The history of the discovery of the kapova cave when it was found. Kapova cave, shulgan-tash reserve, southern urals
One of the largest karst caves, is a unique attraction of the Southern Urals, located on the right bank of the Belaya River on the territory of the Pribelsky branch of the Bashkir state reserve. The uniqueness lies in its three main aspects: speleological - the cave is rare natural object Ural; archaeological - it preserved the painting of an ancient person; ethnographic - acts as an object to which the actions of many legends and beliefs are attached.
Until recently, this natural monument was better known as " Kapova cave", and only in last years firmly established the original local name caves - "Shulgan-Tash". Regarding the origin of the name "Kapova", there is a version according to which it owes its appearance to water. Drops of water dripping from the ceiling vaults create an inappropriately loud thud. This could attract people's attention and cause the name - Kapova. The name "Shulgan-Tash" is local, Bashkir. "Shulgan" means, translated into Russian, "sank", "failed", "disappeared"; "Tash" - stone (mountain). Apparently, this refers to the river, which is also called Shulgan. It is to this river that the cave owes its origin.
Cave is a system of galleries and corridors located on three levels, over 2.5 km long. In galleries and halls located on different levels, a diverse internal microclimate has been formed (its own temperature regime, humidity, air circulation). Previously, Shulgan-Tash was rich in sinter formations (stalactites, stalagmites, calcite flowers and many others), especially its upper floor, but at present they for the most part destroyed or plundered tourists". Only what they could not carry away remained untouched. So, on the upper floor there is a giant stalagmite, the height of which is 3 m, and the width at the base is 8 m. white calcite streaks, corals, flowers, etc.
However, the main speleological attraction lies in the huge size and perfect form of its galleries, corridors and halls. Being in a cave it is difficult to imagine that all this was created by a small underground river Shulgan. Shulgan flows at the lowest level, the source of which is 12 km from the cave. Approximately at a distance of 2 km from the cave, the river goes underground with noise and appears in the form of a spring already at the entrance, forming small lake 3 meters in diameter.
Shulgan-Tash cave and Lake Shulgan from time immemorial were the object of constant worship for the peoples of the Southern Urals. Enough evidence has been found that she was for local population a kind of sanctuary where various initiation rites were performed, for example, the initiation of young men into warriors or hunters. In addition, the cave has long been a kind of refuge for people during periods of wars and foreign raids. It is likely that she could serve as a refuge from natural disasters and catastrophes.
In 1959, a researcher at the Pribelsky branch of the Bashkir Reserve A.V. Ryumin discovered inside the Paleolithic drawings of an ancient man. These drawings brought world fame to the cave. Upper Paleolithic age of wall painting Shulgan-Tash caves now it can already be considered reliably established (14-15 thousand years). According to the arrangement and content of the drawings, it can also be argued that Shulgan-Tash cave in ancient times it was a sanctuary with which myths and mythological representations of Paleolithic people are associated. Each room with drawings in the cave was part of this sanctuary and performed its own function, although scientists have yet to find out exactly what.
To date, more than 50 different types of colorful images. Among them are drawings of animals, various symbols and blurred red spots. All images are made on very dense limestones. Probably for this reason, it does not contain engraved drawings, which are not uncommon in Western European caves. For the bulk of the images used red ocher. There are drawings made with two colors - red ocher and black paint (charcoal or manganese oxide). Colorful images of animals Shulgan-Tash caves in general, they are distinguished by a realistic character, although they are not without primitivism and schematism. In particular, mammoths are well recognized - the most popular animals among the animalistic drawings of this cave. The horses are conveyed with great expressiveness. It can be recognized in the images of a rhinoceros and, apparently, a bison. However, there are drawings and incomprehensible animals.
The most important and numerically predominant component of painting Shulgan-Tash caves are conventional signs of a purely geometric appearance. Previously, they were associated with schematic representations of various kinds of products or residential buildings of Paleolithic people. Now geometric figures are perceived by many researchers as signs of gender. It should be noted that conventional signs are peculiar and have no direct analogies among the geometric forms of images in the Paleolithic wall painting of Western Europe.
