UDC 903.27 The article is devoted to a stone stele in the northern part of the Minusinsk basin, first discovered during an expedition of the Finnish Antiquities Society in 1887-1889. The history of studying this monument is considered. The description of the stele and its location is given, and it is proved that it belongs to the early group of Okunevsky art dating back to the end of the third millennium BC. The main attention is paid to the problem of interpretation of the image on the stele. The most promising approach is an interdisciplinary approach based on developments in the field of philological sciences and semiotics. The structure of the image on the stele is compared with the principles of constructing ancient verbal texts for ritual purposes, in which epithets and metaphors were widely used. The stele is interpreted as a kind of visual hymn focused on praising the deity. Using visual means, he reproduces mythopoetic formulas that were used in parallel texts of the oral tradition that have not survived to our time. Keywords: Southern Siberia, Minusinsk basin, Bronze Age, Okunevskaya culture, rock art, stelae. Study history The history of studying stone stelae in the Minusinsk basin dates back almost 300 years. For the first time they became known to European science at the beginning of the XVIII century. and since then they have attracted constant attention. An important contribution to the study of these monuments was made by the expedition of the Finnish Antiquities Society, which worked in the steppes of the Yenisei River in 1887-1889. Its initiator and leader was the Doctor of Philosophy, the first state senior archaeologist of Finland Johann Reingoldovich Aspelin. The results of this expedition were highly appreciated both in Finnish and Russian science [Salminen, 2003, p. 271-278; Uino, 2005, p. 83; Vadetskaya, 1973, p. 130-132; Belokobylsky, 1986, p. 79; et al.]. The materials of the study of stone stelae by Finnish scientists are preserved it als ... Read more