An integrative examination of elk imagery in Middle Holocene Cis-Baikal, Siberia

•Archaeological art is best understood in relation to its contexts.•Elk images were common in Middle Holocene Cis-Baikal forager societies.•Elk imagery is all found in forager cemeteries, all located near water.•Elk were not a major dietary item in most areas of Cis-Baikal.•Elk in imagery, often depicted without antlers, were cosmological and generative forces.