Increasingly, lovers of little-studied tourist routes are attracted by the delightful nature of the Southern Urals. These places are famous for their virginity and extraordinary beauty. One of these natural wonders light is Kapova Cave.
Ancient pearl of the South Urals
On the territory of the State nature reserve Shulgan-Tash, Burzyansky district of Bashkiria, this unique cave formation is located. Every year, hundreds of tourists rush to witness with their own eyes cave drawings Paleolithic times, for which the Kapova Cave (Shulgan-Tash) is famous. Unique a natural phenomenon It was formed several million years ago by natural washing out of limestone rocks by the waters of the Shulgan River. Kapova cave, where there are many explored labyrinths and various passages, has a route of more than three kilometers.
Visiting the underground king
According to an ancient Bashkir legend, Shulgan, the ruler of the underworld, is the author of the cave creation. Higher powers ordered to hollow out a stall for the beloved horse of the hero of the Bashkir epic Ural-batyr in a cave near the Blue Lake. Shulgan fulfilled the request and filled it with living water stone cave. According to the Bashkirs, next to the cave is the Round Lake, which has dead water, capable of luring an unkind stranger and killing him. Translated from the Bashkir language, Shulgan-Tash means "water that has gone under a stone."
The big secret of a small river
Indeed, today's observations of speleologists and residents of the local environs confirm this. A small river three kilometers north of the Kapova cave has an amazing property. At certain times of the year, she disappears underground and emerges from a deep 80-meter lake well, which is located next to the cave. The appeared river continues its way to the Belaya River, which is amazing in its beauty, and is an adornment of the Shulgan-Tash canyon.
History of the origin of Kapova cave
The South Ural cave has two names. One is from the Shulgan River of the same name, the second is the Kapova Cave (reserve). Scientists suggest that the cave got its name from drops from the vaults of a ritual fire, the remains of which were found in one of the underground halls of the cave. Kapova cave (Shulgan-Tash) has main entrance, located on the southern slope of Mount Sarykuskan, and is a large majestic arch.
On unknown cave paths
The excursion route for tourists starts from the main cave alley with a length of more than 30 meters. Due to the violation of the regime for the preservation of unique cave drawings, further advancement was prohibited. Kapova Cave, where the unique heritage of antiquity is located, is listed in the UNESCO Red Book. The age of wall cave paintings is over 15 thousand years old, they are unique heritage creativity of primitive man. In order for the tourists to have an idea about the work of our ancestors, copies of these creations were placed in the middle part of the cave gallery. The drawings are made in natural size by specialists-animators from Tretyakov Gallery. Thus, modern tourists will be able to get acquainted with the imperishable works of Cro-Magnon artists. From the main gallery further route runs along the middle tier of the cave, which leads to the bed of the underground river Shulgan. It should be noted that the main rock art of the ancient man is located on the middle floor of the cave.
Continuing down the gallery, tourist group enters the Stalagmite Hall. Tourists can see large ancient stalactite formations under cave vaults, as well as stalagmite drops on the lower surface of Shulgan-Tash. Kapova Cave has several viewing rooms, each of which is filled with interesting drawings and extraordinary natural formations.
Unique underground expositions
In the Dome, or Dance Hall with high vaults and a clay floor, you can see an unusual composition. In its geometric proportion, it resembles the appearance of a lattice. What prompted the ancient artists to depict such a pattern remains a mystery. More than 60 different drawings depicting animals were found in the 4-coal Hall of Signs.
In addition to rock carvings of bison, bison, mammoths and bulls, Kapova Cave contains valuable finds in the form of bones of ancient animals discovered by paleontologists. Unique items made of jasper, flint and rock crystal resembled accessories for body jewelry in the form of beads and bracelets. All these finds are characteristic of the Paleolithic era and are of great historical value.
Continuation of the excursion route
On the iron steps you can climb to the top viewing platform, from where you can see the passage to a vertical 15-meter well. Scientists were interested in how a Paleolithic man could climb without improvised means to the second floor. They did not come to a consensus. There is only a probable assumption that it was possible to climb to the second floor of the cave along a tree trunk, which could have been at that time.
