The giant ground drawing "Zyuratkul Elk" is finally dated. It turned out to be the same age as the megaliths on Vera Island (Turgoyak). That is, "Losu" is already five and a half thousand years old.
Archaeologists are summing up the results of two field seasons, during which excavations and studies were carried out on a geoglyph discovered at one of the sites on the Zyuratkul ridge (Satka region).
The South Ural ancient megalithic monument has already gained worldwide fame. Our interlocutor was an archaeologist, candidate of historical sciences, senior researcher of the Ural branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, head of excavations at Zyuratkul Stanislav GRIGORIEV.
According to one of the versions, the translation from the Bashkir language of the toponym Zyuratkul will mean "Big horse lake" or "Big horse lake". A thousand years ago, the ancestors of the Bashkirs could see this geoglyph from the ridge much better than it is visible now, and interpret it as an image of a horse.
First of all, Stanislav Arkadyevich, how did you manage to determine the age of the geoglyph?
- Two radiocarbon dates were obtained from the object. Experts from the Institute of Plant and Animal Ecology of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences from Yekaterinburg took soil samples from under the stones. In laboratory conditions, organic matter is selected from humus - spores, pollen, elements of macroflora - and research is carried out. As a result, with a probability of more than 95.4%, the date was obtained - 38 - 35th centuries BC, and with a probability of 68% - 37 - 36th centuries. I take a higher tolerance, because it is possible that in ancient times, when one layer of soil was removed, the earlier one was exposed. In addition, there are failures …
We wanted to use thermoluminescent dating. After burning stones in a fire, isotopes accumulated in microcracks are released, and the accumulation of new ones begins. Thus, it is possible to establish when the stone hit the fire. At the edges of the geoglyph line, two ancient bonfires were discovered. They were read in the form of clusters of red-pink calcined pieces of quartzite, which split from the fire. They wanted to conduct the examination in Germany, but it turned out that just quartzite is not suitable for the thermoluminescent method. We need quartz, but it is not on the geoglyph.
That is, while we stopped at the date of the 38th - 35th centuries BC. e.?
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- It is necessary to carry out further research, but it is clear that the geoglyph is more than five and a half thousand years old. And this is the beginning of the Eneolithic, the Copper-Stone Age. This is a special period in the history of the Urals, when large stratified communities arose, similar to those on Vera Island, and left megalithic structures. Both the geoglyph and what we found on Vera Island are monuments of the same time … I made calculations for Vera Island, taking into account labor costs for the construction of buildings, taking into account the fact that food was then obtained only by hunting, fishing and gathering. Turgoyak's resources are clearly not enough to feed so many workers. The people who built megaliths on the island settled in an area within a radius of 100-200 kilometers. The same thing happened on Zyuratkul.
How was the geoglyph laid out?
- The width of the lines used to make the drawing is four to five meters. To this was added about two and a half meters on each side. Then sod was removed from the entire strip and stones, large and small, were thrown onto the geoglyph contour. Some clay got there too. By the way, the soil layer on the geoglyph is 20-30 centimeters, and beyond it 50, because of this, the drawing is visible from space. The geoglyph stones are of different breeds. Mostly these are quartzites, but tuff is also found.
In 2012, 44 stone tools were discovered, in 2013 - 80. Among the finds there are many stone hoes, a butt knife, a hammer … The only flint find was a large chip from an amorphous core without processing. Among the tools for digging, there are both large forms weighing up to three kilograms, and small ones, up to five centimeters in size. This means that the work was carried out not only by men, but also by women and even children. It was built by the whole world, young and old, and this was done not so much to speed up construction as for ritual purposes, to strengthen social ties.
The experience of studies of drawings on the Nazca plateau shows: the lines changed, corrected. The original lines without geophysics can no longer be determined. Initially, of course, there was a "general project", they knew what they were building, but for them, first of all, it was a cult. At the end, apparently, a ritual ceremony was performed: we found two bonfires along the edges of the contour, maybe there were others … Research of stone tools was carried out by Vyacheslav Kotov, senior researcher at the Institute of History, Language and Literature of the Ufa Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences. The children of the archaeological circle of the Chelyabinsk Palace of Pioneers and Schoolchildren named after Krupskaya were of great help in collecting finds. The circle is headed by Sergey Markov. Last year, Channel One journalists filmed a documentary about Zyuratkul, the film will soon be shown.
Last year in the media there was a fuss about the opening on the banks of the Zyuratkul of a certain Eneolithic "mega-village" in which the builders of the geoglyph allegedly lived, and there were 10 thousand of them. Did you conduct research on site?
