As a result of archaeological research, a large number of sites were discovered in Crimea ancient people. Scientists have established that man has lived on the territory of our peninsula since the Old Stone Age, more than 300 thousand years ago (during the Acheulian era). At this time, the climate was dry and warm, rich vegetation and a large variety of animals made it possible to successfully engage in gathering and hunting. Found animal bones indicate that the ancient inhabitants of Taurica hunted mammoth, antelope, deer, bison, and other animals.
The main occupation of people of that time - driven hunting - was favored by steep cliffs. Most of the sites of this time were located in the southwestern and southeastern regions of Crimea. They were located on mountain slopes, protected from cold winds and warmed by the sun, close to springs and rivers, next to flint deposits. At these sites, archaeologists found double-sided tools - hand axes up to 15-20 cm long. The man of that time had already mastered fire and was able to maintain it for a long time.
Each such cave settlement was an autumn-winter dwelling in sheltered narrow valleys mountain rivers, not far from their exit to low areas of the relief - the main hunting grounds.
Calculations of inhabited areas in rocky shelters, the number and size of hearths found in them and other data show that 2-4 families, numbering 6-7 people, lived in cave settlements. The approximate population density in Crimea was: 1 person per 60 square kilometers.
The relatively high density of the Mousterian population per unit area in Crimea is explained by a number of its advantages over other, more northern territories. Crimea differs from them in its relatively mild climate, a longer vegetative period in the development of plants and seasonal concentrations of ungulates migrating from the north.
In the studied cave sites of Crimea, layers with traces of ancient cultures have been preserved, occurring in stratigraphic order, that is, sequentially from bottom to top, from the most ancient to the latest. In these layers, lenses of hearths with ash and coals, many bones of animals that became the hunting prey of Neanderthals, and inclusions of red ocher, used by people for body tattoos, are often visible.
In 1924, archaeologists discovered the Kiik-Koba grotto, in which, in addition to a large number of various remains of ancient human activity, parts of the skeletons of ancient people were discovered. The Kiik-Koba Grotto was formed under the influence of groundwater seepage and rock weathering. The grotto is located under the cornice of a high plateau, one of the spurs of the Dolgorukovskaya Yayla, at an altitude of about 90 meters above the mountain river Zuya. The grotto is well hidden in the forest thickets and among rocky landslides. Not far from the grotto flows a spring, which, undoubtedly, was used by ancient people.
On the living area of the grotto, covered by an overhanging rocky ceiling, traces of ancient hearths have been preserved; one hearth was identified in the lower layer, and three hearths were found in the upper layer. Everywhere within the boundaries of the living area one can find chopped flint, tools, animal bones, and coals. The tools from the lower layer are more primitive than those from the upper layer.
The most ancient people of the upper layer from Kiik-Koba apparently mastered well various ways hunting large and small game. Using a dart and, possibly, fire, they widely used driven hunting on cliffs. Based on the bones found in the grotto, more than 110 species of various animals were identified, including about 50 birds.
The main game animals were mammoth, bison, saiga, giant and red deer, woolly rhinoceros, wild horse, wild boar, etc.
In the Kiik-Koba grotto, part of the skeleton of a woman was discovered, buried in a slightly bent position, on her side, in a hole specially hollowed out in the rocky floor. Near the woman’s burial, an almost one-year-old child was buried, also placed in a crouched, “uterine” position. Similar burials are found at other ancient sites in Crimea. Probably, the most ancient people in Crimea had already developed certain rituals during burials. It is very possible that this ritual is associated with early forms of religious ideas, with ideas of revival and reversibility. The placement of the deceased at the place of residence implied the preservation of their blood relationship with the living and reflected the absence of fear of the dead or, according to ancient ideas, those who had gone to sleep.
Other sites of ancient people who lived in Crimea also became widely known, in which tools, bone remains of animals and human skeletons were found. Such sites include: Ststaroselskaya - near Bakhchisaray, Zaskalnaya - near Belogorsk, Wolf Grotto - near the village of Zuya, Kachinsky and Syurensky canopies - in the Bakhchisaray region, Murzak-Koba - on the Chernaya River, Fatma-Koba - near the Baydarskaya Valley and others. 
In the Middle Stone Age, through hard work and hard work, people were able to adapt and survive in difficult conditions. They learned to make tools, hunt, and farm. (Mesolithic) tools changed significantly; they were small flint products in the form of segments, trapezoids and triangles. Animal and vegetable world the peninsula became close to modern. The number of herd animals has decreased significantly. This changed hunting methods, and individual hunting began to play a large role. Invented in the Late Stone Age, the bow became a favorite weapon of hunters. The main objects of hunting were roe deer and wild boar. During this period, fishing develops.
The dog has already been tamed by man. Archaeologists have discovered the bone remains of a pig and a bull; these animals were domesticated in Taurica earlier than in the Middle East. Cattle breeding is gradually emerging. There are quite a lot of sites from this period in Crimea. The most famous are Alimovsky Canopy, Kukrek, Fatma-koba, Murzak-koba, Tash-Air I, Zamil-Koba I, Suren II, etc.
The most important feature of the New Stone Age (Neolithic - from the 5th millennium BC to the appearance of metal products) is the widespread use of pottery. The role of cattle breeding increases at this time. From gathering comes agriculture.
During the Chalcolithic and Bronze Ages (from the second half of the 4th to the beginning of the 1st millennium BC), cattle breeding and agriculture became the leading sectors of the economy. This leads to an increase in the role of male labor. Weaving and spinning began to develop.
In the Bronze Age, the peninsula develops whole line mound cultures: Yamnaya, Kemi-Obinskaya, Catacomb, Belozerskaya, Srubnaya, Multi-roller, Sabatinovskaya. Researchers claim that these cultures are alien in nature, with the exception of Kemi-Oba, Sabatinovsk and Belozersk.
They belong to the ancient Stone Age, divided into the early and late Paleolithic, and lasting from 2 million years to the XIV - X centuries BC. e. The Crimean Peninsula is located in southern Europe and was almost not affected by the glacier. In the Crimean Mountains there were many caves, grottoes and rock overhangs, convenient for setting up camp sites. The mild climate, abundance of wild animals and rich varied vegetation created favorable conditions for habitation primitive man. In Crimea in prehistoric times lived mammoths, rhinoceroses, reindeer, bears, arctic foxes, saiga antelopes, wild horses, donkeys, partridges, salmon and pike were found in the rivers, there were silicon deposits on the surface of the earth, which served primitive man as raw materials for the manufacture of tools necessary for life. Remains primitive people, which began to populate Crimea about one hundred thousand years ago, were found in many places on the peninsula. The ancient sites of Chokurcha, Kiik-Koba and Bakla near Simferopol, 14 Zaskalnye sites near the village of Vishennaye in the Belogorsk region, Staroselye near Bakhchisarai, and the Kizil-Kobinsky caves are widely known. In the Wolf Grotto cave of the Middle Paleolithic era, located twelve kilometers east of Simferopol in the rock above the Beshterek River valley, many flint tools and bones of a wild bull, red deer, mammoth, bison, mouflon, rhinoceros, wild boar, wild donkey, wild horse were found , wolf, fox, roe deer, badger, arctic fox, cave hyena, wolverine.