Getting into the stone canyon of the first gallery of the second floor, called the Crossroads, you are amazed at the extraordinary acoustics of this cave room. Sound repetitions, which number twelve echoes, cannot be compared with any known cave formations Europe. Further along the route, the tourist enters the Vestibule. This is the name of the cave hall, which has an interesting compositional pattern depicting a mammoth.
After a 50-meter transition, tourists see an extraordinary underground kingdom with snow-white calcium arches that form bizarre patterns in the form of outlandish flowers and plants. Next door is the Upper Hall, which surprises tourists with its calcite incrustation, reminiscent of a man's face with a thick white beard. According to ancient belief, this is the owner underworld Shulgan Khan. In addition to wide passages for tourist route, Kapova cave has a large number of narrow, sometimes inconspicuous cave forks. Squeeze inside, you can only have a thin figure. For a mass tourist, such moves are strictly prohibited for inspection. These places are the prerogative of scientists and specially trained speleologists. Passage through a narrow manhole leads to a new area. It is there that the Rainbow and Crystal halls are located. From the latter one can get to a distant well to a depth of 40 meters. This place is called the Hall of the Abyss, which has its own underground beach on the banks of the Shulgan River.
Overview of the surroundings of the cave reserve
The unique Kapova Cave, the tour of which is not limited to internal visits, is also famous for its surroundings. Not far from Shulgan-Tash is the Shulgan Canyon with a beautiful waterfall of the same name. The Burzyanskaya bee has become the main exhibit of the museum and excursion complex "Bee Forest". So observation deck The reserve offers breathtaking panoramic views. There is a legend that not far from the cave grotto, in the Arsky stone rock, the peasant rebel Emelyan Pugachev hid his stolen treasures. Here it is - Kapova Cave in the Urals, which annually gathers hundreds of tourists from all over the world.
South Ural Tourism Center
Every year in mid-September, not far from the cave, a festival of bard song "Arsky Stone" is held, which gathers a large number of lovers of this musical genre. The Nugush reservoir, located near the Kapova Cave nature reserve, the rest on the shore of which provides tourist base"Shulgan-Tash", is very popular in summer time. Anyone can interestingly and informatively spend time in the reserve. The address is simple: Russia, Republic of Bashkortostan, Ufa, Kapova Cave. Upon arrival in the capital of the Republic of Bashkortostan, local residents will be happy to suggest a further path to the unique natural place Southern Urals.
In this part of our journey through the South Urals, we will visit one of the most famous caves Southern Urals. This is Kapova Cave, which is located in the Shulgan-Tash nature reserve.
Reserve Shulgan-Tash
After dinner, we moved towards Starosubkhangulovo, you pass through it towards Shulgan-Tash. We planned to arrive there by 20.00-22.00 hours.
After looking at the route of the navigator, who laid it straight for us, talking with the locals and just looking at the road under our feet, by the way, unpaved, we decide to take a detour.
The detour cost us an extra 150 km. But what is it to us, a rabid dog seven miles is not a hook. But on this day, the mountain spirits clearly did not want to let us into Shulgan-Tash. On the track, they periodically turned on such a downpour that the speed had to be dropped to 40 km / h. And also there were road repairs, with detours for several tens of kilometers. The result - by 20.00 we only reached Beloretsk, and decided to stop at any motel. But something did not like anything along the way. As a result, we decided to spend the night at the Arsky stone camp site. It was raining again, they didn’t want to put up a tent, and better half humanity demanded warmth and soul.
Road Beloretsk (Arsky stone) - Shulgan-Tash
The next day they continued on their way. And again, they fell for the trick of the navigator, who laid the route through the village of Khusainovo.
Neither the primer, nor the strange looks of the locals, nor the first ford across a small river stopped us. 
Then the real primer began, not even a grader. 
Only the second ford stopped us, in order to pass it you must have at least a Niva or UAZ. And we are on the front drive, we would have to clear the bottom of the stones. We started studying the map. On the dirt road it was necessary to drive 80 km. How many more such fords will be is not known. We decided to turn back, met the locals, with a very interesting accent. The color of the skin and the shape of the eyes indicated that these were the original inhabitants of these places. They kindly explained to us that you can only drive along this road in a UAZ. Thank you for the correct information. We return.
