Russian scientists summed up the results of 10-year excavations in the sediments of the ancient mud volcano Sinyaya Balka on the Taman Peninsula - an important paleontological and archaeological monument. Researchers managed to find the bones of elephants and woolly rhinoceroses - Elasmotherium that lived in the Pleistocene era. Some scholars believe that Elasmotherium could serve as a prototype for fairy unicorns. Also, archaeologists have found stone tools, presumably created 1.2-1.4 million years ago. It was at this time that the migration of ancient people from Africa to Eurasia took place. Researchers believe that one of the ways of settling our ancestors across the continent ran through the territory of the modern Krasnodar Territory.
Paleontologists from the Southern Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, together with colleagues from the Azov Museum-Reserve, the Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences (St. The Azov Sea. Scientists managed to find the bones of at least 120 large animals of the Pleistocene era: elephants and large rhinoceroses - Elasmotherium, on the forehead of which there was a large horn. It is believed that Elasmotherium is one of the prototypes of the mythical unicorn.
Ancient giants
“A large number of bones of two species of animals - elephants and Elasmotherium were found in Sinyaya Balka. Of the more than 1.3 thousand bones that we found during ten field seasons, there were jaws, fragments of skulls, teeth, whole and fragmentary bones of the skeleton, mainly of these animals. In previous years, we also managed to find the bones of horses, deer, bison and antelopes, Vadim Titov, a leading researcher at the Southern Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Ph. D. in Biology, said in an interview with RT.
According to scientists from the Southern Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in the place of Sinyaya Balka during the Pleistocene there was a caldera - a hollow formed after the eruption of a mud volcano. The animals went down to the caldera to drink and “take a bath”. Some of the mammals could die due to the poisonous emissions of the volcano. Also, experts do not exclude that the ancient giants were simply bogged down in the mud.
Among the finds this year are the bones of a saber-toothed cat, an ancient dog and a pachycrocute hyena. They show that rhinos and elephants have become prey to predators.
The most significant finds of the current archaeological and paleontological season - the bones of elephants, elasmotherium and predators - have been sent to the Azov Museum-Reserve, where they will be restored.
Promotional video:
A group of archaeologists on the territory of the monument.
Man among the beasts
Blue Balka is of value not only for paleontologists, but also for archaeologists studying the material culture of ancient people. So, on the territory of a mud volcano, it was possible to find pointed large tools made of stone, with the help of which our distant ancestors buttered carcasses of mammals.
The objects found are about 1.2-1.4 million years old. It was at this time that the migration of Homo erectus (Homo erectus) from Africa to Eurasia took place. According to the researchers of the Southern Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences, this indicates that one of the ways of the settlement of ancient people across the continent ran through the territory of modern Krasnodar Territory.
Nevertheless, a number of scientists doubt the age of the discovered tools.
“In the case of a mud volcano, there are difficulties - it deforms the earth's layers and displaces fossil remains, making it difficult to study the stratigraphy and chronology of events. Therefore, it is possible that human sites appeared here later than 1.2-1.4 million years, Pavel Nikolsky, a leading researcher at the Quaternary Stratigraphy Laboratory of the Geological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said in an interview with RT.
Currently, archaeologists are in a hurry to complete the excavations, as the coastal area where the Blue Balka is located is collapsing. Scientists have at their disposal about three years before the secrets of this archaeological and paleontological monument disappear into the sea. During this time, scientists expect to find the remains of Homo erectus or Homo ergaster (a working person). Then a number of questions related to the role of ancient man in the formation of this unique region in the early Pleistocene will be resolved.
Anastasia Ksenofontova, Dmitry Alekseev