Primitive people on the Crimean peninsula left their traces near (Suren), near the Kacha River, in the Alma River valley, near the Bodrak River (Shaitan-Koba). They already made fire, lived in caves, hunted mammoths, rhinoceroses, wild bulls, horses, deer, cave lions and bears that existed in the Crimea during the Ice Age with the help of a wooden lance, the end of which was sharpened in fire, stones and clubs. People collected soft and non-poisonous roots, mushrooms, berries, wild fruits, shellfish, and fished. The clothes were the skins of a bull, deer, antelope, cave bear, wolf, beaver, fox, and hare. Paleolithic flint tools were found at the sites: pointed points, side-scrapers-knives, and handaxes. Subsequently, mammoths, bison and woolly rhinoceroses disappeared, and reindeer left Crimea as the weather warmed. Horses and saigas became the main objects of hunting. Large communities of primitive hunters broke up into small ones that settled along river valleys.
Many primitive sites in almost all parts of Crimea date back to the Middle Stone Age - Mesolithic period, which lasted from the 9th to the 6th millennium BC. e. People lived in the cave sites of Alimov Canopy in the valley of the Kachi River, Suren II near the Belbek River, Waterfall Grotto, Tash-Air I, Buran-Kaya near the Burulchi River, Fatma-Koba in the Baydar Valley, Zamil-Koba I and II, Murzak-Koba in the valley of the Chernaya River, Laspi VII. Remains of protective structures were discovered at the entrances to the Shan-Koba and Fatma-Koba sites. Primitive people tamed the dog, domesticated the pig, bows and arrows emerged from weapons, which became the main means of obtaining food, and molded pottery was found at sites. The main occupations of the primitive Crimean population were hunting, mainly deer, roe deer and wild boars, gathering, and fishing. At sites of this period, bones of wild animals and remains of edible food were found. grape snail, double-row harpoons with barbs, bones of pike perch, salmon and catfish. The Shan-Koba cave site in southwestern Crimea is widely known, in which incisors, scrapers, and knife-like blades were discovered. During the excavations, bones of deer, saiga antelope, wild donkey, wild horse, wild boar, brown bear, lynx, badger, beaver, shells of edible snails, and bone harpoons were also found.
Sites in the steppe part of Crimea (Dolinka, Ishun, Martynovka), in the mountains (Balin-Kosh, At-Bash, Beshtekne), near Bakhchisaray (Tash Air, Zemil Koba, Kaya Arasy), on the Kerch Peninsula (Lugovoe, Tosunovo), south coast(Ulu-Uzen) belong to the new Stone Age, Neolithic (5000 years - 4000 years BC). There are more than one hundred and fifty of them on the Crimean peninsula. Primitive people in Crimea mastered agriculture and cattle breeding, domesticated goats, sheep, cows, oxen, horses, fired pottery, stone products, axes, and hammers appeared. Hoes, reaping knives, flint knife-like blades, and bone beads were found at the sites.
The people of the Yamnaya, Catacomb and Srubnaya culture, who lived in Crimea during the Copper Age - Eneolithic (4000 years - 2000 BC) also left their traces in the steppe and mountainous Crimea and on the Kerch Peninsula. The well-known mounds are Kurban Bayram near Krasnoperekopsk, Kemi-Oba near Belogorsk, the Golden Mound near Simferopol, Laspi I, Gurzuf, Zhukovka. At this time, most tribes had not yet settled on the earth, and many peoples moved across Europe and Asia in search of convenient places to live. The people of the Copper Age in Crimea were farmers and livestock breeders. They grew wheat, millet, barley, and hemp. They ate meat and bread. Sheep, goats, pigs, dogs, cows and horses were domesticated. Spinning. Copper tools and weapons appeared: axes, daggers, knives, chisels, paper clips, spear and arrow tips. Wheeled transport appeared - carts harnessed to oxen or horses.
During the Bronze Age, which lasted from 2000 to 1000 BC. e. Representatives of the Yamnaya, Kemi-Obinskaya, Catacomb, Mnogovalikovaya, Srubnaya, Sabatinovskaya and Belozersk cultures lived in the region, who knew how to build stone dwellings and were engaged in cattle breeding and arable farming. At sites of the Bronze Age period, many copper and bronze items, pots, bowls, stone battle axes, and maces were discovered. A large slab with holes for libations, depicting a duel, was found near Krasnaya Gorka in Simferopol. Stone steles were found near Evpatoria, Chokurcha, Bakhchisarai, Astanino, and Tiritaki - elongated slabs depicting the upper parts of the head, eyes, mouth, and hands. On one of the steles there is a sword belt, an axe, a bow and a quiver. The first traces of barter trade between the population of the Northern Black Sea region and the tribes of southwestern and western Asia Minor, as well as the Aegean basin, date back to this period. In the Bessarabian treasure in the village of Borodino near Akkerman - Belgorod of the Dniester, four large stone axes made of serpentine of Asian Minor origin were found. In the Shchetkovo treasure in the Bug region near Ingul, Aegean bronze double axes and sickles of Mycenaean origin were discovered. At sites of this period in Crimea, dishes similar to those discovered at Ingul and in the Kuban region were found, which indicates trade relations between the Crimean tribes and the steppe population of the Northern Black Sea region.
At the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e. The Bronze Age in Crimea gave way to the Iron Age. The oldest iron objects were found in one of the burial mounds near the village of Zolnoye. They date back to the 8th century BC. e. Main occupations of the population Crimean peninsula began farming and cattle breeding in a subsistence economy that satisfied many human needs with products of its own production.
About this historical period The first archaeological monuments of the Tauris on the Crimean Peninsula are among them.
PALEOLITHIC. SETTLEMENT OF CRIMEA BY HUMAN
Favorable natural and climatic conditions contributed to the fact that people began to settle in Crimea already in ancient times. Wild horses, bison, mammoths, and deer were found in abundance in the steppe expanses, forests and mountains, which created excellent hunting opportunities. At that time, the fauna of Crimea numbered over 30 species large mammals, 40 species of birds, several species of fish.
The rich flora of the peninsula allowed successful gathering.