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Once again, they tried to move off the highway onto a secondary asphalt road, which after a couple of kilometers again turned into a dirt road. We met another local resident, it was he who told us that many roads in Bashkiria, mapped as asphalt, either never were, or should have been, but never will be, therefore, in order not to tempt fate, choose federal highways, they will definitely have asphalt. Plus another 200 km detour. We arrived in Shulgan-Tash only in the evening. Total spending 1.5 days to move instead of the planned 10 hours. 
By the way, this is a grader in the Shulgan-Tash reserve. Anyone who wants to get there will have to pass through it. It is well rolled and does not present problems for any foreign car.
Arriving in Shulgan-Tash, you are greeted by a market, a checkpoint of the reserve and several cafes (tents) with homemade food that is made in front of you, cheap and tasty. And a little to the left is a parking lot, which is so inviting to get up. 
At first glance, everything seems convenient, each place has a table, a fire pit, and this whole household costs 100 rubles. per person, if my memory serves me right. But this parking lot is bad because there is no shade, and there are a lot of people. In general, this is a standard barbecue place. Looking ahead, I advise you to get to the checkpoint and stand behind it, already on the territory of the reserve, it is cleaner, calmer and there is a shadow there. And a little further, there is an amazing, so-called VIP parking lot, you can’t drive there by car, but you can and should get there with things, the cost is already 200 rubles. per person, but believe me, it's worth it. In a birch grove near the Belaya River. 
The White River itself. 
I advise you to go to the nearest hills. View from the mountain to Belaya. 
There are also cabins where you can come in winter. All these are private traders, and they have nothing to do with the reserve. 
But you can live in comfort. Rafting is also a very popular form of recreation on Belaya. Rafting families, with children. We watched the picture when we were rafting with 4 year old kids. Familiar "watermen" said that even beginners can raft. 
The Internet is full of advertisements for the provision of equipment for rafting and transfer. But this time we did not plan this type of holiday, although I'm thinking of trying it next year. Entrance to the reserve costs about 200 rubles. from a person. This price includes guides iconic places such as demonstration apiaries. 
Museum of the Kapova Cave with exhibits. 
Museum of beekeeping.
In each of the points, the guides will tell you in detail the history of the local region, traditions. It is desirable to listen, because after that you look at many things with a different look.
So we reached the Kapova cave. Kapova cave is the most famous in the Urals and one of the largest karst cavities. During the excavations, scientists found well-preserved skulls of ancient people without skeletons in the cave, presumably these are the heads of leaders and shamans. Kapova cave in ancient times was a real sanctuary (temple), hence one of the versions of the origin of the name of the cave came from. The second version is more prosaic and says that the cave got its name because of the distinct drop heard inside the cave. 
Before entering, everyone is given flashlights, but they are weak and can be discharged at any time, so be sure to take your flashlights. For shooting in a cave, it is also desirable to have a powerful external flash, and preferably not one. In general, as the guide told us, it is better to come to the cave in winter, there are a lot of beautiful stalactites and stalagmites of ice. For all our ordeals on the road, we were rewarded with an exclusive tour for three. It so happened that the group went before us, but after us has not yet come. In general, the spirits really helped us, detained us when necessary, taught us and rewarded us later. Respect nature, and I think you will be rewarded too.
The cave is very long. Its length is about three kilometers. It consists of three floors. The cave was formed thanks to the underground river Shulgan, which washed all these wonderful corridors, halls and galleries in the mountain, there are even underground lake.
The length of the first floor of the cave is 300 meters. To climb higher, you need to overcome a vertical well, now it is equipped with stairs, but how this space was overcome in antiquity can only be guessed. 
In 1954, zoologist A.V. Ryumin discovered rock paintings in this cave, which gave this place wide public fame. About 200 drawings dating back 14,000 years have been found in the cave. For rock art, the drawings have very impressive dimensions - from 44 to 112 centimeters. Almost all drawings are made in red ocher, but there are also much rarer ones made in charcoal. The images on the walls are the same as all over the world - mammoths, people with spears, mystical figures and mysterious signs - nothing new. 
Due to the disastrous influx of tourists in 1971, the entrance to the cave was banned. Metal bars were installed here, lockable. 
