Grottoes in Zamil Gorge in Crimea

The article presents the results of the latest interdisciplinary studies of the Zamil-Koba 1, 2 and 3 campsites in the Southwestern Crimea. The geomorphological studies explained the formation process of the gorge system, leading to the conclusion that the grottoes of the Zamil gorge reached large size under the infl uence of a linear slope runoff system from the upland adjacent to the gorge. Archaeological studies of the grottoes allowed to establish their chronology, the specifi cs use of sites in the Mesolithic, the features of material culture and paleogeography of the surroundings of the Zamil gorge in the early Holocene. It has been established that the grottoes of the Zamil gorge were occupied by humans already at the end of the Pleistocene. The oldest is the lower cultural layer of the Zamil-Koba 1, which was formed in the fi rst half of the Allerød interstadial. At that time the campsite was used during the cold season. Then the campsite was inhabited in the Late Mesolithic (in the Preboreal period), it was attributed to the Murzak-Koba culture. The absence of hearths and campfi res in this cultural layer may indicate the use of the grotto in the warmer months. The less deep Zamil-Koba 2 grotto served as a short-term shelter for the Mesolithic hunters at least twice in the Final Mesolithic in the Early Atlantic period, and the smallest Zamil-Koba 3 grotto was used in a similar way a little later, during the transition from the Mesolithic to the Neolithic

Cultural landscape · Hearth · Holocene · Mesolithic · Preboreal · Geotourism and Geoheritage Conservation · Marine and environmental studies · Soil and Environmental Studies