At ancient sites in the Belogorsk and Bakhchisarai regions, on Karadag, archaeologists discovered a large number of tools, the processing technology of which is extremely primitive. This suggests that people began to inhabit the peninsula during the Acheulean period or even earlier. However, researchers do not have complete agreement on this issue.
THE ERA OF MUSTIER (150-40 THOUSAND YEARS AGO)
The population density in Crimea during the Mousterian era was unusually high. This is confirmed by the large concentration of Mousterian sites in the foothills of Crimea. The most famous of them are: Kiik-Koba (near the village of Balanovo, Belogorsk region), Volchiy Grotto (near the village of Mazanka, Simferopol region), Zaskalnaya I-IX, Ak-Kaya I-V, Krasnaya Balka (all near the Ak-Kaya rock, Belogorsk region), Staroselie (Bakhchisaray city), Chokurcha (on the eastern outskirts of Simferopol), Shaitan-Koba (near the village of Skalistoye, Bakhchisaray district).
PALEOLITHIC
Neanderthal - "skillful man"
All sites of this period are located in grottoes or under rock overhangs. This is due to the fact that the Mousterian era practically coincides in time with the period cold snap on Earth, called the Valdai or Würm glaciation. The advance of the great glacier significantly influenced the natural and climatic conditions of the peninsula.
The winds blowing from the glacier forced people not only to seek refuge in the grottoes, but also to insulate them by constructing wind barriers from stones and tree branches.
The flora and fauna of the Ice Age were significantly different from those of today. The Crimea was inhabited by mammoths, giant, red and reindeer, bison, woolly rhinoceroses, cave lions, cave and brown bears, roe deer, saigas, wolves, foxes, arctic foxes, and hares.
The mountains of the peninsula were covered with birch and pine forests, grassy tundra vegetation appeared in the steppe.
A study of the sites showed that they were inhabited by the immediate ancestors of modern people, scientifically called Neanderthals (their bone remains were first found in Germany in the Neanderthal Valley).
The structure of the Neanderthal skeleton has a number of characteristic features. The skull is very low, the forehead extends back, and the brow ridges protrude. The sloping chin, without a protrusion, suggests that the Neanderthal’s speech was not expressive. However, in terms of brain volume (up to 1700 cm2), they surpassed even modern people. According to researchers, the frontal lobes of the brain, where modern man there are centers abstract thinking and inhibition were poorly developed among Neanderthals. This suggests that Neanderthals had only primitive ideas and were different aggressive behavior. At relatively short stature, 155-165 cm, they had a powerful physique and developed muscles, had broad shoulders, short legs, and a very massive skeleton. The hands were also massive, and obviously could handle heavy work with ease, but at the same time their flexibility was limited, and more work could be done. complex operations the Neanderthal could not (he, for example, could not touch all the other fingers of his hand with his thumb).
In the studied sites, layers with traces of the activity of ancient people (cultural layers) were preserved, occurring in a strategraphic order, i.e. sequentially from bottom to top, from the most ancient to the latest. In these layers, lenses of hearths with ash and coals, many bones of animals that became the hunting prey of Neanderthals, flint tools and their fragments were discovered.
The material for making tools was flint. Parts of the required size and shape were chopped off from it - “flakes”, which were processed using retouching. For this purpose, they pressed the edge of the workpiece with a special bone squeezer, separated flint flakes and, thus, changed the shape of the tool and sharpened it.
The most common tools during this period were points and scrapers. The scraper had one side processed, which served as the working edge of the tool. Points had two sides processed, which made it possible to sharpen the top. Pointed points and scrapers were used for cutting animal carcasses and processing hides. They also made a weapon such as a chopper, which had universal use. Tree branches were cut off and sharpened with them. By sharpening animal bones, man made piercings, which he used to make holes in animal skins to make clothing, which became his protection in harsh climates. The “threads” could be animal tendons.
By this time, man had already used fire and knew how to maintain it for a long time.
MAIN ACTIVITIES
The main occupations of primitive man were hunting and gathering. At the sites, a large number of bones of large animals are found: mammoths, deer, horses, saigas. Armed with primitive tools, people could count on success in hunting such animals only by acting collectively. Probably, driven hunting was most often used: animals were driven onto cliffs or into narrow gorges and killed with blows from sticks, stones, and spears.
Gathering edible plants and mushrooms was a great help in the life of ancient people.
COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION
Neanderthals lived in groups of 20-30 individuals. The need to live together, organize economic activities, and driven hunting required somehow regulating people's behavior. Otherwise, it would be impossible to avoid conflicts that are destructive for the team. And the fact that such conflicts occurred is eloquently evidenced by cases of cannibalism. Researchers find split and burnt bones of Neanderthals at sites.
Obviously, the Neanderthals managed to create a society that occupied an intermediate position between the animal world and the early stage of human society with his clan organization, certain rules of community life. This is evidenced by a number of examples when Neanderthals showed care for their “disabled” relatives.
THE APPEARANCE OF ABSTRACT REPRESENTATIONS
In 1924, the famous archaeologist G. A. Bonch-Osmolovsky discovered a site in the Kiik-Koba grotto. In the lower layer of the site they found charcoal, a large number of crushed and burnt bones of various animals, flint tools and waste from their manufacture.
The upper layer was separated from the lower layer by a layer of yellow clay without any cultural remains, which means that the grotto had not been used by humans for a long time.
The burials of two Neanderthals found in the grotto are of great importance: a woman and a child. Both burials were located in a grave pit in a rocky floor, in a position typical of Neanderthal burials on the right side, with legs bent at the knees (in the so-called “uterine” position). Similar burials are found at other sites. All this suggests that Neanderthals for the first time developed abstract ideas that forced them to perform the rite of burial of their dead relatives.
It is possible that such ritualism is associated with early forms of religious ideas, with ideas of revival and reversibility. Placing the deceased at the place of residence presupposes the preservation of their consanguinity with the living and shows the absence of fear of the dead.
LATE (UPPER) PALEOLITHIC. MAN IS REASONABLE
Cro-Magnon - "reasonable man"
The final period of the Old Stone Age was called the Late or Upper Paleolithic. Its chronological framework is 40/35-10 thousand years ago. This era partially coincides with the time of the last glaciation. The climate on Earth was harsh, dry and cold.
At this time, a person of modern appearance was formed, called " reasonable man, homo sapiens." For the first time, his remains were discovered in France in the Cro-Magnon cave, so "homo sapiens" is also commonly called Cro-Magnon.
It is surprising that there are not many sites from this period in Crimea. But in the Mousterian era there were a significant number of sites of ancient people on the peninsula. At the same time, outside the Crimea, Upper Paleolithic sites are very common. It is difficult to explain this fact. One of the reasons may be that at this time the most important hunting object, the mammoth, left the territory of the peninsula, and people were forced to follow it to the north.
