What is remarkable about the village of Kostenki in the Voronezh Region

The small village of Kostenki in the Voronezh Region does not externally differ from other villages along the banks of the Don. But it is known not only in Voronezh and Russia, but throughout the world. What helped him to become famous? Even in the times of Peter the Great, in the vicinity of the village, many mammoth bones were found. Already at that time in the city, and in the 17th century it was a fortified city, excavations were conducted. But it was not until the end of the 20th century that they began actively exploring the village and even opened a museum.

Neighborhoods of the village of Kostenki in the Voronezh Region

This area is remarkable not only for excavations. From the tops of the Cretaceous mountains, which are called the "Lowered Alps", a magnificent panorama opens. Bizarre
Bends of the Don river bed, many floodplain lakes and snow-white chalk mountains create a beautiful picture.
People have settled here since time immemorial. The area between the hills and the channel of the Don River is occupied by beautiful floodplain meadows. Cretaceous hills are also noteworthy. They have long served as a source of chalk for people. Because of this at an altitude of about 200 meters, they formed a lot of caves. One of them was even used for some time by the hermit for habitation. Now these hills serve for recreation - there is a ski resort, which is famous for the Voronezh region. It has everything: five lifts, eight slopes up to 400 meters long, night lighting and instructors. In the absence of snow, even artificial snow making is created.

Antiquity of these places

Scientists have proved that in the vicinity of the village of Kostenki in the Voronezh region people lived already forty thousand years ago. And the latest research allows you to drop this age by another 10 thousand. The sites of ancient people found here made a real revolution in historical science.
It turns out that people living in Eastern Europe have long had a highly developed culture. This refutes the modern notion that man originated in Africa. A group of foreign scientists confirmed that it was in the territory of the village of Kostenki, Voronezh region, about forty thousand years ago a man of a modern type arose, and from there settled throughout Europe.

Beginning of archaeological excavations

Since time immemorial, people have found huge bones here. Therefore, a legend was born about the existence of the legendary beast Inder, which can be seen only after death. After the creation of the city-fortress of Kostensk at the behest of Peter the Great, archaeological excavations were started here . The most amazing finds were transported to the St. Petersburg Kunstkamera. At that time it was believed that the found huge bones belong to the elephants of Alexander the Great. But then the excavations were irregular. The first serious studies began at the end of the 19th century by the great scientist Ivan Polyakov. On the first site of the ancient man he had unearthed, spear points, silicon tools and even ornaments were found. But systematic studies of this territory began only in the early 20th century. And by now about 60 sites of ancient people have been discovered, the age of which scientists define from 15 to 45 thousand years.

What the excavations showed

Already during research in the 19th century it became clear that the ancient people were not the primitive savages that historians represented them. By our time in the territory of the Kostenki reserve, there have been many evidences that during the Paleolithic period people lived here who could build residential buildings that made multifunctional tools from bones and stones. They possessed a developed art - nowhere else did they find such ornaments with complex ornaments, pendants and perfect figurines from the mammoth tusk. They were found under a layer of volcanic ash, which suggests that they were made forty thousand years ago. It was at that time that the largest eruption of the volcano occurred, as a result of which a layer of ash covered a huge area.
One of the figurines, representing a pregnant woman, became a symbol not only of the Kostenok, but of the entire Paleolithic era.

Creating a museum

Scientists have determined that people lived permanently in this territory. Even during the last glaciation, which was about 20 thousand years ago, these places were inhabited.
People have learned to build houses from bones and mammoth skins. Over one such house, which was excavated in the late 20th century, it was decided to create a Kostenki museum. The Voronezh region thanks to him soon became known throughout the world. It was opened in 1979 and was originally a branch of the Voronezh Museum of Local History. A lot of finds from the territory of Kostenkovsky parking are in the Hermitage and in Voronezh itself, but this small room, built over the ancient house of mammoth bones, attracts thousands of tourists every year.

Museum "Kostenki" (Voronezh region)

In the 1990s, the branch was separated from the Museum of Local Lore and acquired the status of the State Museum-Reserve. In addition to the building itself, it includes an area of almost 10 hectares, on which are located about 60 sites of ancient people, as well as Borshchevskoe Slavic settlement. Now this is a very popular place not only among the Voronezh people, they come here from all over Russia and even from abroad. In addition to the ancient dwelling, visitors can see a lot of jewelry found on the excavations, as well as a stuffed mammoth in the real size, recreated on the basis of found bones.

Many people know that the village of Kostenki (Voronezh region) is an interesting place. Every local schoolchild knows what it means to "go on a visit to a mammoth", and school excursions often come from Voronezh itself. In a very picturesque place is located the village of Kostenki (Voronezh region). The map of this territory does not show anything remarkable, but people still know about the sights of the village.