In the south of the Ural Mountains in the Chelyabinsk Region, seven kilometers from the village of Serpievka, there is one of the three most famous caves in Russia. And it is famous for the fact that on its walls there are drawings left by ancient people, either 6 - 8, or 14 thousand years ago. Scientists have not yet established the exact date of their appearance, but even now the Ignatievskaya Cave is a natural monument not only of national but also of global importance.
This interesting cave has several names among the locals: in addition to Ignatievskaya, it is also called Serpievskaya and even in Bashkir Yamazy-Tash. Ignatievskaya it was named in honor of a certain old man who lived here for a long time. This old man appeared from nowhere, but he was buried here. And the first mystery of the cave was the question - who was that very old Ignatius. Among the versions - the Emperor Alexander I himself, who decided to leave the worldly vanity and become a wanderer. Another no less fantastic version is the assumption that Ignatius is the Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich Romanov, who, as you know, abdicated the imperial throne.
It is rather small in size - its total length is only 640 meters. It has two floors and is a karst cave. It has already been visited by many scientists and researchers from different countries. And the Ignatiev cave itself is compared with such world famous caves as Altamira in Spain, Lasko in France, Kapovaya in Bashkiria. Not only scientists, but also travelers enjoy visiting the cave, in which drawings of primitive people were found.
In the far part of the Ignatievskaya cave, ancient rock paintings were discovered. They are believed to have been made during the Paleolithic period. And this was about 10-12 thousand years BC. That is, the drawings are already about 14 thousand years old. On them, ancient people depicted mammoths, horses, rhinos, snakes and other animals and their tracks. There are also images of the ancient people themselves, and even the image of the Mother of God. There are still unsolved geometric symbols. There are about forty groups of drawings in total. Researchers suggest that people of the Paleolithic era used the Ignatievskaya cave as a sanctuary.
And in 1980, another cave drawing was found. It depicts a man with 28 red dots drawn between his legs. Scientists have hypothesized that this drawing could be an illustration of a woman's menstrual cycle.
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Recently, the cave has carried out radiocarbon analysis of the pigments of the drawings. As a result of the analysis, it was found that the pictures were drawn about 6 - 8 thousand years ago. But even this age is quite solid and no less interesting for visiting the Ignatievskaya cave. But even in spite of the fact that it is a landmark of world renown, rubbish is removed from here by trucks every year. Every year more and more inscriptions appear on the cave, which are not at all ancient.