Also during the excavations, scientists found stone tools, ocher, coals and ash. These finds are 15-17 thousand years old. 
To the left of the entrance is the Blue Lake, connected with the Belaya River. groundwater, its depth is about 80 meters, although it is not large in diameter - about 3 meters. Outwardly, the water is transparent, however, it is not suitable for drinking due to abundant mineral impurities. 
Having returned from our excursion, we had lunch, and on the same day, along the right bank of the Belaya River, we went to the Skazka cave. 
It’s good that kind people came across along the way who pointed out a landmark to the cave, now I can tell you. Oddly enough, but this is a TOILET! Yes, an ordinary wooden toilet, rural type! After you cross a small stream, you will reach some base, there will be a fence and a toilet, right after it the track will go uphill, here you are on it. 
The story looks like this. 
Please bring two flashlights per person with you. general rule visiting caves. Unlike Kapova, this is a different type of cave, but it is really fabulously beautiful. Shoes should have a non-slip surface, and it is better to take gloves, as it is wet and dirty there. 
We decided not to go far, because there were no helmets, flashlights as described above, and simply no experience. But the ropes going through the skinners said that experienced people were going further. And according to the stories of such acquaintances, further halls are even more beautiful, because they are less visited. We left by sunset. 
On the way back, we were caught by the usual thunderstorm. 
After supper, they fell asleep.
The final part of our journey.
Shulgan-Tash (Russia) - description, history, location. The exact address, phone, website. Reviews of tourists, photos and videos.
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The Shulgan-Tash cave is perhaps one of the most famous in the Urals. It is located on the territory of the reserve of the same name in the Burzyansky district of the Republic of Bashkortostan. For many years the cave was called in scientific literature like Kapova and only in recent decades has she regained her ancient name. Shulgan-Tash is formed from two words: Shulgan - by the name of the lake located at the foot of the cave, meaning "failed", "disappeared", and tash, which means "stone". The age of this unique, one of the largest in the Urals karst cave- about a million years.
How to get to Shulgan-Tash
There are several ways to get to the Shulgan-Tash cave.
- By car, leaving for southbound from Ufa towards Beloretsk, then turn to the village of Starosubkhangulovo, and after it another 40 kilometers to make your way along a dirt road to the very reserve. The length of the entire route is about 400 km. Travelers will have to overcome the Uraltau ridge along the way, and this promises stunning views when climbing the next peak and treacherous turns that accompany steep descents. So the driver should not be too distracted by the bewitching scenery outside the window. From Orenburg and Magnitogorsk, the path is shorter - about 260-270 km.
- Down the river. This option is preferred by the majority, rafting on the Belaya River (aka Agidel) is good in itself.
- As part of excursion group. Weekend tours with a visit to the Kapova cave cost from 3000 RUB per person (departure from Ufa). This amount includes transfer by bus, accommodation at the camp site, Three meals a day, entrance tickets and guide services.
Kapova cave and its painting
The first description of the cave was made by the geographer P. I. Rychkov, who visited here in 1760 and vividly depicted underground halls, grottoes, galleries and sinter formations in his work. In 1959, colorful Paleolithic images of animals were found in the cave, created between the 12th and 10th millennium BC. e. Prior to this discovery, it was believed that drawings of this kind from the Paleolithic era are a phenomenon that can only be observed in certain regions in France and Spain (the caves of Lascaux, Chabot, Altamira and others). About 200 images were found in the Shulgan-Tash cave. Ancient people left for modern descendants mainly drawings of mammoths, bison, horses and other animals, as well as images of huts and various geometric shapes. The images are made in a very realistic manner with the help of red ocher. Their location and meaning gave the researchers a reason to assume that in ancient times the cave served as a sanctuary. After this discovery, interest in natural monument increased many times.
Neighborhood Shulgan-Tash
The total length of the Shulgan-Tash cave is about three kilometers, galleries and halls are located on three levels. There are lakes here, one of them - Blue - meets tourists at the entrance. Despite its modest size (about three meters), the lake is very deep. Unfortunately, not all halls are open for visiting, and the drawings presented to the attention of tourists are just exact copies of the original rock paintings, made to keep the unique paintings intact, while satisfying the curiosity of many visitors.
