In the Crimean mountains, archaeologists have found burial mounds of the 4th century AD. e. unknown culture

By CrimeaNEWS On Апр 16, 2024

CrimeaPRESS reports:

Archaeologists from the Crimean Federal University named after V.I. Vernadsky in the summer will establish the identity of the burials of the 4th-5th centuries AD. e., found in a group of mounds in the mountainous Crimea, told reporters and. O. Dean of the Faculty of History of the University Valery Naumenko.

This year will be a milestone for the Mangup expedition in many ways. We will carry out work on new large objects and on new sites of archaeological monuments. <…> A mound group of burials of the 4th-5th centuries AD was discovered. e., which is completely uncharacteristic for the mountainous Crimea of this period— said Naumenko.

According to him, a group of six mounds was discovered at the Almalyk-Dere burial ground in the vicinity of a medieval settlement on the Mangup plateau in the Bakhchisarai region.

This is an early group of funerary monuments at this burial ground. This was clearly an alien group of the population, but where it came from is unclear, because there are no such objects in the synchronous monuments of the Crimean peninsula, mountainous Crimea and other regions. It is important for us to establish the pre-fortress history of Mangup, — said the scientist.

He noted: it is possible that the burials could belong to people from the Don region or the Caucasus, “discussions on this matter are ongoing in the scientific community.”

Orthodox principality

The Orthodox Principality of Theodoro, or the Mangup Principality, arose in the middle of the 14th century and occupied almost the entire southwestern part of the Crimean Peninsula. The capital was located on the isolated Mangup plateau in the territory of the present Bakhchisarai region.

The principality consisted of about 200 thousand people, mostly professing Orthodoxy. Mangup fell in 1475 after a five-month siege by almost 70,000 Ottoman troops.