On our peninsula, only three sites of this period have been discovered and explored: Suren I near the village of Tankovoe, Kachinsky canopy near the village of Predushchelnoye in the Bakhchisarai region and on the slope of Karabi-Yayly Adzhi-Koba.
The most explored site is Suren I, located in a large grotto with an area of 43x15 m and a height of 9 meters. The Late Paleolithic is characterized by the widespread occurrence of two new types of tools, compared to the Mousterian era: burins and scrapers.
Products made of bone became widespread during this period: spear and dart tips, flat points, piercings, pins, awls, bone retouchers, pendants. It is no coincidence that this period is also called the “age of bone.”
The main occupations of people are still hunting and gathering.
During this period, such a way of organizing society as a clan was formed. A clan is a group of people who are aware of their common origin.
MESOLITHIC
Back in the Paleolithic era, approximately 12 thousand years ago, global climate change. In the Bible and in many myths of different nations this time is spoken of as global flood, about the second birth of humanity.
During this period, the temperature rises, the glacier that covered Europe begins to retreat, and the level of the world's oceans rises by more than 100 meters. Huge flows enough warm water have become an excellent environment for numerous fish, mollusks, and crayfish. The deep rivers were inhabited by pike perch, salmon, catfish, trout and other species of fish. Forests grew over a large area, and changes in topography and soil occurred.
Many scientists associate such global transformations with a planet-wide catastrophe (possibly due to the fall of a giant meteorite).
The surviving cold-loving animals went north. In Crimea, roe deer, wild boars, red deer, squirrels, hares, brown bears, lynx.
Global natural and climatic changes could not but affect the way of life of people and their social organization. The disappearance of large, slow-moving animals leads to a change in hunting methods and the emergence of new tools. There is a transition from pen-raid raid for individual hunting. This was facilitated by the invention of the first mechanical weapon - the bow and arrow. At this time, a dog was tamed by man, which became a reliable hunting assistant.
During the Mesolithic era, widespread microliths(silicon flakes up to 1 mm thick). They were inserted into a base of wood or bone, which was previously given the required shape. Composite tools had a number of significant advantages. It was easier to replace a damaged microlite than to make a new weapon. It was easier to give very sharp edges to a small stone blank.
Fishing, collecting shellfish and catching crayfish became an important activity in human economic life. Tools for fishing appeared - bone harpoons and hooks.
PARKING
A fairly large number of Mesolithic sites have been found and explored on our peninsula. Excavations carried out in them showed that during this period in Crimea there were several archaeological cultures that were close, but at the same time had their own characteristics.
In the Baydar Valley, almost nearby are the sites of Shan-Koba, Fatma-Koba and Murzak-Koba, which researchers attribute to the Crimean mountain archaeological culture. They were located under rocky overhangs in grottoes protected by wind barriers. Fire was already a reliable “helper” for humans: it was used for cooking (hearths buried in the ground and lined with stones were found at sites) and as a source of heat.
In the valley of the Zuya River, a site was explored that gave the name to an entire archaeological culture - Kukrek. A number of researchers believe that this culture was formed in the Northern Black Sea region, and subsequently its bearers penetrated into the steppe and foothills of Crimea.
The site Suren II in the Bakhchisarai region is of great interest. During excavations, archaeologists discovered flint tools of an unusual shape in the form of a willow leaf. Products of the same shape were found in Poland, Volyn and the Baltic states.
FUNERAL RITE
Burials of this period were discovered by archaeologists at the Fatma-Koba and Murzak-Koba sites. In the burials of Fatma-Koba, the bone remains of a man were found, about 40 years old, 170 cm tall. He was buried on his right side with his head to the southeast, his hands placed under his head, his legs tightly tucked.
Paired burial of a man and a woman discovered in Muzak Kobe lying in an extended position on their back with their heads facing east. According to researchers, this burial was simultaneous. It can be assumed that the woman was killed for ritual purposes - to accompany the man to another world.
When studying the bone remains, scientists noticed that the woman had the phalanges of both little fingers amputated during her lifetime. Obviously, the researchers in this case recorded traces of the initiation rite. This conclusion can be made through the study of modern peoples, the level of development of whose material culture is in many ways similar to the culture of people of the Mesolithic era. Ethnographers paid attention to the features social organization division into sex and age groups, children, men and women. The transition of children to one of the adult groups is usually accompanied by a rite of passage (from the Latin “initiation”). The initiate was subjected to severe and painful tests that he had to endure, otherwise, for everyone around him, he would forever remain a child.
ORGANIZATION OF PUBLIC LIFE
According to many researchers, during the Mesolithic era a tribal organization of society took shape. The most important issues were resolved jointly, and leadership in everyday life belonged to the most experienced and respected person. Within the clan there was economic specialization: women were engaged in gathering, men in hunting. The clan organization regulated the relationship between the sexes.
NEOLITHIC
Neolithic (new stone Age, mid-4th millennium - beginning of the 6th century. BC e.). It is characterized by significant changes both in economic life and in social relations.
During this period, stone processing techniques were improved and new techniques appeared: grinding, sawing, drilling. New tools are proliferating.
A characteristic feature of the Neolithic is the appearance of ceramics. The first ceramic dishes were made using the rope method. Long “rocking chairs” were made from clay, folded into a spiral, then smoothed out and given the required shape. After drying and firing, a ceramic vessel was obtained. Gradually, the technology improved: for strength, certain impurities were added and ornaments were applied. At the same time, among various tribes, the production of ceramic dishes had certain features in forms, technology, and ornamentation. This allows researchers to quite accurately determine the area of distribution of the culture of certain tribes and, consequently, the territory of their settlement. Having learned to make ceramic dishes, people were able to cook food and store various products.
Spinning and weaving appeared in the Neolithic.
Extremely important in the development of mankind was the transition from appropriating forms of economy to producing ones. During this period they began to develop agriculture and cattle breeding. These major events became a turning point in human history. The English archaeologist Gordon Childe most deeply appreciated these events, calling them the “Neolithic Revolution”: “The transition to food production, the creative cultivation of edible plants, especially cereals, and the domestication, breeding and selection of animals was an economic revolution, the greatest in the history of mankind since the how man mastered the art of making fire. It opened up the possibility for people to resort to a richer and more reliable source of food, which was under man’s own control, providing him with almost unlimited possibilities and requiring from him in return only the application of his strength.”