When leaving the cave, you can not turn around - this is a long tradition.
Speleologists have not completely explored the cave to this day, the halls and passages of the second floor are reluctant to study, setting “traps” at every step - cliffs, deep and narrow crevices. In Shulgan-Tash, the largest "bellows" in Europe was found - a cavity filled with water without air, about 400 m in diameter. And in July 2009, in one of the halls with rock paintings, archaeologists found several human skulls. Scientists have suggested that these are the remains of clergy, and therefore important members of the ancient tribe.
At the foot of the cave there is a small lake Shulgan, which arose, according to one of the Bashkir legends, when Shulgen (the owner underwater world), angry, struck the staff on the ground, and the water in the resulting bowl fell from the flood sea, which was arranged by the divas. The ancient Bashkir epics "Ural-batyr" and "Akbuzat" describe the ritual of sacrificing the most beautiful girls in the surrounding area.
Issue price
The entrance to the Shulgan-Tash cave, as it is guarded national reserve, paid.
This price includes not only a visit to the cave, amateur photo and video shooting, but also a tour of the museum of the Shulgan-Tash cave, the museum of the history of beekeeping, as well as a visit to the apiary and living room "Bee Forest".
To get into all the halls of the cave, you need to pay for a comprehensive tour, and it costs no less than 4500 RUB. But keep in mind that it will be difficult for unprepared travelers, frankly, to make their way through the difficult parts of the cave.
For the convenience of tourists, not far from the cave built guest houses. Accommodation in a six-bed comfortable and heated house costs from 480 RUB per person. Website: shulgan-tash.ru
Prices on the page are for August 2018.
Kapova cave, or
"Shulgan-Tash", which translates as "disappeared mountain". It is located in the Southern Urals in the valley of the Belaya River on the territory of the federal nature reserve "Kapova Cave".
Researchers cannot give an exact date when the formation of the cave began, but they say with confidence that it was at least 3-5 million years ago.
In the immediate vicinity of the cave, approximately along it, there is a deep karst canyon Shulgan about three kilometers long, turning into a dry valley with large sinkholes and lakes. The Shulgan River flows inside it.
The famous cave stretches for more than two kilometers. Scientists believe that its age is about a million years.
The discovery in 1959 of cave paintings of a primitive man of the Paleolithic era brought her worldwide fame. On the walls of the cave, scientists have found more than 50 different images of ancient animals: mammoths, horses, woolly rhinos and bison. All animals are rendered in a realistic manner and move to the left.
Ancient artists painted with red ocher based on animal glue. During the study of cultural deposits, fragments of stone and clay vessels were found near the drawings, where the paint was stored.
The painting of the Kapova Cave (its upper floor) belongs to the Early Paleolithic, i.e. ancient stone age, and belongs to the ancestor of modern man - Cro-Magnon. Drawings of the lower floor are later, it was probably accessible to a person at the end ice age(that is, at least 12,000 years ago).
The cave paintings of primitive man of the Paleolithic period date from the period from the late Solutre to the middle Madeleine. The drawings are on a smooth wall at the far end of the Hall of Chaos on the first floor.
But in the cave there are images not only of animals. So, in the upper and middle tiers, scientists found images of huts, triangles, stairs, oblique lines. The oldest drawings are in the upper tier. They were drawn in the early Paleolithic era, when Cro-Magnons lived on the planet.
On the lower tier of the Kapova Cave there are later images of the end of the ice age. Their size varies between 44 and 112 centimeters. Only recently have researchers been able to answer a question that has long remained a mystery. Why is there so little soot on the walls and ceiling of the cave? To apply a pattern to a surface, you need to highlight it, but in those days there was only one artificial light source - a torch. But the answer to this question was given when scientists found a fat lamp used as additional source lighting.
