Ancient Stone Map Found in Irkutsk Region

These valuable items have been found in the Botovskaya Cave, Russia’s largest cave, during an expedition organized by the Irkutsk Cultural Heritage Protection Centre. The lines on the stone coincide with the cave passages, which allows to suppose that the stone represents one of the first (if not the very first) maps in the history of humanity.

‘The front side of the stone bears an arrow, so that from the place where we found the stone it showed in the direction of one of the passages leading to the exit. The other side of the stone features several lines which seem to represent the map of the part of the cave where the item was found’, said the archaeologist Artem Kozyrev to news agency Interfax-Siberia.

Scientists suppose that the stone map and arrowheads used to belong to a hunter who visited the cave about 5 thousand years ago. The hunter would presumably pick minerals and hunt bears, as bones of bears have been found in the cave in important quantities.

The Botovskaya Cave has been explored since the middle of the 20^th century. Today, the cave is known to be the longest one in Russia and has been placed 33^rd in the world rating. Every new expedition penetrates deeper into the cave. By now, 67.753 km of the passages have been explored.

The expeditions can be organized only in winter, as the scientists have to cover 90 km over the Lena River winter trail. The inaccessibility of the location accounts for the unique state of preservation of the cave, as unprepared tourists cannot reach the place.