Official archeology admitted that the ancestral home of the Europeans is Russia

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

National Geographic Russia magazine published material with interesting photographs of archaeological excavations in the village of Kostenki (40 km from Voronezh). Based on the results obtained, scientists made the following conclusion: "the ancestral home of the Europeans is Russia."

VENUS OF BATTLES

Where did the very first HOMO SAPIENS appear in Europe?

Until recently, it was believed that Homo sapiens, more than 40 thousand years ago, first migrated from Africa to Western Europe, then to Central Europe, and from there settled throughout the continent. But the finds of archaeologists near Voronezh have cast doubt on this hypothesis.

Kastinsk, Kostenyok, Kostenki … The name of the village on the Don River, 40 kilometers south of Voronezh, always spoke of what it became famous for: from time immemorial, large bones of mysterious animals have been found here. Local residents have long had a legend about the beast living underground, which can only be found after its death. Even Peter I was interested in these bones, who ordered the most interesting artifacts to be sent to the Kunstkamera in St. Petersburg. After examining them, the king came to an unexpected conclusion: these are the remains of the elephants of the army of Alexander the Great.

In 1768, the finds in Kostenki were described in the book "Traveling across Russia to explore the three kingdoms of nature" by the famous German traveler Samuel Gottlieb Gmelin. And in 1879, following Gmelin, archaeologist Ivan Semyonovich Polyakov carried out the first excavations in the center of the village (in Pokrovsky gorge), which opened the camp of ice age hunters. The first excavations in Kostenki (back in 1881 and 1915) were carried out haphazardly - their main purpose was to collect a collection of stone tools. It was only in the 1920s that a systematic study of the Paleolithic sites began, which continues to this day.

The archaeological excavations of the Kostenkovsko-Borshchevsky complex very quickly gained worldwide fame. The fact is that the concentration of Paleolithic monuments here turned out to be unusually high: today, on an area of only 30 square kilometers, 25 sites of different times have been discovered, 10 of which are multilayer! Moreover, archaeologists at these sites find not only the remains of household objects, tools, but also jewelry typical of the late Paleolithic: headbands, bracelets, figurative pendants, miniature (up to 1 centimeter) stripes for hats and clothes, fragments of small plastic. And in Kostenki-1, ten, now famous all over the world, relatively intact (which is a great rarity) female figurines, nicknamed by archaeologists "Paleolithic Venuses", were found.

In Kostenki-1, there were other unique finds, for example, pieces of dyes, suggesting that the Kostenkovites used charcoal and marly rocks to obtain black and white dyes, and ferruginous nodules found in nature, after processing them in a fire, gave dark red and ocher dye tones. Burnt clay was also found there - perhaps it was used for coating baking pits.

IMAGE OF A MAMMOT made of marl with traces of red ocher coloring.

Kostenki-1, the second residential complex.

The age of the site: 22-23 thousand years.

Sizes: 3, 5x4, 1 cm.

ANCIENT HUNTERS

What did the ancient Kostenkovites look like and how did they live? Outwardly, as it turned out from the discovered burials, they were no different from modern people. As for their dwellings, they were basically of two types. Structures of the first type are large, elongated, with hearths located along the longitudinal axis. The most interesting example is a ground dwelling 36 meters long and 15 meters wide, discovered in the 30s of the last century by the famous archaeologist Peter Efimenko on the territory of Kostenok-1, with four dugouts, 12 storage pits, various depressions and pits that were used as a repository. The dwellings of the second type were round, with a hearth located in the center. Earthen embankments, mammoth bones, wood and animal skins were used for construction. It remains a mystery how the ancient people managed to block off such impressive structures.

These multi-storey residential structures (they were also found in Kostenki-4) are strikingly similar to the well-studied ancestral structures of the American Indians and Polynesians and also testify to the generic way of life of the Kostenkovites. Moving further, to more northern territories, people created new forms of organizing hunting - not in single groups, but in already fully formed communities linked by blood and clan relations. They hunted mammoth, horse, reindeer and smaller animals and birds.

The whole skeletons of wolves and arctic foxes found, however, testify to the fact that ancient hunters removed the skins and fur of animals to make clothes. This is also confirmed by bone tools for processing hides and making softened leather: burnished, plows, awls and all sorts of points, items for smoothing the seams of clothing. The tendons of animals were used as threads.

A NEW PALEOLITHIC CHAPTER?