Skulls were found in the cave. Four skulls in the hall of the cave with cave paintings are a unique find. According to preliminary analysis, one of them belongs to a girl. According to scientists, the burial inside the cave is a confirmation of the hypothesis that the Shulgan-Tash cave in ancient times was a sanctuary where various ritual rites were performed. Here young men were initiated into warriors or hunters, dead shamans, heroes or leaders were buried. The ancient burial was still unknown, although the Shulgan-Tash cave itself has been studied by scientists for about 200 years. There are many assumptions, but we can definitely say that this is the skull of a reasonable person. Ancient people buried the heads of especially revered people separately from their bodies - as a token of gratitude and admiration.
Entrance to the cave from the side of the Shulgan river. When approaching the Kapova Cave, you can see the “Mammoth Grotto”, located in a separate rock. The grotto got its name due to the fact that the shadows of the grotto at sunset lie in such a way that they resemble a mammoth with its trunk lowered.
The entrance to the cave is a huge arch about 30 meters high. To the left of the entrance to the cave there is a lake - Blue Lake - from which the Shulgan River flows. The lake has a diameter of about 3 m and a depth of 35 m (in fact, this is not a lake, but a vertical section of the riverbed). The water in the lake is undrinkable due to impurities, but is used for medicinal baths.
To climb to the second floor, you need to overcome a 14-meter vertical well. It's not clear how ancient man made his way there. Perhaps the cave had a second entrance. In this two-story cave, consisting of many underground passages, galleries and grottoes, 200 years have passed since its first description by P.I. Rychkov in 1760, many people visited. The cave "Shulgan-Tash" in 1965 received the status of a natural monument.
The name "Shulgantash" comes from the Bashkir language. "Tash" in translation is a stone, and Shulgan is a river that flows into the Belaya near the entrance to the cave. In addition, Shulgan is a character in the Bashkir epic "Ural Batyr", the younger brother of the protagonist - the ruler of the underworld.
There are two versions about the origin of the name "Kapova". The first is from the sound of a drop constantly occurring inside, and the second is from the word “temple” (temple), since there is evidence that in prehistoric times the cave was used as a temple (rock paintings were made for the same purpose). In historical times (Middle Ages) it was used as a pagan temple, as evidenced by Bashkir legends and archaeological excavations.
The drawings were discovered in 1954 by the zoologist of the reserve A. V. Ryumin. O. N. Bader and V. E. Shchelinsky played an important role in the studies of ancient painting, they revealed more than 50 drawings.
In recent decades, thanks to the work of Yu. S. Lyakhnitsky (Russian geographical society) described 173 drawings or their relics - colorful spots. The drawings are made mainly with ocher - a natural pigment based on animal fat, their age is 14-14.5 thousand years, mammoths, horses and other animals, complex characters, anthropomorphic figures are depicted. There are rare charcoal images. The drawings are in varying degrees of preservation - some of them are hidden under calcite streaks, some turned out to be autographed by vandal tourists, and some are washed away by moisture flowing along the walls. The problem of finding reliable methods for the conservation of drawings has not yet been resolved. For the safety of the originals of the painting, the tourists are shown copies
Findings, especially anthropological ones, are of great interest to science.
A few legends... A huge number of legends and legends are connected with this place, the cave was a kind of mythological center. It was believed that the spirit of the Urals lived in the Shulgan-Tash cave - a batyr in the guise of a huge rider on the winged horse Akbuzat. Whoever sees it will be lucky.
There is a belief that an underground people lived here, led by a diva (spirit). These creatures, great craftsmen, kept gold, they had mills set in motion underground rivers, they made weapons well. According to legend, those who render any service to the Master of the cave will receive good luck from him in life.
The most interesting hall in the cave is the Dance Hall. It is believed that it heals people from stress and fatigue.
Tasks:
1. Name the caves - monuments of rock art. Choose illustrations.
2. Compose a web album using the Google Picassa service. Include illustrations about the Kapova Cave in the album.
Archaeological sensation - Kostenki Voronezh region
Archaeologists from various countries world recognized as the most ancient site of a modern type of man, namely the Caucasoid, the settlement of Kostenki, which is located on the territory of the Voronezh region in Russia. Archaeologists believe that this site is 50 thousand years old, and by 40-30 thousand BC, the Caucasoid man settled absolutely the entire Russian Plain. This type of person is called protorus and it got its name due to the fact that the origin of this species occurred in the expanses of the Russian Plain.
Tasks:
