Kostyonki–Borshchyovo
Cornelis de Bruijn stood on the western bank of the Don River in 1703 and found many elephant teeth. He kept one tooth for his own curiosity while wondering how they arrived there. The Emperor Peter I had told him that Alexander the Great once passed this river near a small town called Kostenka. Some historians claimed several elephants fell during that ancient journey, leaving remains behind today. Samuel Gottlieb Gmelin mentioned the settlement name Kostyonki again in 1768. That name itself derives directly from the word bone. The area sits within Khokholsky District in Voronezh Oblast, Russia. It lies approximately 25 kilometers south of the city of Voronezh.
I. S. Polyakov excavated Kostenki-1 starting in 1879 between the years 1845 and 1887. Further searches for stone tools occurred from 1881 through 1915 across the region. Systematic work began in the 1920s under P.P. Efimenko who led teams until 1938. Archaeologists now label twenty-six sites as Kostenki 1 to 21 plus Borshchevo 1 to 5. The most famous locations include Kostenki-12 known as Volkovska and Kostenki-14 called Markina Gora. A 25,000-year-old bone circle structure containing at least 60 mammoths appeared during a 2020 discovery. This circular formation measures over 11 meters in diameter. Work continues today at six specific sites including Kostenki-14 and Kostenki-6 as of 2016.
Kostenki-1/2 and Kostenki-6 belong to the nontransitional local Strelet culture. These finds resemble early Upper Paleolithic cultures from central and western Europe like the Szeletian culture. Initial cultural development might be attributable to local Neanderthals. Ornaments predating the volcanic eruption appear at Kostenki 17/2 within the Spitsyn culture dating between 38 and 32 thousand years ago. These items were apparently perforated by hand-operated rotary drills or multiple drills. Sewing needles emerged just above the ash layer in later strata. Sites such as Kostenki 1/1 and Kostenki 4/2 belong to the eastern Gravettian period spanning 24 to 22 thousand years ago. The Zamyatino culture covers layers from 22 to 17 thousand years ago found at Kostenki 2, 3, 11-1a and 19. Telman culture takes its name from Kostenki 8/2 located at Telmanskaya.
Some of the earliest directly dated human remains from this site measure 32,600 plus or minus 1,100 radiocarbon years. They consist of a tibia and a fibula with traits classifying them as European early modern humans. In 2009 scientists extracted DNA from a male hunter-gatherer at Kostenki-12 who lived circa 30,000 BP. He died aged 20 to 25 years old inside an oval pit covered with red ochre. His maternal lineage was found to be mtDNA haplogroup U2. Later analysis revealed his patrilineal Y-DNA haplogroup C1* marked by F3393. A male from Kostenki-14 lived approximately 38,700 to 36,200 years ago. That individual also belonged to mtDNA haplogroup U2 with Y-DNA haplogroup C1b* identified as F1370. The genome represents early evidence for separation of Europeans and East Asian lineages.
A layer of Campanian volcanic ash sits above some finds showing humans inhabited the site before that event. Earlier dating placed this ash around 45,000 years ago while current research dates it to about 39 thousand years ago. The explosion of ignimbrite remains the largest in the last 200,000 years of European history. It erupted from the Phlegraean Fields volcano. Ornaments found at Kostenki 17/2 suggest the population was technologically capable of preparing for a volcanic winter. Sewing needles appeared just above the ash layer indicating survival after the eruption. Human habitation layers correlate directly with this massive environmental shift occurring thirty-nine thousand years ago.
Common questions
Where is the Kostyonki, Borshchyovo archaeological site located in Russia?
The Kostyonki, Borshchyovo archaeological site sits within Khokholsky District in Voronezh Oblast, Russia. It lies approximately 25 kilometers south of the city of Voronezh on the western bank of the Don River.
When did Cornelis de Bruijn discover elephant teeth at Kostenka in 1703?
Cornelis de Bruijn stood on the western bank of the Don River in 1703 and found many elephant teeth while wondering how they arrived there. The Emperor Peter I told him that Alexander the Great once passed this river near a small town called Kostenka.
Who excavated the first sites at Kostyonki-1 starting in 1879?
I. S. Polyakov excavated Kostenki-1 starting in 1879 between the years 1845 and 1887. Further searches for stone tools occurred from 1881 through 1915 across the region before systematic work began in the 1920s under P.P. Efimenko who led teams until 1938.
What is the age of the earliest directly dated human remains found at Kostyonki, Borshchyovo?
Some of the earliest directly dated human remains from this site measure 32,600 plus or minus 1,100 radiocarbon years. They consist of a tibia and a fibula with traits classifying them as European early modern humans.
How old is the bone circle structure containing mammoths discovered at Kostyonki-12 in 2020?
A 25,000-year-old bone circle structure containing at least 60 mammoths appeared during a 2020 discovery at Kostyonki-12 known as Volkovska. This circular formation measures over 11 meters in diameter.