- There really was a fuss about this. First, Oleg Mustafin, an employee of the Eco-Park "Zyuratkul", found strange straight masonry near the Whale Wharf. Everything around is littered with ancient stone tools. And across the bay, a rectangular structure is also visible on satellite images. And local historian Alexander Shestakov suggested that this is one building and most of it is located under the bay … This is how information about 10 thousand people appeared. But the second structure is not masonry, but ditches to remove water. There is a powerful peat bog in that place, and in the 20th century it was drained, it is of no interest to us … And the structure discovered by Mustafin is in fact a megalithic object. Not a dwelling, because not a single pottery fragment was found there. And what it is, I do not know. Nobody dug anything like that. But undeniablythat this structure is the same age as the geoglyph.
There is a theory that the name of the lake is also associated with this megalithic object …
- According to one of the versions, a direct translation from the Bashkir language of the toponym Zyuratkul will mean "Big horse lake" or "Big horse lake". "Zur" - "big", "at" - "horse", "kul" - "lake". This interpretation is given by a well-known expert in the field of the Ural dialect vocabulary and toponymy A. K. Matveev. And this is quite appropriate in light of the importance of horse grazing places for the Bashkirs. But in toponyms, in addition to consonance, there must be an etymological link. In this case, it was not: there are no pastures on Zyuratkul. But it can be assumed that a thousand years ago, the ancestors of the Bashkirs could see this geoglyph from the ridge much better than it is visible now, and interpret it as an image of a horse.
What steps should be taken to preserve the monument now?
- It is necessary to develop tourism, and this requires understanding from the Satka administration and the leadership of the National Park, on the territory of which the geoglyph is located. And it exists, but an agreement must be reached … In addition to the tourist infrastructure itself, which at the very least develops in Zyuratkul, this resort needs shows that people will go to. We need branding … For example, you can, of course, attract people to Lake Chebarkul with the help of a meteorite, but, firstly, this requires some kind of museum complexes, something that you can see. Secondly, such things must have development. Archaeological excavations have stopped at Turgoyak, and the flow of tourists has halved. The same thing happened on Zyuratkul, when the wharf was dismantled for Kitova.
What exactly needs to be done on the geoglyph to preserve it?
- It is necessary to create a museum of the object. Termination of excavations in their present form - they are destructive for the monument. The geoglyph has stood for five thousand years, and will stand for another 100 - until better times. A larger area needs to be excavated to show the size of the site. Then everything, except for the contour of the geoglyph, needs to be turfed. In addition, it is important to build a drainage system at the site, because during the rains, water washes away the entire upper layer there … At the moment, the geoglyph is visible only in late spring and early autumn. We need to figure out how to make it open for review for a long time. I don't know how to do this. Maybe install a special tower or equip platforms on the ridge tops. Someone proposes to lay trails so that tourists pass and strengthen the contours of the geoglyph. They propose to strengthen the soil. But so far there are no projects. And without the creation of a museum and a project for museumification of the object, we will annually worsen the view of the object from above. You just need to understand what to do with the excavated soil and the excavated area.
How are things going with the financing of your excavations?
- In 2012, funding started. We even received money by December, half of it went to pay for the work of specialists, for examinations. At that time, the National Park helped us with housing, we would have had a hard time in tents on the mountain … In 2013, we did not receive a penny for excavations, we worked at our own expense. In February last year, the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation allocated 1 million 310 thousand rubles under the federal target program “Culture of Russia”. But due to improper registration of documents in local departments, the money was not received. In the next field season, maybe, if there are funds, we will take samples for radiocarbon analysis, we will conduct other studies, but there will be no excavations as such. In the spring, we are also going to go with specialists and Oleg Mustafin to the facility that he opened. The low water level will last for several days. Should be in time.
You feel some kind of fatigue. Disappointment…
- After working on Vera Island, I became a realist. One person can raise a fuss, create an illusion that will be replicated in the media, but will not really do anything. I don't want to do this. I repeat, things will get off the ground on Zyuratkul when an agreement is reached at the local level. And now it is not necessary to break through the financing of excavations, but the museumification of the geoglyph … In order to insure that someone will master the money for the excavation of this object, when I submit a report to the field committee, at the same time I will write a paper: categorically refuse to provide an open sheet for this site to anyone, including me. Until there is a museumification project. I don’t want to repeat the story with Vera Island!
Vladislav VERIGO