Until the early 1990s, one centralized expedition worked in Kostenki under the auspices of the USSR Academy of Sciences. Then three separate groups were formed under the leadership of leading specialists in the Paleolithic of the St. Petersburg Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences: Andrei Sinitsyn, Mikhail Anikovich and Sergei Lisitsyn. In addition, specialists from the Kostenki State Museum-Reserve, which became independent in 1991, are now taking an increasingly active part in research. So the scientific interest in Kostenki among archaeologists is not diminishing.

But what else can Kostenki tell you unexpected? The age of the local excavations is already considerable - 130 years. Nevertheless, quite recently discoveries were made that once again riveted the attention of Paleolithic researchers, and not only Russian ones, to Kostenki. Back in the 50-60s of the last century, scientists discovered when studying the lower layers of unclear volcanic ash that came from. Then they began to find it at other sites, in particular in Kostenki-14 (expedition of Andrei Sinitsyn), in Kostenki-12 (expedition of Mikhail Anikovich) and in Borshchevo-5 (expedition of Sergei Lisitsyn). At these sites (together with Kostenka-mi-1), archaeological research is mainly carried out today.

Scientists were naturally interested in the origin and age of volcanic ash. But it turned out that it is impossible to find out with the help of archaeologists alone. It is necessary to involve other specialists - soil scientists, paleozoologists. And for laboratory research, additional funding is also needed. The funds were found thanks to Russian and international funds.

ALL MORE QUESTIONS

What were the results of such a wide cooperation of scientists from all over the world? For a long time it was assumed that the age of the lower (those under the ash) layers in Kostenki is no more than 32 thousand years. But paleomagnetic and radiocarbon studies of this volcanic ash showed that it was brought to the Don after a catastrophic eruption in the Phlegrean fields in Italy 39,600 years ago! Based on what scientists have named the age of the most ancient layers of Kostenok. Their age is 40-42 thousand years. And experts from the United States, having studied the soil with the thermoluminescent method, added another three thousand years to them! This is where questions began to arise. It was believed that it appeared 45 thousand years ago in Western Europe. Now it turns out that modern man with his Upper Paleolithic culture lived at the same time in the north of the continent. But how did he get there and from where? Research carried out in Kostenki is not yet able to provide an answer to this question.

Traces of an intermediate period of evolution from the Middle Paleolithic (Neanderthals) to the Upper, when it appeared were discovered. But nearby there are sites of the Late Paleolithic with the most complex technique of stone and bone processing, jewelry and works of art. Evidence that these "archaic" monuments preceded the developed ones has not yet been found. And it seems that the village of Kostenki near Voronezh will bring many more surprises to researchers.

VENUS PALEOLITHIC

Limestone figurine (center). Height -10.2 cm.

Kostenki-1, the second residential complex.

The age of the site: 22-23 thousand years.

Two figurines from mammoth ivory.

Height -11.4 cm (left) and 9.0 cm (right).

Kostenki-1, the first residential complex.

Deity or Fetish?

Sculptural figures of naked women, nicknamed by archaeologists all over the world "Paleolithic Venus", appeared in Europe 20-27 thousand years ago. For the first time, a fragment of such a statuette was discovered by archaeologists in 1894 in the town of Brassempui in France. Then they began to be found at other sites of the Paleolithic in Europe, including ten figurines of good preservation - in Kostenki-1, made of limestone and mammoth tusk. Whom could these figures represent with their hypertrophied chest, abdomen and hips? Many assumptions were made by our famous archaeologists. Some believed that these figures were symbols of fertility and unification of the clan (Peter Efimenko), others saw in them the attributes of hunting magic (Dr. Sergei Zamyatnin), others - the mistresses of the forces of nature and even "superhuman female beings" (academician Alexey Okladnikov). Another mystery. All these figurines were made with great care, but the heads and legs of the limestone figurines were deliberately knocked off, the chest and abdomen were damaged. Maybe they were used for ritual and cult purposes and were fetishes in some rituals?

But figurines from mammoth tusk were kept in special recesses with other objects significant for ancient people. Their preservation was due to their other purpose. But how? Another feature of the Kostenkovskaya Venuses is the adornments that do not repeat. Perhaps, to create these figurines, whatever they were intended for, the master copied the features, body shapes and decorations of his contemporaries?

Svetlana Demeschenko

Senior Researcher, Archeology Department, State Hermitage