In the very heart of Asia, where the Altai Mountains begin, in the picturesque Anui Valley, there is the famous Denisova Cave. It is located on the border of the Ust-Kansky and Soloneshensky districts, not far from the village of Black Anui (4 km) and 250 km from the city of Biysk. Denisova Cave rises 670 meters above sea level.
Origin of the name
According to an old legend, the name of the cave was due to the fact that at the very end of the 18th century, the Old Believer, the hermit Dionysius (in the world Denis), settled in it. He was the spiritual shepherd for the Old Believers of nearby villages, and the Kerzhaks often came to his cell for advice and blessings. And at the beginning of the 19th century, missionary priests ceased to have any interest in Denisova Cave in Altai.
At the same time, in 1926, during a trip to Altai, an outstanding Russian and Soviet archaeologist and great artist N. K. Roerich visited the cave.
Locals call the cave Ayu-Tash, which translates as "Beara rock". From generation to generation they pass on the legend that the Black Shaman lived here in ancient times - an evil and very powerful one. He could at any moment turn into a huge bear. This villain from the folk myth ruled over the Altai nomads, forcing them to pay huge tribute.
If they did not obey him, with the help of his sorcery spells he collected 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 lay, thunderstorms did not stop, 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 safely hid the thunderstone in the distant galleries of the cave.
Of course, this is just a legend kept by Denisova Cave. The Soloneshensky district (Altai Territory), or rather the inhabitants of the village closest to it (Cherny Anui), often blame archaeologists who have been "digging something in a cave" for many years. The villagers are sure that it is the archaeologists who are to blame for the weather damage, because, according to them, it is enough to break off a very tiny piece from the shaman's stone - and a downpour is guaranteed for two days.
Altai Territory, Denisova cave: description
On one of the slopes of the mountain, a few meters above the road, a wide entrance to the cave opens. Its area is 270 sq. m, length - 110 meters. The cave has a "central hall" at the very entrance and two smaller depressions inside the rock.
The grotto in front of the entrance
Most interestrepresents for archaeologists a grotto located in front of the entrance. It can be entered through the oval hole. The dimensions of the grotto are 32x7 m. The height and width of the vaults increase as the entrance moves away. 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, natural light enters the cave, so most of it is well lit. It is dry here throughout the year, the grotto is, as in ancient times, a good natural refuge for animals and humans, protection from bad weather.
The first geophysicists who worked here "rang" the cave, using their special equipment, and decided that the central hall and the galleries extending from it were only the beginning of huge voids that go deep into the rock. Now these internal cavities are completely littered with a huge layer of sediment.
Research
The very first studies in the Denisova Cave in Altai (in its central hall) were carried out by the famous Siberian paleontologist Nikolai Ovodov, who laid the first two exploration pits and made measurements of the natural formation sites available at that time in 1978. At the same time, the object was examined by archaeologists led by Academician A. P. Okladnikov.
The caves of the Altai Mountains have always been of great interest to scientists. Denisova cave after the firstresearch gradually entered the world history of archeology.
For example, the most ancient of the cultural layers of human habitation in Siberia was discovered here. It belongs to the Paleolithic era, and its age is 282 thousand years. Previously, there was a version that ancient people in this area could not have appeared earlier than 50-30 thousand years BC. e. The results of the excavations showed that in ancient times the foothills of the Altai were covered with broad-leaved forests, in which hornbeam, Manchurian walnut, oak and northern species of bamboo grew. Human remains of the Neanderthal era were found in North Asia.
Scientists are sure that the Denisova Cave is an archaeological monument of the Altai Mountains. More than 50 thousand stone artifacts, various bone ornaments were found in it; collected a large collection of bones of mammals. Of course, an interesting find is a treasure trove of iron things that date back to the 14th century, a pit in which grain was stored from the same time, a bronze knife.
