The article presents the history of the archaeological study of the Taurida cave in Central Crimea and the analysis of the findings – fragments of human bones, as well as stucco tableware and pottery. It is concluded that the prospect of detecting traces of human presence in the cave in the Stone Age is unlikely. At the same time, all the discovered material was found in a redeposited state due to the active digging activity of hares, foxes and badgers in the Holocene. Despite this, the discovered fragments of ceramics, according to the typology and radiocarbon analysis of embers in the humus layer, date back to the first half of the III thousand BC – I thousand BC. It is still impossible to say unequivocally about the reason for the appearance of human remains and objects of material culture in the cave. In all likelihood, there was either a burial ground or a garbage pit. The analysis of the findings made in the naturally disturbed soil (consequences of its bioturbation) leads the authors to the conclusion that the entrance part of the Taurida cave cannot be considered an object of archaeological heritage, but only a location.
Crimea, Taurida cave, Mount Echki-Dag, Oldovan, Stone Age, Bronze Age, stucco ceramics.
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