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Natalia Feduschak, Kyiv Post Staff Writer
Kyiv Post, Kyiv, Ukraine
Thursday, November 14, 2002
For Borys Mykhailov, Ukrainian civilization begins in the middle of a wheat
field, in a pile of rocks, surrounded by fine sand emitting the smell of the
sea.
"This is the place where our history began," Mykhailov said. Already he has
spent more than half his life studying a place called Kamyana Mohyla, or
"The Rock Mound."
Located 20 minutes by car from Melitopil in the village of Myrne, Kamyana
Mohyla may well be one of Ukraine's most wondrous historical sites. It is
here where prehistoric humans came to pray to their gods, where sacrificial
rituals were carried out by pagan holy men, where petroglyphs on the rocks
speak of more than 9,000 years of civilizations past. The place is enveloped
in mysticism, and at the site a man and his wife now lovingly toil to ensure
it takes its rightful place among the world's great archeological treasures.
I first visited Kamyana Mohyla many years ago after being told about it by
someone I had interviewed. There was this place, the person told me, where
pre-historic humans had left their trace in stone carvings. Raised in
Colorado and having grown up visiting places like Mesa Verde where the
Anasazi had lived in rock caves, I was intrigued. Because Mykhailov runs the
site, I asked for his number and gave him a call.
"Come visit," Mykhailov eagerly told me. "You won't be sorry with what you
see."
With a date circled on my calendar, I boarded a southbound train for
Melitopil and, with nothing more than a description to guide me, I traveled
having really no idea what to expect. By the time I arrived in Melitopil,
however, Mykhailov had fallen ill. No matter: Mykhailov's wife, Natalia,
would show me the place.
Meeting early the next morning, Natalia and I took what seemed like an
interminable trolley-bus ride to Myrne and upon arriving, we walked down a
hill surrounded by a lush green forest. Just as I began to worry I might be
in for a disappointment, Kamyana Mohyla broke through a pause in the trees.
There, far in the distance ahead of me, was a huge pile of rocks shaped in a
half-moon. In front of this monument of stone were many idols, those oddly
shaped women commonly referred to as kamyana baba ("stone grandmother"),
which capped the tops of numerous ancient burial mounds on the now long-gone
steppe.
There were also two large wheels made of rock, each so heavy that they had
noticeably sunk into the soil. The warm air was absolutely still then and it
was enough to make me pause for what seemed a very long time.
"Come on," Natalia said, as she steered me through the gate.
At that moment, I first noticed the smell of the sea.
As it turns out, Kamyana Mohyla was once at the bottom of the Sarmatian Sea,
which covered much of southern Ukraine 12 to 14 million years ago. The sand
that surrounds the rocks (there are more than 3,000 individual boulders)
also remains from that period. The entire area has the feel of a swamp -
with reeds reaching higher than a grown man and growing all around the
mound - except without the water.
"Now let's see the petroglyphs," Natalia said, as she scrambled up to a
large boulder. She pulled her tan knit skirt over her knees and dug out
handfuls of sand.
Suddenly before me was a maze of figures and lines in stone. There were so
many etchings it was hard to make out what was what, but I was enthralled.
Mykhailov had been right: I wasn't disappointed.
I left Kamyana Mohyla that day excited and exhausted, hoping one day I would
return. So I did return, both this year and last.
This year, just two weeks ago, Mykhailov met me at the mound on a bright and
crisp autumn morning. Once again, I felt the wonder of this place.
What makes Kamyana Mohyla so special is not only the carvings in rock -
after all, there are similar ones in Africa and in France, but none are as
old as those found near Melitopil. The site is the only place in the world
where prehistoric humans carved out pictures of mammoths, horses, hands and
feet, then outlined them in black upon these rocks. You can see at least one
example of such a carving up-close. The picture is of a wooly mammoth.
Mykhailov found it in the 1980s; it now sits against the wall in the
one-room museum dedicated to the mound.
Also remarkable is that the Kamyana Mohyla carvings are likely the oldest of
their kind in the world. Mykhailov reasons that prehistoric civilization
must have its roots here. Remains of settlements from all historic periods,
running through to the Kievan-Rus, are found at the site.