Neolithic settlements have been discovered essentially throughout the entire territory of our peninsula. It is obvious that the descendants of the Mesolithic era continued to live in the mountainous part. Most of the sites were located under rock overhangs and in grottoes. Some settlements probably used artificial buildings, but researchers have not yet been able to find traces of them. The following sites belong to this period: At-Bash and Balin-Kosh on the Ai-Petrinskaya Yayla, Tash-Air, Kaya-Arasy, Alimovsky canopy, Zamil-Koba II in the Bakhchisarai region. The ceramic products from these sites are very similar. Most of these finds have ornaments in the upper part and consist of grooves, pits and notches. Such an ornament was obviously obtained using special pointed sticks or a comb.
Sickles, hoes, and bones of domestic animals were found at these sites, which indicates the emergence of a productive economy. However, according to most researchers, appropriative forms of economy still prevailed in Crimea: hunting and gathering (the bones of wild animals found at many sites in quantitative terms significantly exceed the presence of bones of domestic animals).
Quite a lot of sites have been excavated by archaeologists and steppe Crimea: in the Dzhankoy district near the village of Martynovka, in the Krasnoperekopsky district near the village of Dolinka, near the villages of Lugovoe and Frontovoye in the Leninsky district. And, despite the fact that many sites in this region have not been sufficiently studied, it can be argued that the descendants of the Kukrek archaeological culture lived here.
Of great interest is the burial ground of the Dolinka village, where in a relatively shallow pit the remains of almost fifty people were found, stacked in four tiers in an extended position on the back, with their heads in different directions. In the funeral ceremony, ocher was used, which was sprinkled on the bodies of the dead.
BRONZE AGE
The author draws attention to the fact that, according to the existing archaeological periodization, the Neolithic is being replaced by the Eneolithic (Copper-Stone Age) - transition period, in which metal products appear, but flint tools remain dominant.
However, no sites have yet been discovered in Crimea that would bear pronounced features of this period. After the Copper-Stone Age comes the era bronze(bronze is an alloy of copper with other metals, most often with tin), from the middle of the 3rd millennium BC. e. - IX century BC e. The displacement of copper by bronze is due to the fact that the latter is harder and melts at a lower temperature.
During this period, dramatic changes occurred in the environmental situation, which affected the development of economic and public relations. The first social division of labor is strengthened: cattle breeding is separated from agriculture. Developing nomadic pastoralism, which is facilitated by natural climatic conditions: a warm and dry climate, the presence of huge steppe expanses covered with grassy vegetation.
The development of the economy and the social division of labor contributed to the growth of labor productivity. During this period, the role of the man and the couple family increases.
The use of horses, wheeled transport and nomadic cattle breeding contributed to an increase in the mobility of the population.
It should be noted that the nomadic way of life did not allow the construction of a dwelling; at the same time, these tribes did not know writing, and as a result, the main sources for studying the history, life and culture of such peoples are material obtained as a result of archaeological excavations of their burials.
Constantly migrating with their herds over large areas, these peoples built mounds over the graves of their dead relatives. This was done, most likely, in order to avoid losing the graves of their loved ones in conditions of constant migrations. The sizes of such mounds vary: from half a meter to several tens of meters in height and from 10 to 300 meters in diameter. There is no doubt that the size of the mounds was directly related to the material and social status of the buried person.
The study of numerous burials indicates that during this period several archaeological cultures existed on the territory of Crimea: Yamnaya, Kemi-Oba, Catacomb, Multi-roller ceramics, Timber.
PIT CULTURE
The culture received this name from the method of burial, when mounds were poured over the simplest type of burial structure - rectangular pits. Their dimensions reached 2.2 x 2.0 m, covered with boards, poles and slabs. The dead were buried on their backs, with their legs bent at the knees, sometimes in a crouched position on their side, and most often sprinkled with ocher. Such burials were examined near the village of Chistenkoye, Simferopol district, near the village of Krasnoyarskoye, Chernomorsky district, in the Nizhnegorsky district, near the village of Kropotkine. The grave goods found in the burials are not rich and consist of ceramic dishes, arrowheads, knives, pins, awls, piercings, stone axes. A characteristic feature is the presence of funeral food in these burials. At the top of some mounds, a stone sculpture was installed, on which facial features, arms, and a belt were shown in relief, and at the top of such sculptures a head was imitated.
Famous archaeologist A.A. Shchepinsky was one of the first to highlight Kemi-Oba culture, named after the Kemi-Oba mound near Belogorsk. A characteristic feature of this culture is the use of a special type of burial structures - stone boxes made of four slabs, carefully processed and fitted to each other, with an overlap. Such structures were painted from the inside with red and black paint and covered with engraving.
The deceased was buried on his back or on his side with his legs bent, his head most often facing east or northeast. The grave goods consisted of tools with flat retouching, polished stone battle axes, flint plates, metal leaf-shaped knives, piercings, tetrahedral awls, etc.
Stone boxes covered with a mound embankment. Some of the mounds had cromlechs, and stone steles were installed in the upper part. Largest quantity Such monuments are concentrated on the border of the steppe and foothill parts of the peninsula.
CATACOMB CULTURE
The area of distribution of this culture is quite huge: from the Volga River to the Lower Danube. Its bearers had a unique funeral rite, when the deceased was buried in burial structures under the burial mounds, called catacombs. They had an entrance pit from which a special chamber branched off, in which the deceased was buried. After burial, the entrance to the chamber was most often closed with a slab or wooden shield.
Researchers believe that this culture was formed outside of Crimea and only subsequently spread to our peninsula. For their burials, the “catacombs” most often used existing mounds, performing so-called inlet burials.
The funeral rite consisted of burying the deceased either in an extended position on his back or in a crouched position on his side and sprinkled with ocher. A variety of materials were placed next to the deceased: clay products decorated with patterns made using cord marks on raw clay and sharpened objects, various tools - polished stone axes, bronze knives and awls; In some burials, round polished stone pins with wooden handles were found; weapons flint arrowheads and spears; jewelry made from drilled animal teeth and sea shells, bone and “hammer” pins.
Of great interest is the fact that in a number of the burials studied, traces of a ritual over the dead were found, which consisted of the following; After the skull of the deceased was cleared of soft tissue, the eye sockets were filled with clay and ocher, and the nose was also sculpted and attached to the skull.
The main occupation of the tribes of the Catacomb culture was cattle breeding, but there are also signs that part of the population living on the coast of the peninsula was beginning to engage in agriculture.
Gradually, processes occur among the carriers of the catacomb culture, which, according to researchers, lead to the emergence of an archaeological culture, called multi-roller. A striking feature of this culture is considered to be the method of decorating ceramic dishes, decorated with stuck clay rollers, which were divided into separate parts with a stick. This culture is also characterized by bone buckles with one or two holes.
