Crimea plans to develop historical entrance to Tavrida cave

The cave was discovered by accident during the construction of the Tavrida high-speed highway in 2018.

The work has been carried out since 2019 and was recently completed. The length of the gallery leading to the historical entrance is about 200 m. It was discovered using domestically produced hydrophysical tomographs. The historical entrance is planned to be equipped and included in the tourist route through the Tavrida CaveSamokhin said.

During the excavations, animal remains were discovered that will be studied by paleontologists.

The entrance to the cave is located on a slope, approximately 400 m from a hole created by heavy road machinery during the construction of a highway. According to Samokhin, who is also the first explorer of the cave, animals entered through the entrance in ancient times, and their lairs were equipped by fossil predators: bears, hyenas, and large saber-toothed cats — homotheria.

About the cave

According to the Russian Geographical Society, the cave began to form about 5 million years ago and is larger than all known caves of the inner ridge of the foothills of Crimea, its length is about 2 thousand meters. The age of the animal remains found is approximately 1.5-1.8 million years. Among the finds are the remains of six to seven elephants, three saber-toothed cats, two wolves of different species, two species of foxes, three to four bears of different species, and a hyena. The femur bones of a giant ostrich weighing more than 450 kg were also found.

In 2022, a scientific speleological and paleontological complex of the Crimean Federal University named after V. I. Vernadsky was opened on the basis of the cave, where excursions are held and scientific work is carried out.