Scientists sent soil samples from the Sukhaya Mechetka site in Volgograd to Moscow and Leipzig in order to find out the time of the appearance of primitive man in this area, the Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences told RIA Novosti.
Earlier it was reported that after almost 70 years in Volgograd at the end of August 2018, excavations resumed at the sites of the ancient man Suhaya Mechetka, which was discovered in 1952 during the construction of the Volga hydroelectric power station, it was partially investigated by expeditions led by Sergei Zamyatnin in 1952 and 1954.
On an area of 650 square meters, scientists then found five ancient hearths, stone tools and animal bones, mainly bison. The cultural layer of the site is located at a depth of 23 meters - it is one of the deepest Paleolithic sites in the world.
“Each monument belonging to the Middle Paleolithic era is unique by definition, there are very few of them, especially open-type sites, and not in caves. This is the only site in Europe that has been excavated on such a huge area, and at the same time, a huge amount of data has been obtained about the life of a Neanderthal man, Senior Researcher Alexander Otogochnoy told RIA Novosti.
According to the interlocutor of the agency, during the month of excavation, scientists have extracted more than 80 samples of soil from different geological layers and sent them to determine the exact age of the monument. The soil will be studied at Moscow State University, the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences and at the Max Planck Institute in Leipzig.
“We know the depth of the cultural layer, but we do not know what era it belongs to. This is very important, the epoch is being clarified not only in terms of the date, but the environment, ecological conditions that existed at that time and in this place are being clarified. It will become clear why a person lived here and in what conditions,”the scientist told RIA Novosti.
According to the next, scientists are planning the next expedition in the fall of 2019, and the second stage will be devoted to archaeological excavations. According to the scientist, due to the fact that the site of the ancient man is of an open type, there is a risk of losing the monument.
“The monument has already been partially subjected to anthropogenic impact. The site is divided by a ravine into two halves - western and eastern. Only the western part has survived, the eastern for some reason in the 80s of the last century was built up by a huge garage cooperative. This was done in violation of the security standards, - told RIA Novosti Otogochnaya.
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In the 2000s, according to the interlocutor of the agency, a reinforced concrete stele appeared at the site of the parking lot, which indicates that this territory is under state protection.
“The site of an ancient man in the Dry Mosque is a world-class monument, we have to think about how to turn it into a museum. This place can and should be a tourist attraction,”the scientist believes.
Svetlana Samsonova