Using the cave at different times
In the IV-III millennium, during the Afanasiev culture, Denisova Cave was used as a shelter for shepherds and livestock. To keep animals inside, free grottoes and niches were fenced off. Shepherds hunted wild animals, they ate sheep meat only in the most extreme case, when the hunt was unsuccessful. This is confirmed by the discovered tips of darts and arrows. Liquids were stored in ceramic vessels. For cutting carcasses, stone tools were used, which were made here. About ittestify to the waste products found by archaeologists.
It is not yet well understood how the cave was used by the bearers of the culture of the Bronze Age.
The Scythian period is characterized by powerful cultural deposits, which indicates a long stay of a person in a cave. It was a storehouse of food supplies - meat, grains and dairy products, since it always had a low temperature.
The Huns and Turks used this natural object for ritual ceremonies. In terms of the number of archaeological finds, in terms of their value to science, many researchers equate this amazing cave with the pyramids of Ancient Egypt. Many believe that the results of the excavations carried out in the Denisova Cave were perceived by the general public as less sensational than the Egyptian ones. However, something was discovered that made a lot of noise in the scientific world.
Amazing find
Archaeologists have recovered from the eleventh layer in the cave the remains of a type of ancient man previously unknown to science. Scientists reported this in the journal Nature in 2010. The man from the Denisova Cave is genetically equally far from both Neanderthal and modern Homo sapiens. The researchers came to this opinion after deciphering the genome preserved in tissue samples - the phalangeal bone of the finger and the molar.
Priceless Treasure
Every year, with every artifact found, Denisova Cave became more and more tempting for researchers. Was takendecision to set up a scientific field camp on this site. Beginning in 1982, Novosibirsk scientists began to periodically explore the cave. In their work, they attracted specialists of various 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 cameral laboratory. Here primary works with the found exhibits are carried out. Every year, more than 100 archaeologists and specialists from other fields of science conduct research here. Over 30 years of excavations, scientists have managed to explore only a small part of the cave.
Deciphering the DNA of the inhabitants of the Denisova Cave
Today, the decoding 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 clarify the way in which it developed. The genome of this individual was compared with the genomes of fifty-four of our contemporaries from different parts of the Earth, with the DNA of an ancient person, as well as six Neanderthals.
The results are quite interesting. Scientists have established that the "Denisovites" departed from the classical branch of human development about a million years ago and began to evolve independently, but, unfortunately, this path turned out to be a dead end.
Human evolution progressed towards Neanderthals and Homo sapiens. About 400 thousand years ago, these species took different paths of development. The second led to the emergence of modern man, and the first led to a dead end.
Denisova cave in Altai and its artifacts
Currently, scientists believe that the culture of the inhabitants of the cave was more progressive than that of the Neanderthals who once inhabited the surrounding rocks.
Neanderthals had tools made of stone (scrapers, arrowheads, etc.), in appearance reminiscent of Western European things. In the Denisova Cave, the remains of culture and life were found, the age of which is 50 thousand years. According to archaeological features, this is fully consistent with the culture of a person who had a modern physical appearance.
Not only stone, but also bone objects and tools were found. But they were processed in more advanced ways. An example is miniature (about 5 centimeters) stone needles, in which ears were drilled.
Lovely bracelet
In addition, a magnificent stone decoration was found in the cave, which changes the idea of primitive man. These are two elements of a bracelet made of hloditolite - a stone that was brought from Rudny Altai, located two hundred and fifty kilometers from the cave.
The 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 thing is that the drilling was done on the machine.
This technology became widely used only in the Neolithic era, so it was previously believed that it was no more than fifteenthousand years. And a wonderful bracelet was found in a 50,000-year-old layer!
The study of the bracelet showed that it was probably a complex object. In the same layer, beads were found made from the shell of ostrich eggs, brought from Transbaikalia or Mongolia. All this indicates a high level of development of the inhabitants of the Denisova Cave - spiritual, social, aesthetic and technological.
Why did the Denisovans disappear?
The exact answer to this question has not yet been found. Now we can only say with certainty that in ancient times there was another type of ancient people in Altai. In the caves located next to Denisova, the remains of Neanderthals were found, which date back to about the same time. This means that two types of ancient man could contact. However, there is no official scientific data yet.
