The Stone Tomb researchers

Keppen Pyotr Ivanovich (Feb. 19 (Mar. 2) 1793, Kharkov – May 23 (Jun. 4) 1864, Crimea, Karabag, near Alushta) – Russian scientist, ethnographer, statistician, bibliographer, academician of the Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1843). In 1837 he visited the Stone Tomb and wrote some articles about it. Despite P.I. Keppen’s information brevity, the scientific world accepted the given data as the fact of caves existence in the Northern Near Azov Sea Territory.

Veselovsky Nikolay Ivanovich (November 1844, Moscow – Mar. 30, 1918, Petrograd) – Russian archaeologist, orientalist. In the end of the 19th century N.I. Veselovsky visited the Stone Tomb and partially researched the ancient images in its grottoes and caves. He discovered the Bull Grotto. Archaeological commission report: “Diggings of Taurida Governorate” // OAK of 1890. – Spb., 1893. – pp. 3-4.

Bader Otto Nikolayevich (1903, Alexandrovskoye, former Gadyach Uyezd, Poltava Gubernia – 1979) – outstanding Russian archaeologist, founder of the Perm archaeological school. He was the head of the Azov-Black Sea expedition of the Institute of material culture of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (1938), which researched the primitive art monument – the Stone Tomb. The scientists discovered grottoes and caves with unique images (Mammoth-bull grotto, “feet plates”, “horse plates”, linear-geometric images etc.), which helped to reconstruct the life and culture of the ancient nations, who used to inhabit the Ukrainian steppe. The research results were published in the work “The Stone Tomb petroglyphs // Paleolithic and Neolithic of Ukraine”. – K.: 1947. – pp. 297-313.

Danilenko Valentin Nikolayevich (1913, Novo-Mikhaylovka, Melitopol Rayon, Zaporozhye Oblast – 1982, Kiev) – Ukrainian archaeologist, doctor of historical sciences.  Researching the Stone Tomb in 1934-1935, he discovered about ten locations of ancient petroglyphs. In 1947 V.N. Danilenko continued researching the monument and settlement of Neolithic and Bronze Age on the shore of Krasnoye Lake. The achieved materials convinced O.N. Bader and V.N. Danilenko of the fact, that the Stone Tomb petroglyphs were important historical evidence for understanding of spiritual culture of Eurasia ancient nations. In 1971-1973 the Near Azov Sea Territory archaeological expedition of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic together with Melitopol local history museum, headed by V.N. Danilenko and B.D. Mikhaylov, researched the Stone Tomb.  The scientists discovered the Wizard Grotto and Churing Grotto, where there were, on V.N. Danilenko’s opinion, images of deer, two wild boars, wizard, mammoth (?) and other, dated by the late Paleolithic.  The V.N. Danilenko’s fundamental works are: “The Neolithic of Ukraine” (1969), “The Chalcolithic of Ukraine” (1974) and monograph “The Stone Tomb” (1986).

Rudinsky Mikhail Yakovlevich (1887, Akhtyrka, Kharkov Gubernia (present-day Sumy Oblast, Ukraine) – 1958) – Ukrainian archaeologist, doctor of historical sciences. In 1951-1957 he researched the monument, which let him look in a new way at cultural and historical complexes of the Stone Tomb petroglyphs. Thus, the chronological range of the petroglyphs was determined by the Neolithic and Bronze Ages (6th – the beginning of the 1st millennium BC). The result of long-term researches was the monograph “The Stone Tomb” (K., 1961), published after M.Ya. Rudinsky’s death (1958). This monograph collected all the known at that period petroglyphs from the steppe phenomenon grottoes and caves, which, on the author’s opinion, became “… one of the manifestations of that world outlook, which has been formed within the borders of wide cultural and historical belt, stretching through the Old World between India and European Atlantic coast”. 

Gladilin Valentin Nikolayevich (born in 1935) – historian, archaeologist. In 1961-1963 together with B.D. Mikhaylov he researched the Stone Tomb, which resulted in new grottoes discovering.  The Bull Grotto has been researched again, where on the 2 m depth on the lower plate ceiling there were found the images of bulls, humans and linear and geometrical curving etc. The result of scientific researches of the Stone Tomb was the V.N. Gladilin’s publications “On the question of the Stone Tomb petroglyphs age” and «Die Felsbider der Kamenaja Mogila in der Ukraine» (Germany). In his works V.N. Gladilin dated the petroglyphs from the Mesolithic to the Bronze Age, i.e. 10th-2nd millennia BC.

Mikhaylov Boris Dmitriyevich – founder and the first director of the National historical and archaeological reserve “Stone Tomb” (1936-2008).

Historian-archaeologist, honored culture worker of Ukraine, Ph.D., author of four monographs, many scientific and popular scientific books about the unique monument of the Ukraine ancient culture – “Stone Tomb”, as well as of many scientific articles and publications on history and archaeology of the South of Ukraine.

B.D. Mikhaylov was the famous scientist V.N. Danilenko’s student and together with him he conducted the archaeological diggings on the Stone Tomb. In particular, he dug out the Paleolithic locations near the Stone Tomb and found new petroglyphs of mammoths, bison and birds in the sanctuary, which proved the late Paleolithic age of the most ancient petroglyphs layer. The real scientific sensation was the Boris Dmitriyevich’s discovery of Vishap-Dragon Grotto, which was the main center of religious rituals of the catacomb epoch. The discovered by B.D. Mikhaylov writing sings, which correspond to the consonant writings of the ancient Near East, are also of the great scientific importance. In general, this book is the most complete collection of the petroglyphs, discovered in the Stone Tomb.

Boris Dmitriyevich had been studying this historical monument for about 40 years.  The result of B.D. Mikhaylov’s research work is the publishing of more than 100 scientific articles and publications in the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and Russia, as well as monographs, such as “The Stone Tomb Petroglyphs” (1994, 1999, 2005), “History of Melitopol” (1998, 2006), “The ancient Gerros’ mysteries”, “The underground “Hermitage” of the Near Azov Sea Territory”(1998, 2005, 2008), “Melitopol: nature, archaeology, history” (2002, 2007), scientific articles collection “The Stone Tomb and its outskirts” (2003, 2006, 2008), which had been republished several times.

B.D. Mikhaylov was the participant of the 51st North-American anthropological conference (Canada, Saskatoon, 1993), Lvov (1994), Moscow (1990, 1996, 2005), Chisinau (1995), Tiraspol (1996), Kemerovo (1998), Kharkov (1999) and Kiev (2002). He was also invited to the international congresses of scientists of Italy, Spain, Portugal and China.

In 1996 B.D. Mikhaylov was enlisted into the encyclopedia “Who is who”, published in Italy (1996), as the famous scientist of the present. In 1999 he was enlisted into the International reference book of the outstanding persons of the 20th century “The life of the famous ones”, published in 2000 by the American biographical institute of the US Congress.

In August, 1991 B.D. Mikhaylov gained the honorable title “Honored culture worker of Ukraine” by the Decree of the Presidium of Supreme Council of Ukraine. For long-term work, historical and cultural heritage preservation, highest professionalism Ministry of culture and arts of Ukraine awarded B.D. Mikhaylov with the Honorable decoration in 2001. Because of Ukraine Independence Day B.D. Mikhaylov was awarded with jubilee medals “10 years of Ukraine independence” and “15 years of Ukraine independence”. In 2008 by the Ukraine President Decree B.D. Mikhaylov was awarded with the order “For merits” of the 3rd level.

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