Unique image of two-humped camel in Shulgan-Tash Cave

UFA, 29 November 2017. /Bashinform News Agency, Gulfiya Akulova/. An image of a two-humped camel (bactrian) in the cave of Shulgan-Tash (Kapova), discovered by the international expedition, is unique not only in Russia, but in the world. This was told by its participants at a press conference in the "Russia" media center.

This is not the first year that works have been carried out here to clean and restore the walls of the cave under the guidance of an experienced specialist from France Eudald Guillemet, known for studies in other caves of the world where Paleolithic painting is preserved.

"We continued to work on the removal of the layer, and humps began to appear in the anthropomorphs. It turned out that this is a wonderful camel - the only cave image of its kind not only in Russia, but also in the world, " said Eudald Guillemet.

In the ancient art of the Stone Age, camels are rare - they exist only on engraving of mammoth tusks in Western Siberia, as well as in the cave of Hoyt-Tsenker Agui in Mongolia.

Uranium-thorium dating of a sample of the calcite deposit of this composition in the Kapova Cave showed a time interval from 14 to 37 thousand years ago. This discovery puts the Shulgan-Tash Cave on the same level as the famous caves of the world - Altamira in Spain, Lascaux, Chauvet, Arsi-sur-Cure in France. The image of the Bactrian from Shulgan-Tash was already estimated by the Paleolithic centers in Europe.

Further restoration works will be continued in May-June 2018. Eudald Guillemet suggested that next to the camel, there may be other equally interesting images. So, on the last day of the expedition's work, scientists made a small sample and saw a black and red lines in a small section of 5 by 5 cm - elements of other new drawings.

At present, there is a great anthropogenic impact on the Shulgan-Tash Cave. Earlier it was planned to build a historical and cultural museum at the cave, where some halls of Kapova Cave will be presented. The project has already passed state expertise, construction will begin the next year.