In the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. e. in the steppe part of the peninsula stands out a culture called log house. Its bearers buried the dead in a special wooden frame, which was previously lowered into a prepared pit. The deceased were placed in an extended position on their side, with their hands placed in front of their faces. An inventory consisting of bronze knives, bone artifacts, and various jars was placed in the grave.
Some researchers suggest that this culture went through three stages in its development: Timber (XVI-XIV centuries BC), Sabatinovsky (XIII-XII centuries BC), Belozersky (XI -IX century BC). Others are inclined to believe that these were independent archaeological cultures.
Behind this fence is the site of ancient people.
Chokurcha is one of the oldest districts of the capital of Crimea. Its name comes from the Turkic word “chukur”, which means “pit”. Simferopol itself is one of the relatively young cities that appeared on the map of the country in modern times. However, these places were inhabited by a primitive hunter.
On March 24, 1928, the next meeting of TOIAE - the Tauride Society of History, Archeology, and Ethnography was held, at which a sensational report was heard from a member of this society, an employee of the Central Museum of Taurida Sergei Ivanovich Zabnin about excavations near the village of Chokurcha in a grotto, which he first drew attention to in 1927 at the suggestion of local doctor Lorenz.
S.?I. Zabnin, who was in charge of the archaeological department at the museum, had for several years in a row made reports at the Society’s meetings about antiquities discovered in the Simferopol region. But this time he outdid himself. His report was called "New Paleolithic site near Simferopol."
It noted that “the cave of coprolites, as we called it for being in large quantities coprolites of the cave hyena, is located in the beautiful steep cliffs of nummulitic limestone of the second ridge of the Crimean Mountains, running in a chain from east to west for half a kilometer along the left bank of the Salgira River, near the village of Chokurcha. The chain of these rocks with their plateaus is the watershed of the Salgira River and the indicated river. The cave itself is located in the penultimate eastern cliff, located 60 meters from the river and at an altitude of 15 meters above its level.
Due to its location near the river, it is the only one in this chain of rocks; it undoubtedly attracted prehistoric man, if not for permanent habitation, due to its exposure to the north, then for temporary shelter. This assumption convinced me to carry out an exploratory excavation there, which yielded the unexpected discovery of a Paleolithic site with Mousterian industry.
A semicircular entrance leads into the cave, 6.6 meters wide and 2.5 meters high. Inside it is semicircular in shape, 6 meters deep and wide... The walls are almost smooth, only in some places there are small holes. On the ceiling at the entrance to the cave there are traces of ancient and new collapses. Further on, the ceiling is smooth, on which narrow, long passages are visible; tamgas are carved at the end of the ceiling.
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The walls and part of the ceiling are covered with black lichens. Here and there against this background, among the cracks and holes, rosettes of ferns appear as bright green spots. The floor is flat, in front of the cave, level with the floor, there is a platform, 9 meters long, 7 meters wide, steeply plunging towards the river. Above the entrance, almost 20 meters high on the cliff, there are gaping holes, narrow stream beds and cave-in potholes are visible - traces of the action of water and wind on the formation and filling of the cave.
To the left, at the exit from the cave, a spongy cliff, separated by a drainage, is piled up, protruding forward, from the top of which you can clearly see what is happening at the entrance to the cave. The time of its formation, one must think, dates back to the first ice ages, when there was a lot of precipitation.
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Road to the car depot |
From a depth of 10 cm, bones of modern animals, mainly sheep, were found... At a depth of 25 cm, an ash layer in which the remains of Greek ceramics and animal bones were found, at a depth of 40 cm, small fires in the form of ash and coals were found..., ceramics black, two fragments of flint and animal bones - sheep, donkey, dog, etc. The lower hearth layer, judging by the ceramics, flint fragments, animal bones, belongs to the Bronze Age.
The discovery of this fourth site with the Mousterian industry indicates a fairly abundant settlement of the Crimea by people of the Neanderthal race, in the era of the mammoth and rhinoceros, who settled along the banks of rivers, finding shelter from winter cold and predatory animals in natural caves washed by waters in the limestone rocks of the first and second ridges of the Crimean mountains located in the forest-steppe region."
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Chokurcha District |
The archaeologist demonstrated drawings of his exploratory excavations, trenches, drawings and samples of discovered tools, and then handed them over to another member of the same society, professor of the Department of Geology of the Crimean University P. A. Dvoichenko.
Meeting at the proposal of the head Krymokhris A.?I. Polkanova unanimously adopted a resolution, which for the first time in the history of the Society was printed in large print:
Tauride Society of History, Archeology and Ethnography, recognizing the extraordinary scientific value of S.?I. discovered by intelligence. Zabnina of the Paleolithic site in a cave near the village of Chokurcha, considers it extremely necessary to completely excavate this cave so that these excavations are carried out by the Crimean forces, and all finds from this cave enter the Central Museum of Taurida.
The Crimean Research Institute, with funds from the Main Science of the RSFSR, created a special commission headed by the leading archaeologist of the Crimean ASSR, Professor Nikolai Lvovich Ernst (1889–1956). It also included Professor P.?A. Dvoichenko and Zabnin. In total, she worked for almost 5 years, especially in 1928 and 1929.
Archaeologists confirmed the initial conclusions of S.?I. Zabnin, found 4 horizons in the cave - from top to bottom: Tatar, medieval, Greek and Scythian (Late Scythian). It was recovered from the cave great amount bones. Including mammoth, rhinoceros, giant deer, primitive bull. There were bones of a horse, a cave bear, a cave hyena, a saiga antelope, foxes, etc.
Special mention should be made about mammoths. Their remains were found in other places in Crimea, for example, near Alushta. In 1930, in front of the entrance to the site, the remains of “about 20 mammoths, which served as food for the inhabitants of the cave,” were discovered. So there really were “mammoths stomping” here. And not only here.
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Road to parking |
When in early XIX centuries, they were drilling an artesian well in the area of the current square of the 200th anniversary of the city, the drill came across a mammoth tusk and with difficulty drilled it. Of the 5.5 thousand bone remains collected during the excavations of Chokurchi and the site in front of it, 3041 reliably belonged to mammoths.
N.?L. Ernst spoke about this in detail in the ITOIAE journal and concluded:
Of the Paleolithic sites discovered on the territory of the USSR, the closest in industry to the Chokurcha site are the upper layer of the Kiik-Koba cave (20 kilometers east of Chokurcha) and the Ilskaya site in the Kuban. These three sites are the oldest traces of human presence on the territory of the Union.
But this is the Ice Age - 100–35 thousand years ago. "It is difficult, very difficult to imagine now in blooming Crimea stern, low-browed savages living in caves, devouring the meat of the mammoths and antelopes they killed... Meanwhile, this is actually what happened.”
