A Palaeolithic 'Pompeii' at Kostenki, Russia. (Research)

A new Upper Palaeolithic occupation layer has been discovered in 2000 at the site of Markina Gora (Kostenki 14) on the River Don (the Voronezh Oblast), in Russia. The layer was sealed by volcanic ash, suggesting that a natural catastrophe had put an end to a human settlement there, just as Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabiae were destroyed and buried following the powerful eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in AD 79. The Palaeolithic site is notable for its assemblage of ornaments Keywords: Upper Palaeolithic, Aurignacian, volcanic eruptions, Russia
The occurrence of volcanic tephra in Upper Pleistocene deposits in the central part of the Russian Plain is a remarkable phenomenon, not least because the plain lies at a great [...]