingirdag and on the top of the hill Jazili in 1939. Since 1947 the monument has been systematically researched. The first-discoverer of the Gobustan carvings was the Azerbaijan archaeologist I.Djafarzadeh. At the present moment more than 6000 carvings a signs have been registered on the more than 1000 rocks. They differ from each other by variety of their subject-matters. Mainly among carvings of Gobustan the pictures of men and women carved in full face and in profile as a reverse basrelief are of peculiar importance. The men are shown being strong dressed in loin-cloths and armed with bow and arrow. The female figures are shown with protruded breast a full hips. They were shown as continuers of the kin. Gobustan carvings consist of the pictures of animals, bulls, goats, wild horses, deer, gazelles, pigs, lions, wolves and others. Pictures of animals mainly were shown by contour lines. Gobustan rock carvings are also rich by their diffirent compositions. One can meet here scenes of collective labour, hunting, dance, harvest, battle and others.
Gobustan rock carvings cover the period from the 40 thousand BC till the Middle Ages. Besides rock carvings there are also epigraphic inscriptions in Gobustan. The following inscriptions have been discovered here: Arabic, Persian inscriptions and the Roman inscription written by the twelfth legion of the Rome Empire and dated from the first century AD. Since the 60ths of the XX century, archaeological excavations have been carried out here. As a result of the excavations 20 ancient sites and cavel as well as 40 burial mounds dated from Bronze Age were discovered here. More than 15 thousand various materials are being kept in the funds of the preserve. Among them there are labour and hunting tools and goods of adornment. Labour tools of Stone Age are mainly made of river- stone, silicon and bone. During excavations in the "Firuz" settlement 11 (eleven) human skeletons were found there.
According to the decree of Cabinet of Ministers of Azerbaijan Republic since 1966 Gobustan was declared to be the State Historical-Artistic preserve. Since then Gobustan rock carvings hace been protected by the state.