Denisova Cave in the Altai. Denisova Cave - Archaeological Monument of Gorny Altai

In the heart of Asia, where the Altaian mountains begin, in the picturesque Anuya Valley is the famous Denisova Cave. It is located on the border of Ust-Kansky and Solononshensky districts, not far from the village of Black Anuy (4 km) and 250 km from the town of Biysk. Denisova Cave rises to 670 meters above sea level.

origin of name

Judging by the old legend, this name was given to the cave due to the fact that at the very end of the 18th century the Old Believer settled there - hermit Dionysius (Denis in the world). He was a spiritual shepherd for the Old Believers of the nearby villages, and the Kerzhaks often came to his cell for advice and blessing. And at the beginning of the XIX century, to the Denisova cave in the Altai, the missionary priests ceased to have any interest.

At the same time, in 1926, while traveling across the Altai, an outstanding Russian and Soviet archaeologist and great artist N. K. Roerich visited the cave.

Local residents call the cave Ayu-Tash, which translates as "Bear Stone". From generation to generation, they convey the tradition that here in ancient times Black Shaman lived - evil and very powerful. He could at any moment turn into a huge bear. This villain from the people's myth ruled over the Altai nomads, forcing them to pay a huge tribute.

If they did not obey him, he used his sorcerous charms to collect clouds over the cave, sculpted a huge stone from them and rolled it to the foot of the mountain. Where the path of the stone ran, there were no thunderstorms, which destroyed pastures and crops.

Desperate people began to pray for the help of the most important god - Ulgen, who managed to defeat the tormentor. He stashed the stormstone in the distant galleries of the cave.

Of course, this is only a legend, which Denisov caves. Soloneshensky district (Altai Territory), or rather the inhabitants of the nearest village (Black Anuy), often accuse archeologists, who for many years "are digging something in the cave." The villagers are sure that it is archaeologists who are guilty of weather spoilage, after all, according to them, it is enough to chop off a tiny bit from the shaman stone - and the shower is guaranteed for two days.

Altai Territory, Denisova Cave: description

On one of the slopes of the mountain, a few meters above the road opens a wide entrance to the cave. Its area is 270 square meters. M, the length is 110 meters. The cave has a "central hall" at the entrance and two smaller depressions inside the rock.

Grotto in front of the entrance

The greatest interest is for the archaeologists the grotto located in front of the entrance. It can be accessed through an oval hole. The dimensions of the grotto are 32x7 m. The height and width of the vaults increase as the entrance is removed. The widest part reaches 11 meters.

The grotto has several branches. Two of them are a direct continuation of the cave. In the upper part there is a through hole with a diameter of a little more than a meter. The most daring travelers climb up and admire the magnificent view. Through this hole in the cave penetrates natural light, so most of it is well lit. Here, throughout the year, dry, the grotto is, as in ancient times, a good natural shelter for animals and humans, protection from bad weather.

The first geophysicists who worked here "phoned" the cave using their special equipment, and decided that the central hall and the galleries leaving it were just the beginning of huge empties that went deep into the rock. Now these internal cavities are completely filled up with a huge layer of deposits.

Research

The first studies in the Denisova cave in the Altai (in the central hall) were conducted by the famous Siberian paleontologist Nikolai Ovodov, who laid the first two exploratory pits and measured the available at that time natural education in 1978. At the same time, the object was inspected by archaeologists, led by Academician AP Okladnikov.

The cave of the Altai mountain has always aroused great interest among scientists. Denisova Cave after the first studies gradually entered the world history of archeology.

For example, here was discovered the oldest of the cultural layers of man in Siberia. It belongs to the Paleolithic age, and its age is 282 thousand years. Previously, there was a version that the ancient people in this area could not have appeared before 50-30 thousand years BC. E. The results of the excavations showed that in the antiquity of the foothills of the Altai covered broad-leaved forests, in which grew hornbeam, manchurian nut, oak and northern species of bamboo. The remains of a man of the Neanderthal era were found on the territory of North Asia.

Scientists are sure that Denisova Cave is an archaeological monument of Gorny Altai. It was found more than 50 thousand stone artifacts, various ornaments from bone; Collected a large collection of bones of mammals. Undoubtedly, an interesting find is a treasure of iron things that belong to the 14th century, a pit in which grain of the same time, a bronze knife, was stored.