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Narrow path |
These lines are from the book by N.?L. Ernst about people Quaternary period who lived in Crimea 70–90 thousand years ago. Apparently, we cannot formulate more precisely our answer to the frequently asked question: how many years has a person lived on the territory of Simferopol? And there is nothing surprising about this. At the opening of the Museum of Archeology, its creator, the famous Crimean archaeologist A.?A. Shchepinsky showed us tools that “may have been held in the hands of people about 500 thousand years ago.” Half a million years is a long time, hard to imagine...
Already in our time (since 1974), a former employee of the Crimean Museum of Local Lore A.?A. Stolbunov, southeast of Chokurcha-1, discovered traces of another site, called Chokurcha-2. It was excavated by an experienced archaeologist, Professor Otto Nikolaevich Bader and A.?A. Stolbunov. They came to the conclusion that due to the melting of the ice, mammoths and other large animals migrated to the north, tools were crushed, but this is still a site of the same Mousterian era. Archaeologists insisted on continuing the excavations, convinced that there must have been a permanent site somewhere here. But the matter is various reasons stuck...
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Poems at the entrance to the parking lot |
Chokurcha, like Scythian Naples, has always been mentioned in guidebooks to Simferopol as the main interesting sites to visit. At the same time, if Scythian Naples has recently become more famous thanks to the “Scythian Mysteries” taking place here, then Chokurcha is still waiting in the wings.
We went to this little-known place even for residents of the Crimean capital, worthy of becoming one of the “chips” of Simferopol. You can get here by coming to shuttle buses traveling to Lugovoye, getting off at the penultimate stop. From here you need to go between the houses (No. 83-85) in the direction of Maly Salgir. There is a small bridge across the river, on the other side is the Chokurcha parking lot.
Another way is to walk along Shchorsa Street, which can be reached either from 51st Army Street or Mate Zalka Street and walk to the end of the street. Here you can go out onto the cliffs and go down. The cliffs here are very reminiscent of the area of Scythian Naples and Makurina Gorka. Therefore, even experts in Simferopol often make mistakes in their depictions of this place.
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Actually, the parking lot itself |
In the Middle Ages there was a small village here - Chokurcha, which was named after the nearby site. From here the road led to the ancient Ak-Mosque, the palace of the Kalgi-Sultan and Bitak. Partially this ancient road preserved, now it is called Teplichnaya Street, and as in the old days it is crowded with transport.
Recently a mosque was built on it - probably in the same place where it stood a hundred years ago. At that time the village was quite large - a map of the 19th century shows that 50 Tatar families lived here.
True, the entire road has not been preserved. Partially it passes through the territory of the car depot No. 1202, and further it has not been preserved - mudflows have washed away the road going up to Mate Zalki Street, it is only partially visible in the area of the garage and construction cooperative.
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View of Lugovoe |
We were not allowed into the territory of the motor depot, probably fearing that we would describe that Maly Salgir, very small at this time of year, was all polluted here with the old tires of the motor depot...
An old photograph, probably dating back to 1939, shows a girl standing on the Chokurchi rocks. In the distance you can see the tower of a beautiful mansion. So far it has not been possible to accurately determine the owner of this estate, located between Chokurcha and Sergeevka.
Subsequently, the Chokurchinskaya (Lugovskaya) hospital was founded on this territory. This tower acquired among the people the not entirely decent name “Tripper Hall”:
The fact is that a venereology clinic also appeared here, which included a mansion with a tower. “Our parents scared us,” say old-timers of the Crimean capital, “if you lead a chaotic life, you’ll end up here!”
The Crimean military also liked the secluded place near Simferopol. Two tank units appeared here, located behind the Lugovskaya hospital. In addition, there was another part right on the Chokurcha rocks. Below, near the river, an underground bunker was built. The stone steps for the military to quickly escape into the dungeon have still been preserved, but now they look like a “road to nowhere” - at the top the steps abut the fence of the current motor depot, and at the bottom into a blocked bunker.
The Chokurcha parking area has a somewhat “magical” appearance. The forest here is bright green, densely overgrown, and ancient steps go down to the parking lot from above. Below, near the parking lot, there was a group of followers of some eastern teaching. They stood motionless, “turning into trees,” as one specialist explained to us.
At the entrance to the parking lot there is a sign with verses:
This place is like nothing else
Treat him with love, passerby!
Don't litter here and don't barbecue
I stood, rested - put it away
Let the clearing shine with purity
The soul rests from worldly worries
Kids, after school
And he guards the cave among the rocks.
The depth of the grotto is up to 5 m and the width is up to 7 m. Essentially, this is only the remnant of an ancient, more extensive cave, which in the past apparently reached 15 m in length. The front most of it collapsed, revealing the interior. Images of the Sun with rays, a mammoth and a fish (all 50 cm in size) were hollowed out in the limestone rock. In 1947, the cave was declared a natural monument.
Over the past ten to one and a half years, an archaeological monument of world significance, which Simferopol should have been proud of, has turned into an ordinary landfill. Residents of the nearby streets have been dumping garbage here for years; local homeless people and alcoholics chose the Neanderthal’s home as their gathering place. Bonfires were burned here, almost completely destroying the ancient images and cultural layer, and the once established metal grill in front of the entrance to the grotto they began to take it away for scrap metal. In 2009, the city authorities put the cave in order, but now we have discovered that the grate at the monument has been broken into again...
The village of Lugovoe itself is increasingly acquiring modern features. Back in the 60s, the first five-story buildings appeared here, and now new high-rise buildings appeared here.
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Ancient map |
Tank units have vacated their places, and now on the site of one of them a new cottage area has appeared, and on the other there is a squatter area, where in the future it is planned to build two new buildings - one for repatriates, and the other for employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
Higher along Maly Salgir, a new district “Sunny Valley” and an area of new squatting appeared. Ancient names Lugovoi streets (if they existed) have not survived. It is only known that their current names began to appear only in the 60s of the twentieth century. The main street - Lugovaya - was called Prodolnaya from 1960, from 1964 - Fruktovaya and from 1978 - Lugovaya (apparently, just then the village was annexed to the city, and Fruktovaya Street was already here).
Thus, Teplichnaya and Ovoshchnaya streets have been mentioned only since 1965. Khachatryan Street appeared only in 1982. Its old name, Podgornaya, also had to be abandoned due to its annexation to the capital of Crimea. So Dalnaya Street was named in 1974, and since 1965 it has been Verkhnyaya Street. Here we also managed to find and photograph old houses sat down.
If the main streets of the area - Lugovaya and Teplichnaya - are well paved, then some adjacent ones look the same as they were a hundred years ago - without asphalt, broken. Here you can find houses under ancient tiled roofs. One house may have windows different sizes. An old grandmother goes outside to get water from a tap.