Most of the several hundred carvings that have been found here since 1837
(when exploration of the site began), however, will remain preserved by the
earth and hidden by sand until Mykhailov can find a safe way for them to be
viewed by the public, and not washed away by weather or stolen by man.
"We're now proposing the government make this a national preserve,"
Mykhailov said, explaining the need for a larger budget to help preserve the
site.
Kamyana Mohyla hasn't faced the kind of theft or vandalism other
archeological sites have weathered, but Mykhailov is taking no chances: only
he and a small group of people know which boulders are adorned with
drawings, and of these he shows them only to a select number of people -
mostly foreign visitors and dignitaries.
This year I was treated to the sight of other carvings in addition to those
I had viewed before. At a spot easily picked out by Mykhailov near the
mound, I eased myself onto the damp sand under a slab of rock and waited to
allow my eyes to adjust to the dark. Before me there emerged the work of our
prehistoric ancestors recorded on stone: a pair of feet, a deer, a horse and
many, many lines.
"You see, this is where it began," Mykhailov said, taking me for another
walk around the mound and along the Milky River that runs past it.
Mykhailov has now started to unveil some interesting theories of his about
ancient human civilization and concepts of sex and phallic symbols, all of
which are the result of 30 years worth of studying Kamyana Mohyla. His
findings will be published in a new book about the site sometime early in
2003.
"The priests picked the strongest man and he slept with a women on her
wedding night until he was ready to return the woman to her husband,"
Mykhailov said. "This was believed to keep their genes strong. This practice
was an element of their ancient religion."
Mykhailov also believes that if early humans have their roots at Kamyana
Mohyla, logically so do the Ukrainian people. Walking me through the museum,
then past a carving on a rock outside, Mykhailov pointed out drawings that
do have a similarity to Ukraine's national symbol, the trident.
"It's the tree of life," he said. "The trident begins here."
Kamyana Mohyla is so incredibly steeped in religious meaning that Orthodox
believers erected a large black cross near the mound, a symbol meant to
indicate Christianity's triumph over the non-Christian world.
As a man who does not subscribe to any faith ("It would interfere with an
objective approach to my research," Mykhailov said), he nevertheless does
feel a positive aura emanating from Kamyana Mohyla.
There is a spot at the top of the mound where four rocks cluster around a
single stone that has a carving in the middle. This is the most holy and
terrifying of spots on the mound. Prehistoric religious men both prayed here
and presented their gods with sacrifices. Today, the spot has become a
regular gathering place for pagan believers and others, including newly
married couples.
"The earth's energy comes through here," Mykhailov said of the sacrificial
site.
The [current] Dalia Lama stood at this very spot, saying it emits positive
energy.
"[Our Ukraine party leader] Victor Yushchenko was also here right before the
parliamentary elections," Mykhailov said. "He put his hands like this,"
Mykhailov said while placing both hands on the sacrificial rock. "Shortly
thereafter, his bloc won the most seats in parliament after the elections."
Lingering to enjoy a last look before I left Kamyana Mohyla, it occurred to
me how one very important thing hasn't changed here. The view has largely
remained the same here for thousands of years.
How to get there: Melitopil, which is located in Zaporizhya Oblast, can be
reached via overnight train from Kyiv, which arrives around 9:30 a.m. (The
return train leaves around 7:30 p.m.) The cost of a round-trip ticket for an
adult, second-class, is Hr 118.
One-way cab fare to Myrne runs about Hr 15. I'd suggest asking the driver to
wait for you since the mound itself is located some 2 kilometers outside the
village.
I paid Hr 35 for the roundtrip and for the driver to wait several hours.
The entrance fee is Hr 2. The site opens at 10 a.m., and be sure to bring
film.
What to see: Other than Kamyana Mohyla, I suggest visiting the regional
history museum. The museum gives an overview of the Melitopil area, the many
ethnic groups who inhabit the area and several rooms that display examples
of the region's terrain. The exhibit, in a hall dedicated to Kamyana Mohyla
and ancient religions, is under construction but museum staff will show it
if you ask. The museum also hosts an impressive hall of World War II
memorabilia and battles that took place in the region. The museum is located
at 18 Karla Marxa and is open daily between 9 a.m.-4 p.m., except Mondays.
The entrance is 50 kopeks for adults and 30 kopeks for children.
The Kyiv Post: http://www.kpnews.com/main/12268/
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