Use of the cave at different times

In IV-III millennium, during the Afanasiev culture, Denisov's cave was used as a refuge for shepherds and cattle. To keep animals inside, fenced off free grottos and niches. The shepherds hunted wild animals, only at the very least, when the hunt was unsuccessful. This is confirmed by the detected tips of darts and arrows. In the ceramic vessels, liquids were stored. To cut carcases used stone tools, which were made here. This is evidenced by production waste, which archaeologists have found.

The cave was still not fully understood as the bearers of culture of the Bronze Age era.

For the Scythian period, powerful cultural deposits are characteristic, which indicates a prolonged stay of a man in a cave. It was a storehouse of food supplies - meat, grain and dairy products, because it always had a low temperature.

Huns and Turks used this natural object for ceremonial ceremonies. According to the number of archaeological finds, the level of their value for science, many researchers equate this amazing cave to the pyramids of Ancient Egypt. Many believe that the results of excavations conducted in the Denisova Cave were widely perceived by the general public as less sensational than the Egyptian ones. At the same time, something was discovered that made a lot of noise in the scientific world.

Awesome find

Archaeologists extracted from the eleventh layer in the cave the remains of an ancient man, unknown to science. This was reported by scientists in the journal Nature in 2010. A man from the Denisova Cave is equally far away genetically both from the Neanderthal man and from the modern Homo sapiens. To this opinion, the researchers came after the decoding of the genome, which was preserved in tissue samples - the phalangeal bone of the finger and the molar tooth - was obtained.

Priceless treasury

Every year, with each Denisov artifact found, the cave became more and more tempting for researchers. It was decided to equip a scientific field camp here. Since 1982, scientists of Novosibirsk began to periodically explore the cave. To their work they attracted specialists of different profiles not only from Russia, but also from Japan, the USA, Korea, Belgium and other countries.

Denisova Cave is under the protection of UNESCO. Now the scientific camp has turned into a scientific research institute with a laboratory laboratory. Here, primary work is carried out with the exhibits found. Annually more than 100 archeologists and specialists from other fields of science conduct research here. During 30 years of excavation, scientists managed to explore only a small part of the cave.

Deciphering the DNA of denizova cave dwellers

Today, the interpretation of the material extracted from the phalanx and tooth, and DNA studies confirm the discovery of a new human population of the ancient world. The results of the research specify the path by which it developed. The genome of this individual was compared to the genomes of fifty-four of our contemporaries from different parts of the earth, from the DNA of an ancient man, and also from six Neanderthals.

The results are quite interesting. Scientists have established that the "Denis" have moved away from the classical branch of human development about one million years ago and began to evolve independently, but, unfortunately, this path turned out to be a dead end.

The evolution of man progressed towards Neanderthals and Homo sapiens. About 400 thousand years ago, these species went on different paths of development. The second led to the emergence of modern man, and the first led to a dead end.

Denisova Cave in the Altai and its artifacts

Currently, scientists believe that the culture of the inhabitants of the cave was more progressive than the Neanderthals, who once inhabited the surrounding rocks.

Neanderthals had tools made of stone (scrapers, arrowheads, etc.), in appearance resembling Western European things. Remains of culture and life, whose age is 50 thousand years, are found in Denisova Cave. According to archaeological evidence, this fully corresponds to the culture of a person who possessed a modern physical appearance.

Not only stone, but also bone objects, tools of labor were discovered. But they were processed in more perfect ways. As an example, you can bring miniature (about 5 centimeters) stone needles, in which the ears were drilled.

Lovely bracelet

In addition, in the cave found a magnificent piece of stone, which changes the idea of the primitive man. These are two elements of the bracelet from the chlorideite - a stone, which was brought from Rudny Altai, located two hundred and fifty kilometers from the cave.

Mineral is quite rare, capable of changing color depending on the lighting. There are traces of internal boring on the bracelet, but the most surprising is that the drilling was performed on the machine.

This technology has become widely used only in the Neolithic era, so it was previously thought that it was no more than fifteen thousand years. A wonderful bracelet is found in the layer numbering 50 thousand years!

The study of the bracelet showed that, probably, it was a compound object. In the same layer, beads were found, made from eggshell eggs, brought from Transbaikalia or Mongolia. All this indicates a high level of development of Denisova cave inhabitants - spiritual, social, aesthetic and technological.

Why did the "Denis" disappeared?

An exact answer to this question has not yet been found. Now we can only say with certainty that in antiquity there was another type of ancient people in the Altai. In the caves located alongside Denisova, the remains of the Neanderthals were found, which are about the same time. This means that two kinds of ancient man could contact. However, official scientific data does not yet exist.