It can be seen that in some areas the fences used to be low, but now, due to the different situation in the area, the owners were forced to increase the height of the fence using brickwork.
In the bushes near Maly Salgir we discovered ancient stone ruins.
In the area of the parking lot, southeast of it, we were able to discover several more caves - cavities. This is probably the same site as Chokurcha-2, excavated by local historian Stolbunov.
More interesting fact: in a cave in 1979, he found a mammoth scapula with many dot images applied to it (11-10 thousand years BC). Astronomer V.?M. Chernov determined that it depicts a section of the starry sky northern hemisphere, in which it was possible to identify 16 constellations (Corona Borealis, Canes Venatici, Bootes, Virgo, etc.) and 102 stars.
Several years ago, information appeared that Chokurcha is one of the places astronomical observations ancient inhabitants. On the day of the spring equinox, the ray of the rising sun hit the point of the cave entrance. Now it was not possible to find information confirming this fact, but, judging by the map of Simferopol, this beam should have appeared between the Kara-Oba and Murun-Kir mountains, located to the east of the site.
Chokurcha is waiting for its new researchers and popularizers...
Traces of ancient people in Crimea are well traced in the western part of the peninsula. It is logical to assume that if we, today, feel good in Crimea, because it is warm, there is a lot of fruit and the sea is close, then primitive people in Crimea were even more likely to notice these advantages of a small peninsula over the huge bare steppe. They came here, looked around in surprise and willingly inhabited the no-man's land - forests inhabited by game, valleys with edible fruits and herbs, deep rivers, sandy shallows suitable for fishing.
The people of the young world skillfully and diligently chose their first sites. They had to drink water from these rivers, collect nuts and berries in the forest, and look for medicinal herbs in the clearings. They had to hunt, run away, or together fight off predatory animals, and then from bipedal enemies. Build houses, raise children.
Neanderthal (“handy man”) appeared on the Crimean Peninsula about one hundred thousand years ago. More ancient traces of cavemen were also discovered here - finds of flint scrapers and axes dating back to the Early Paleolithic. It is very possible that these tools belonged to Pithecanthropus (“straightened man”), who came to Crimea from North Africa 800 thousand years ago.
A site of Stone Age people was discovered under one of the rock overhangs on the outskirts of Bakhchisarai, where people appeared at least 40-50 thousand years ago.
The first sites of Homo sapiens (Cro-Magnon) in Western Crimea date back to the Mesolithic era. People of that time made flint chisels, knives, scrapers, and sewed clothes from skins with bone needles. They had already invented the harpoon, bow and arrows, tamed dogs and often went out hunting alone or in small groups, learning to track and lie in wait for game. Men hunted and speared fish in rivers and the sea. Women did housework - cooking, sewing, caring for children, and taming young wild animals brought from the forest. This is how cows, sheep, goats, horses, dogs, and domestic cats appeared on the farm.
A small site of Stone Age people was found in 1934 on the shore of Lake Sasyk-Sivash. Small tools have been preserved: flint knives, scrapers, arrowheads. The inhabitants of that site built wooden huts and stored food products in earthen pits, they knew how to drill and polish tools from stone, sculpt pots and bowls from clay and fire pots and bowls, sometimes even decorating them with primitive ornaments.
The hunter's arsenal consisted of light spears (javelins), a bow and arrows. Women learned to spin and weave, and men, in addition to hunting and labor-intensive gathering, began to engage in cattle breeding and agriculture. For the winter, the tribe migrated to the foothills, where they could hide from the rain and snow in grottoes and caves.
The animal and plant world of the foothills was incomparably richer than the foothills and then was incomparably richer than the coastal one. In those valleys there are higher and denser forests, more fertile soil, more water and fish in the rivers. They understand this even now, when Agriculture ceased to be the main source of income. Tourists are heading to the sea, and the steppe and foothill villages are emptying out.
Ancient finds in Crimea
Approaching Kachi-Kalyon, travelers usually get off at the “Second Predushchelnoe” stop to see the red drawings of the primitive people of the valley on the Tash-Air rock. These images of people and animals are between three and seven thousand years old. Opposite the cave settlement, in Alimovaya Balka, paintings made in red-brown ocher have been preserved on the rock - a bull rider and three long-armed human figures.
Tools of labor of people of the Copper-Stone and Bronze Ages were discovered on the Mangup plateau. Perhaps even then they began to cut down the first living quarters in the limestone, giving rise to a group of the main Crimean wonders called “cave cities”.
Crimean mounds
In the minds of Chalcolithic (Copper Age) people, the first thoughts about afterlife and first ideas about higher powers- prototypes of future gods. We learned about this when studying funeral rites. Scientists from the Institute of Archeology in the 1960-1970s discovered mounds in Western Crimea - burials of the Copper-Stone Age, Bronze Age and early iron. These are a kind of “pyramids”, although not as majestic and mysterious as the Egyptian ones, which, according to figuratively historians, Time itself is afraid. Crimea has long attracted archaeologists, only, unfortunately, robbers are often ahead of them.
One mound was discovered near Lake Donuzlav, another near the village of Zaozerny, northwest of Yevpatoria, and several more on Tarkhankut. According to the customs of that time, molded clay vessels were placed in the grave, stone axes, graters, hammers, spear-shaped bronze knives, and decorations carved from bone were placed in the grave. The deceased himself, laid on his back or side, was generously sprinkled with ocher.
In one of the graves, archaeologists dug up a primitive wooden plow and determined its age. This gave reason to talk about the origin of arable farming on the Crimean peninsula at the end of the third millennium.
In another burial they found the remains of an ancient musical instrument - a flute. Who was its owner? Shaman? A musician? In the walls of some burial boxes, under the Evpatoria mounds, small (5-7 cm in diameter and 3-4 cm in depth) cup-shaped recesses were drilled. They served for sacrifices: the warm blood of animals was collected in them. The stonemasons were great masters! The slabs are fitted in such a way that you cannot even insert a knife blade between them. Many grave boxes are painted with red paint on a black or white background; Mostly simple geometric patterns are depicted. People could also decorate their homes with such patterns.
The Donuzlavsky and Zaozersky mounds were surrounded by a circle of stone, forming a primitive cromlech. He was probably the personification of the very first deity - the Sun. Elongated stone steles rose above some of the burials. Very roughly, schematically they conveyed the outlines of human bodies.
Black archaeologists
All valuable exhibits that are buried in the mounds should someday be found and placed in archaeological museums. But “black archaeologists” come to these ancient people, stop under the guise of tourists, pitch a tent at the foot of the mound - for a week, for example... And after leaving, there remains a black hole in the ground and a dug up, empty mound, under which there is nothing for scientists to do. Precious antiquities are sent abroad, to markets and private collections.
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